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COMMENTARY 


ON   THE 


HOLY  SCRIPTURES: 


CRITICAL,  DOCTRINAL  AND  HOMILETICAL, 


WITH  SPECIAL  REFERENCE  TO  MINISTERS  AND  STUDENTS. 


BY 

JOHN  PETER  LANGE,  D.  D., 

IX   CONNECTION    WITH    A    NUMBER   OP    EMINENT   EUROPEAN    DIVINES. 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  GERMAN,  AND  EDITED,  WITH  ADDITIONS. 
ORIGINAL  AND  SELECTED. 


BY 

PHILIP  SCHAFF,  D.  D., 

IN   CONNECTION   WITH    AMERICAN    SCHOLARS  OF   VARIOUS   EVANGELICAL   DENOMINATIONS 

VOL.  VII.  OF  THE   OLD   TESTAMENT: 
CONTAINING  CHRONICLES,  EZRA,  NEHEMIAH,  AND  ESTHER, 


NEW    YORK: 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS, 

743-745    BROADWAY. 


THE  BOOKS 


OF    THE 


CHRONICLES. 


THEOLOGICALLY  AND  HOMILETICALLY  EXPOUNDED 


BY 

DR.  OTTO  ZOCKLER,  D.D., 

PROFESSOR   OF   THEOLOGY   IN   THE   UNIVERSITY  OF   GREIFSWALD,    PRUSSIA. 


TRANSLATED,  ENLARGED,  AND  EDITED 

i 

BY 

JAMES  G.  MURPHY,  LL.D., 

PROFESSOR    IN   THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY'S  AND   THE  QUEEN'S   COLLEGE   AT   BELFAST. 


NEW   YOEK: 
CHARLES  SCKIBNEE'S  SONS, 

743-745    BROADWAY. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1S7",  by 

SCRIBNER,  ARMSTRONG  &  CO., 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


PREFACE  TO  VOL  VII.  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 


This  volume  completes  the  Commentary  on  the  Historical  Books  of  the  Old  Testament, 
written  during  the  period  of  the  reconstruction  of  the  theocracy  after  the  return  from  ex- 
ile.    It  contains : 

1.  The  First  and  Second  Book  of  Chronicles,  by  L>r.  Otto  Zockler,  Professor  in 
the  Prussian  University  of  Greifswald  (1874),  translated  and  edited  by  Professor  James  G. 
Murphy,  LL.D.,  of  Belfast,  who  is  already  well  known  to  the  American  public  by  his  Com- 
mentaries on  Genesis,  Exodus,  and  the  Psalms.  Professor  Murphy  has  departed  from  the 
method  of  the  other  volumes  by  giving  a  literal  translation  of  the  text  instead  of  the  autho- 
rized version  with  emendations  in  brackets. 

2.  Ezra,  by  Dr  Fr.  U.  Schtjltz,  Professor  in  the  University  of  Breslau  (1876),  trans- 
lated and  edited  by  Dr.  Charles  A.  Briggs,  Professor  of  Hebrew  and  the  C"gnate  Lan- 
guages in  the  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York,  who  prepared  in  part  the  Commentary 
on  the  Psalms  for  ihis  work. 

3.  Nehemiah,  by  Dr.  Howard  Crosby,  Chancellor  of  the  University  of  New  York. 
Dr.  Crosby  had  finished  his  work  in  manuscript  before  the  German  Commentary  of  Dr.  Schultz 
appeared  (1876),  but  he  has  added  a  translation  of  the  Homiletical  sections  from  Schultz. 

4.  Esther,  by  Dr.  Schtjltz,  translated  and  edited  by  Dr.  James  Strong,  Professor  of 
Exegetical  Theology  in  Drew  Theological  Seminary,  Madison,  N.  J.  Dr.  Strong  has 
translated  the  frequent  Latin  citations,  added  the  Textual  and  Grammatical  notes,  enlarged 
the  list  of  exegetical  helps,  and  furnished  an  excursus  on  the  Apocryphal  additions  to  Es- 
ther, and  another  on  the  liturgical  use  of  the  book  among  the  Jews. 

The  remaining  three  of  the  twenty-four  volumes  of  this  Commentary  are  in  the  hands 
of  the  printer,  and  will  be  published  at  short  intervals. 


PHILIP  SCHAFF. 


Bible  Houbk,  New  York,  December,  I87f». 


PREFACE. 


The  matter  and  the  whole  form  of  the  books  of  Chronicles  afford  a  sufficient  warrant  for 
allowing  the  homiletic  and  even  the  theological  part  of  the  exposition  to  fall  more  into  tL 
background  here  than  elsewhere  in  this  Bible-work.  In  the  following  work  also,  on  account 
of  the  numerous  parallels  with  the  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings,  an  almost  exclusive  pre- 
dominance of  the  historical  element  might  easily  be  permitted.  For  with  regard  to  theological 
and  homiletic  comment,  the  corresponding  portions  of  these  books  have  already  received  a 
fruitful  and  valuable  treatment  in  the  able  works  of  Bahr  and  Erdmann,  so  that  reference  to 
them  might  in  every  instance  have  been  sufficient.  And  where  anything  peculiar  to  Chronicles 
was  to  be  explained,  it  almost  always  referred  to  portions  like  the  genealogical  lists  in  1  Chron. 
ii.-ix.,  the  various  supplements  to  the  history  of  war,  and  the  highly  characteristic  episodes  on 
the  history  of  worship,  which  belonged  rather  to  the  outer  surface,  the  rind  and  shell  of  the 
theocratic  and  evangelical  system,  than  to  its  spiritual  ground  and  essence,  and  therefore 
needed  rather  to  be  explained  historically,  than  to  be  considered  or  applied  dogmatically  or 
practically.  The  homiletic  remarks  might,  therefore,  in  this  volume  be  omitted  as  a  distinct 
section,  and  a  group  of  sections  might  be  thrown  together  as  a  basis  for  the  development  of 
theological  or  evangelical  and  ethical  principles.  But  besides,  it  appeared  necessary  \a 
Chronicles  to  dwell  more  frequently  on  difficulties  of  a  chronological  kind,  and  on  apologetic 
problems  connected  therewith,  on  account  of  which  it  was  requisite,  besides  and  along  with 
those  evangelical  reflections,  to  introduce  several  excursus,  some  of  considerable  length,  as 
that  on  Ophir  after  2  Chron.  viii.,  and  that  on  the  chronology  of  the  kings  during  the  time  of 
the  separate  kingdom  after  2  Chron.  xxxii. 

Of  recent  literary  helps,  some  that  appeared  in  the  course  of  printing  could  not  be  fully 
employed  ;  for  example,  the  second  edition  of  the  commentary  of  Thenius  on  the  books  of 
Kings  (in  the  Kurzgefasstes  exegethsches  Hanrlbuch  sum  Allen  Testament,  Leipzig,  S.  Hirzel), 
and  the  treatise  of  H.  Brande,  Die  Konigsreihen  von  Juda  and  Israel  nach  den  biblischi  n  Berichten 
midden  Kt  Uinschriften  (Leipzig,  Al.  Edelniaim), — a  praiseworthy  attempt  to  remove  the  chrono- 
logical differences  between  the  statements  of  the  books  of  Kings  and  Chronicles  on  the  one 
hand,  and  those  of  the  Assyrian  monuments  on  the  other,  in  which  some  at  least  of  the  dis- 
crepancies between  the  biblical  and  Assyro-Babylonian  computation  of  time  brought  forward 
by  Assyriologists,  especially  by  Schrader,  have  met  with  an  interesting,  if  not  quite  satisfactory 
explanation.  And  of  the  simultaneously-appearing  third  revised  edition  of  C.  F.  Keil's 
Lehrbuch  der  hiftnrisch-kritischen  Einleituug  in  die  kanonischen  Schriften  des  Alten  Testaments, 
(Frankfurt  a.  M.,  Heyder  und  Zimmer)  obviously  no  use  could  be  made. 

With  regard  to  the  question.  How  the  very  numerous  proper  names,  especially  of  persons, 
in  the  text  of  Chronicles  were  to  be  treated  in  their  transference  into  German,  the  author  was 
presented  with  a  problem  not  quite  easy  to  solve.  Perfect  consistency  could  oidy  be  attained 
either  by  a  close  adherence  to  the  text  of  Luther,  or  by  the  thorough  restoration  of  a  spelling 
adapted  as  strictly  as  possible  to  the  Hebrew  sound;  in  which  latter  case,  however,  names 
such  as  Jchova,  and  the  household  words  Noah,  Isaak,  Israel,  Saul,  Salomo,  Hiskia.  etc.,  r.ust 


PREFACE. 


have  given  way  to  the  more  correct  forms  Jahve,  Noach,  Jitschak,  Jisrael,  Schaul,  Schelomo, 
Jechizkijahu.  As  this  would  not  have  corresponded  with  the  rule  elsewhere  adopted  in  our 
Bible-work,  we  have  taken  a  middle  course.  All  the  well-known  current  forms  of  the 
Lutheran  Bible  that  have  been  as  it  were  canonized  by  a  usage  of  several  centuries  in  the 
tradition  of  evangelical  Germany,  especially  the  divine  name  Jehova  and  all  names  of  pro- 
minent men  of  God  (patriarchs,  prophets,  kings,  etc.),  and  of  important  holy  places,  we  have 
left  wholly  unaltered,  only  with  the  addition,  "nee  for  all,  of  the  more  exact  orthography  in 
parentheses  (usually  on  the  first  occurrence  of  the  name  in  question).  All  less  current  names, 
because  they  belong  to  less  important  persons  and  places,  and  especially  if  they  occur  only 
once,  are  immediately  and  directly  expressed  in  the  way  more  agreeable  to  the  Hebrew  sounds  ; 
and  only  when  there  is  a  very  great  deviation  from  the  received  orthography  in  the  Lutheran 
text  is  this  difference  noted  by  the  insertion  of  a  parenthesis.  For  this  intermediate  course 
between  the  customary  and  the  modern  mode  of  writing,  we  are  glad  to  be  able  to  refer  among 
others  to  the  late  Oehler  as  warrant,  who,  in  p.  146  of  the  lately  published  first  part  of  his 
posthumous  Tlietilogie  des  Alien  Testament*  (Tubingen,  Heckenhauer),  expresses  his  agreement 
in  principle  with  the  rule  here  laid  down,  when  he  declares  that  such  forms  as  Jehova, 
Jordan,  etc.,  are  less  correct  than  "Jahve,  Jarden,"  etc.,  yet  not  to  be  supplanted  by  these 
more  correct  forms,  and  proceeds  accordingly  throughout  the  text  of  his  work. 

DR.  0.  ZOCKLER. 

Gbelfswald,  October  1873. 

^Translating  into  English,  we  shall  use  the  English  mode  of  spelling  the  ordinary  names. 

J.  G.  M.] 


THE   BOOKS    OF   CHRONICLES. 


INTRODUCTION. 

§1.    ON  THE   IMPORT   OF   CHRONICLES   AS   A    HISTORICAL   WORK,    AND    ON   ITS   RELATION    TO   THE 

BOOKS   OF   SAMUEL   AND    KINGS. 

Tin:  last  book  of  the  Old  Testament  canon  forms  a  comprehensive  history,  which  recapitulates 
the  progress  of  the  people  of  God  from  Paradise  to  the  close  of  the  Babylonish  captivity  in 
a  peculiar  point  of  view,  partly  extracting,  partly  repeating,  and  partly  supplementing  the 
contents  of  the  earlier  canonical  books  of  history,  with  the  exception  of  the  books  of  Ezra 
Nehemiah.  and  Esther,  which  are  later  iu  point  of  contents  than  our  book. 

1.  The  first  or  gentahgical  portion  of  tlie  work  especially  extracts  or  summarily  recapitulates 
the  earlier  historical  books.  It  embraces  the  first  nine  chapters,  according  to  the  present 
division,  and  contains  the  genealogies  of  the  patriarchs,  the  twelve  tribes,  and  the  inhabitants 
of  Jerusalem,  till  the  beginning  of  the  kingdom  (occasionally  even  beyond  it),  in  order  to 
exhibit  the  genealogical  connection  of  David,  as  well  as  the  Levites  and  priests  of  his  time, 
with  the  antediluvian  patriarchs  of  the  human  race.  Only  here  and  there,  particularly  with 
respect  to  the  statements  concerning  the  tribes  of  Judah,  Simeon,  and  Levi,  this  form  ie 
changed  into  that  of  a  completion  or  enlargement  of  the  former  record  by  peculiar  genealogical 
or  historical  additions.  As  a  mere  repetition  of  the  statements  contained  in  the  earlier  books, 
appear  several  genealogical  notices  of  the  first  chapter;  for  example,  those  relating  to  the 
races  of  the  table  of  nations  and  the  princes  of  Edom  (Gen.  x.  36). 

2.  The  second  or  strictly  historical  portion  of  the  work  partly  repeats  and  partly  completes, 
sometimes  with  a  great  fulness  of  details,  the  historical  books  after  Moses  and  Joshua,  espe- 
cially the  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings.  It  extends  from  1  Chron.  x.  to  the  end  of  2  Chron.,  and 
mainly  presents  a  history  of  the  kings  of  Judah  from  David  to  Zedekiah,  or  rather  to  the  edict 
ot  Cyrus  at  the  close  of  the  Babylonish  captivity.  A  process  of  abbreviating,  of  only  sum- 
marily recapitulating,  and  even  of  wholly  passing  over  a  great  de.tl  of  historical  material,  now 
takes  place,  inasmuch  as  the  writer  ignores  the  facts  relating  to  the  private  life  of  David  and 
Solomon,  especially  when  they  are  unfavourable  to  their  moral  character,  and  in  the  time 
alter  Solomon  intentionally  turns  away  his  eye  from  the  fortunes  of  the  northern  kingdom, 
and  confines  himself  almost  exclusively  to  the  Jewish  history  of  this  period.  Yet  for  the 
whole  time  from  David  to  the  exile  he  appears  more  as  a  supplementer  than  as  a  concise 
repeater  of  the  authors  of  the  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings,  inasmuch  as  the  intrinsic  importance 
of  the  addition  made  by  him  almost  always  exceeds  that  of  the  passages  omitted,  and  both 
the  omission  and  the  addition  appear  to  have  in  view  certain  fixed  tendencies,  especially  the 
endeavour  to  glorify  the  theocratic  order  of  the  priests  and  Levites.  If  we  take  into  account 
this  particular  tendency,  as  well  as  the  altered  circumstances  in  which  he  wrote,  we  arrive  at 
the  following  points  as  characteristic  of  his  work,  compared  with  his  older  predecessors, 
especially  the  authors  of  the  books  of  Samuel  ami  Kings. 

(j.  The  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings  having  originated  (been  reduced  to  their  present  form) 
during  the  Babylonish  exile,  are  a  proper  Israelitish  national  work,  treating  the  history  of  both 
kingdoms,  Israel  and  Judah,  with  equal  attention  On  the  contrary,  the  Chronist  appears  as 
a  specially  Jewish  (Ju  laising)  writer,  who  belonged  to  the  time  after  the  exile,  possibly  even 
of  the  post-Persian  dominion  (Hellenic),  and  from  his  late  age  lay  too  remote  from  the  events 
of  the  once  existing  kingdom  of  Israel  ;  and,  moreover,  from  his  rigid  theocratic  position,  took 


THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES. 


so  little  interest  iu  the  fortunes  of  the  northern  king  loin,  that  he  excluded  them  altogethe: 
from  his  regard,  and  produced  merely  a  Jewish  chronicle. 

6.  The  standpoint  of  those  ol  ler  Israelitish  national  historians  is  that  of  the  prophet,  while 
the  younger  Jewish  Chronist  occupies  that  of  the  priest  and  the  Levite.  Whereas  the  former, 
in  accordance  with  the  total  depression,  the  apparently  almost  hopeless  destruction,  of  the 
Mosaic  temple  worship  iu  the  exile,  take  a  predominantly  spiritual  direction,  averse  to  the 
external  side  of  the  theocratic  worship,  the  latter,  writing  after  the  exile,  at  the  time  of 
the  restored  national  sanctuary,  exhibits  a  more  lively  interest  in  the  external  institutions  and 
modes  of  worship,  as  well  as  in  the  order  of  priests  and  Levites  appointed  to  fcike  charge  of  it. 
Troll-  this  sacerdotal  ecclesiastical  direction  there  follows  a  third  important  point  of  difference. 

c.  The  moral  causes  of  the  national  misfortune  that  broke  in  upon  the  people,  especially 
their  constantly-repeated  lapse  into  idolatry,  with  which  those  older  historians  were  most 
anxiously  engaged,  are  cast  into  the  shade,  and  often  studiously  ignored,  by  the  Chronist,  so 
that  in  the  picture  presented  by  him  there  appears  a  much  smaller  number  of  the  gloomy 
shailows  and  dark  spots  of  religious  apostasy,  and  consequent  national  humiliation  by  heavy 
divine  judgments.  While  the  former  obviously  follow  the  tendency  "  to  hold  up  to  them 
a  warning  picture,  in  the  tragic  history  of  the  Hebrew  natiou.  of  the  danger  of  the  relapse  of 
a  not  yet  elevate  1  people  among  heathen  nations,  and  in  the  narrative  of  the  successive  sins 
of  their  fathers  to  give  a  theodicy  to  the  race  already  bewildered  with  respect  to  the  promises 
and  the  faithfulness  of  Jehovah,  and  show  them  that  their  national  misfortunes  are  to  be 
ascribed  to  their  own  guilt ;  on  the  other  hand,  for  the  author  of  Chronicles,  who  lived  after 
the  exile,  from  which  time  the  people,  purified  by  affliction,  adhered  with  stern  obstinacy  to 
their  national  God,  and  who  no  longer  distinguishes  accurately  between  the  different  kinds  of 
ancient  superstition  (appears  indeed  to  identify  the  impure  Jehovah-worship  of  the  northern 
kingdom  with  complete  idolatry),  accounts  of  the  earlier  superstition  must  have  been  of  less 
consequence,  because  they  presented  to  him  less  didactic  matter  and  historical  interest  than  to 
the  authors  of  the  older  historical  work  "  (Movers). 

il.  With  this  is  connected  the  tone  of  panegyric  usual  with  our  author,  frequently  deviating 
from  the  unvarnished  manner  of  the  older  historians,  his  apologetic  endeavour  to  make  the 
heroes  of  the  foretime  and  their  deeds  to  stand  forth  in  the  most  glorious  light,  by  giving  pro- 
minence to  the  more  externally  than  internally  significant  and  ethically  important  moments, 
and  especially  by  statistical  data  concerning  the  greatness  of  the  temporal  and  spiritual  state 
of  the  kings,  the  magnitude  of  the  festivals  celebrated  by  them,  etc. 

e.  Finally,  with  regard  to  the  outward  form  of  representation,  the  younger  work  contrasts 
very  strongly  with  the  older.  As  well  by  its  less  pure  Hebrew  style,  presenting  so  many 
traces  of  a  late  age,  as  by  its  often  striking  monotony,  want  of  independence  and  poverty  of 
ideas,  its  dry  anualistic  method  of  statement  continued  through  long  sections,  and  its  inclination 
to  direct  copying  and  mere  transcribing  of  the  old  books  of  Kings,  it  falls  very  far  behind  the 
classical  originality,  the  fresh  and  genial  historiographic  skill  of  the  other. 

To  bring  these  differences  between  the  literary  peculiarity  of  the  two  parallel  elaborations 
of  the  history  of  the  people  of  God  till  the  exile  under  a  single  formula,  we  may  with  Keil 
distinguish  the  older  books  of  Kings  as  the  fruit  of  the  prophetic  form  of  history,  and  Chronicles 
as  the  product  of  the  hagiographic  mode.  Our  work,  indeed,  belongs  more  closely  to  that 
special  development  of  hagiographic  historiography,  which,  in  contrast  with  the  popular 
met'  od  of  the  books  of  Ruth  and  Esther  (and  witli  the  prophetic  mode  of  the  historic  sections 
of  Daniel),  may  be  termed  the  socenlnto-Levitlcal,  and  in  which  the  preference  for  annalistic 
statement  (appearing  also  in  the  books  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  the  continuations  of  Chronicles) 
must  be  accounted  eminently  characteristic.  Keil1  justly  denies  that  any  one  of  these  special 
moments,  whether  popularity,  the  sacerdoto-Levitical,  or  the  annalistic  character,  should  be 
applied  to  the  collective  historical  works  of  the  hagiographic  part  of  the  canon.  "  Common  to 
the  collective  hagiographic  books  of  history,  and  characteristic  of  them,  is  simply  the  retreat 
or  the  absence  of  the  prophetic  view  of  the  course  of  history  according  to  the  divine  plan  of 
salvation  unfolding  itself  in  the  events,  instead  of  which  appear  individual  points  of  view  that 
6how  themselves  in  the  prosecution  of  parenetic,  didactic  ends,  and  have  a  definite  influence 
on  the  selection  and  treatment  of  the  facts." 

1  Bill.  Comment,  on  Chron.,  Ezr.,  Nah.y  and  Esth.,  Introd.  p.  viii 


INTRODUCTION. 


§  2.    NAME    OF   CHRONICLES.       RELATION   TO   THE    BOOKS   OF    EZRA   AND    NEHEMIAH. 

Of  the  two  most  widely  accepted  designations  of  our  historical  work,  the  one  pointing  to 
its  annalistic  character,  the  other  to  the  relation  of  supplement  or  completion  which  it  bears 
to  the  older  books  of  Kings,  the  former  rests  on  the  Hebrew  phrase  B'DVI  '"QT  This  phrase, 
before  which,  according  to  1  Kings  xiv.  19,  29,  sv.  7,  23,  the  word  12D  (or,  according  to  Esth. 
vi-  1,  DUhirr  ISD)  is  to  be  supplied,  means  "  events  of  the  day,  course  of  events"  (res  gtsta 
dierum).  ami  thus  presents  our  work  as  a  "Book  of  current  events,"  as  a  "Chronicle:"  which 
name,  not  as  a  literal,  but  a  correct  rendering  of  D'DVl  *"OT,  has  been  made  current  by  Jerome 
for  the  Latin,  and  by  Luther  for  the  German  Church.1  So  far  as  this  denomination  in  the 
quoted  passages  of  the  01 1  Testament  refers  to  divers  other  historical  works,  in  particular  to 
those  old  Israelitish  royal  annals  often  quoted  by  our  Chronist,  the  "  books  of  the  Chronicles 
of  the  Kings  of  Israel  and  Judah  "  (as  in  Esth.  ii.  23,  vi.  1,  x.  2,  the  Medo-Persian  royal  annals, 
the  "book  of  the  Chronicles  of  the  Kings  of  Media  and  Persia"),  it  appears  to  be  a  rather 
indefinite  designation,  by  which  our  work  should  be  distinguished  quite  generally  as  belonging 
to  the  class  of  annalijtic  works  covering  a  long  space  of  time.  Whether  this  name  proceeds 
from  the  author  himself,  or  owes  its  origin  to  a  later  (certainly  very  old,  and  at  all  events 
pre-Masoretic)  tradition,  at  any  rate,  the  denomination  brought  into  currency  by  tin  Sept. 
n«o«As/~o',£4sy*  (liber  Paralipomenon)  is  more  significant  for  the  characteristic  position  and 
import  of  the  work  as  a  historical  book,  especially  for  its  relation  to  the  earlier  historical 
books  of  the  canon.  For  this  name,  which  is  to  be  explained,  not  with  Movers,  by  supple- 
menta,  relics  from  other  historical  works,  but,  in  accordance  with  the  patristic  tradition  in 
Pseudo-Athanasius  (Synopsis  Scr.  S..  in  Atkanasii  Opp.  ii.  p.  83:  nusuteiQdii/Tx  toaXsc  vj  tui; 
(5x<ii\iiu.i:  -mii-^iTui  i»  tovtois),  in  Jerome  (Ep.  ad  Paulin:  .  .  .  "prxtermissx  in  Rei/um 
tibris  hi<t<>rir:"2)  and  Isidore  of  Seville  (Origen,  lib.  vi.  c.  1,  p.  45:  ''Paralipomenon 
grsece  dicitur,  quod  prsetermissorum  vel  reiiquorum  nos  dicere  possumus,"1  etc.).  by  "omitted, 
overlooked  in  the  other  historical  works,"  sets  forth  in  a  striking  manner  the  position  taken 
by  our  author  as  the  supplementer  of  the  prophetical  historians,  and  has  therefore  the  advant  ige 
over  the  Hebrew  denomination  of  greater  definiteness,  although  it  appears  neither  quite  free 
from  misapprehension  nor  adapted  to  the  collective  characteristics  of  our  history. 

Our  work,  moreover,  forms,  according  to  its  original  plan,  as  well  as  the  oldest  tradition, 
only  one  "book  of  annals"  or  supplements,  for  not  only  the  old  numeration  of  the  books  of 
the  Old  Testament  in  Josephus  (c.  Ap.  i.  8),  Origen  (in  Euseb.  //.  Eccl.  vi.  25),  and  Jerome 
(Prolog,  galea!.),  according  to  which  the  canon  consists  of  twenty-two  books,  but  also  the 
later  computation  made  by  Jerome  and  in  the  Talmud  (Baba  balhra.  fol.  14),  extending  to 
twenty-four  books,  recognises  only  one  book  of  Chronicles;  and  that  the  Masora  regarded  it 
as  a  single  work  is  evident  from  the  remark  at  the  close  of  its  text,  that  1  Chron.  xxvii.  25 
forms  the  middle  of  the  whole.  The  present  general  division  (even  in  the  recent  Hebrew 
editions)  into  two  books,  springs  from  the  Alexandrine  translators  and  Jerome  their  follower, 
and  may  have  been  occasioned  on  their  part  by  the  existence  of  some  great  section  or  interval 
at  the  point  of  division,  1  Chron.  xxix.  29  f  ,  in  the  majority  of  older  Hebrew  mss.  This 
bipartition  of  the  work  (which  even  Melito  of  Sardis  knew,  Euseb.  H.  Eccl.  iv.  26,  as  his  list 
of  the  holy  scriptures  includes  n«o«A?/-o«i»ai/  aCo)  cannot  be  regarded  as  unsuitable,  since. 
apart  from  the  almost  equal  length  of  the  two  parts,  the  end  of  the  reign  of  David,  on  which 
the  writer  dwells  with  greater  fulness  than  on  that  of  any  other  king,  presented  a  most  fitting 
point  of  pause  and  division. 

The  identity  of  the  close  -f  the  second  book,  ch.  xxxvi.  22  f.,  with  the  beginning  of  the 
book  of  Ezra,  especially  as  the  passage  presents  no  truly  satisfactory  close  for  our  work,  raises 
the  expectation  that  some  connection  exists  between  it  and  the  latter  book.  In  favour  of  this 
is  farther  the  close  affinity  of  the  style  of  each,  the  mode  of  quoting  the  law  common  to  both. 

'Jerome's  Prolog,  galeat. :  Dibrc  hajamim,  i.e.  verba  dierum,  quod  signijicantius  chronicon  totius 
divinze  historian  possumus  appellor?,  qui  liber  apud  nos  Paralipomenon  primus  et  secundus  inscribitur. 

2  The  whole  passage  {Opp.  ed.  Vallars.  t.  i.  p.  279)  runs  thus:  Paralipomenon  liber,  i.e.  instrument* 
ceteris  epitome,  tantus  et  talis  est,  ut  absque  Ulo,  si  quis  scientiam  seripturarum  sibi  volueril  arrogare,  "t 
ipsum  irriiieat ;  per  singtda  quippc  nomiita  juncturasque  rerborum  et  pr&termigtto?  in  Bcgutn  librie  tan- 
yuntur  histories  et  innumerabiles  explica«tur  tvangclii  ouastiones. 


THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES. 


is  well  as  the  decided  preference  of  both  for  genealogical  registers,  statistical  lists,  and  minute 
descriptions  of  acts  of  religion,  in  which  also  the  same  formula}  are  not  seldom  used  (see 
Remark),  .As  no  small  part  of  these  idioms  belong  also  to  the  book  of  Nehemiah,  the  hypothesis 
is  natural,  that  the  three  books,  even  if  proceeding  from  different  authors,  have  been  subjected 
to  a  common  revision  by  a  later  writer.  This  hypothesis  is  more  probable  than  both  the 
other  attempts  to  solve  the  problem,  namely,  that  either  Chronicles  and  Ezra  (Movers),  or 
Chronicles.  Ezra,  and  Nehemiah  (Zunz,  Ew.,  Berth.,  Uillm.,  Davidson,  etc.),  originally  formed 
a  single  work  proceeding  from  one  author.  For  in  such  unity  of  origin  of  the  three  works, 
their  separation  before  the  close  of  the  canon  into  three  or  (in  case  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  having 
originally  formed  one  work)  into  two  books  remains  purely  inexplicable.  The  author  of  such 
separation  would  have  had  no  rational  ground  for  retaining  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  22,  23  at  the  same 
time  as  the  close  of  the  first  and  the  opening  of  the  second  part.  The  double  place  of  these 
verses  leads  much  rather  to  a  common  redactor  of  the  two  writings  than  to  an  identity  of 
amhor.  The  majority  also  of  the  already-mentioned  common  idioms,  and  other  qualities,  are 
sufficiently  explaiued  by  the  hypothesis,  that  the  present  very  homogeneous  form  of  the  two, 
or  at  most  three  pieces,  arises  partly  from  having  proceeded  from  the  same  circle  of  sacerdotal 
and  Levities!  views,  endeavours,  and  learned  researches,  and  partly  from  having  gone  through 
the  hands  of  the  same  redactor.  And  even  if  one  author  of  the  two  or  three  works  must  be 
affirmed,  there  can  be  as  little  doubt  of  the  fact,  that  he  conceived  Chronicles  as  an  indepen- 
dent and  separate  work,  as  of  the  independence  and  original  distinctness  of  the  books  of  Ezra 
and  Nehemiah,  which  are  clearly  separated  from  one  another  in  the  Hebrew  text  by  the  new 
superscription,  Neh.  i.  1.  Comp.  §  8.  [There  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  one  author  may  not 
continue  the  work  of  another  on  the  same  plan  and  in  a  similar  style. — J.  G.  M.] 

Remark. — On  the  numerous  verbal  points  of  contact  noticed  by  Pareau,  In.ititutio  inlerpr. 
V.  T.  p.  419, l  between  Chronicles  and  Ezra,  applying  also  in  great  part  to  the  book  of 
Nehemiah,  see  Movers,  Krit.  Unterxuchungen,  p.  17  f.  ;  Havernick,  Eial.  ii.  1,  269  ff.,  and 
especially  Bertheau,  Km-zr/ef.  exeg.  Handb.,  Einleit.  p.  xix.  f .  The  latter  recounts :  a.  a 
number  of  like  grammatical  inflections  and  constructions,  namely.  1.  The  short  way  of  sub- 
ordinating relative  clauses  by  placing  them  after  a  construct  state  (1  Chron.  xxix.  3 ;  2  Chi  on. 
xxxi.  19:  Ezra  i.  5;  Neh.  viii.  10);  2.  The.  use  of  the  infinitive  with  ?  to  express  must  or 
shall  (1  Chron.  v.  1,  ix.  25,  xiii.  4,  xv.  2,  etc.;  2  Chron.  ii.  8,  viii.  13,  xi.  22,  etc.  ;  Ezra  iv.  3, 
x.  12  ;  Neh.  viii.  13)  ;  3.  The  extremely  frequent  use  of  the  prep.  7.  partly  before  the  object 
as  nota  nccusativi,  partly  after  an  accus.  in  continuation  (1  Chron.  xxviii.  1  :  2  Chron.  xxvi.  14, 
xxviii.  15,  xxxiii.  8  ;  Neh.  ix.  32),  especially  before  72,  to  include  all  in  enumerations  (1  Chron. 
xiii.  1  ;  2  Chron.  v.  12;  Ezra  i.  5,  vii.  28;  Neh.  xi.  2),  after  the  prep.  1J?,  where  in  former 
usage  the  word  subordinate  to  this  followed  immediately  (1  Chron.  xxviii.  7,  20;  2  Chron. 
xiv.  12,  xvi.  12,  14,  xvii.  12,  etc.;  Ezra  iii.  13,  ix.  4,  C.  x.  14)  before  the  adverbial  infin. 
nain  (2  Chron.  xi.  12,  xvi.  8;  Neh.  v.  18);  4.  The  abundant  use  of  prepositions  in  general, 
for  example,  in  such  phrases  as  TJJ  1J,\  Neh.  iii.  2G ;  DNJ"lD3,  2  Chron.  xxix.  30;  QDVa,  Neh. 
ix.  19  ;  5.  The  placing  of  the  article  before  a  verb  for  the  pron.  relat.  (1  Chron.  xxvi.  28, 
xx^x.  8,  17  ;  2  Chron.  xxix.  36.  xxxiv.  32;  Ezra  viii.  25,  x.  14,  17  ;  Neh.  ix.  33).  Moreover, 
Bertheau  himself  is  obliged  to  acknowledge  with  regard  to  these  constructions,  that  "  they 
occur  occasionally  also  in  other  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  especially  the  later."  That  they 
may  be  laid  to  the  account,  of  the  idiom  of  one  single  author  of  the  books  compared,  will  be 
the  less  evident,  because  some  of  these  constructions,  as  the  quoted  passages  show,  occur  not 
more  than  once  in  any  one  of  these  writings,  and  therefore  by  no  means  belong  to  the  pro- 
minent characteristics  of  their  style. 

b.  On  the  contrary,  single  phrases  quoted  by  him,  or  standing  constructions  of  certain 
words,  point  somewhat  more  definitely  to  identity  of  authorship.  Thus  the  construction 
nii'lKn  ''SJ?,   2  Chron.  xiii.  9;    Ezra  iii.   3,  ix.    1,   2,   11  ;    Neh.   ix.   30,   x.   29   (comp.   also 

niVINH  WD,  Ezra  ix.  7:  '"lKn  U".'",  2  Chron.  xv.  5;  '-itfn  «ij,  2  Chron.  xxxii.  13,  17,  etc.) 
27  |*3n,  1  Chron.  xxix.  18;  2  Chron.  xii.  14,  xix.  3,  xx.  33,  xxx.  19;  Ezra  vii.  10;  pan  in 

1  Quod  peeuliare  est  in  dietiove  utriusque  libri  Chron  ico-rvm,  id  diinu  iii  dirtionc  HWi,  qui  Ezra 
U-ifjiiitur  auctori  ejtisque  nomen  pne  se  fert,  animadvertitur,  qvatenus  lingua  Hebraiea  conseriptus  est. 


INTRODUCTION. 


several  otlier  constructions;  D'njnn,  "to  offer  freely  at  the  temple,"  1  Chron.  xxix.  5,  6,  9, 
14,  17  ;  2  Chron.  xvii.  16  ;  Ezra  i.  6,  ii.  68,  iii.  5  ff. ;  Neh.  xi.  2  ;  rn3,  2  Chron.  xiv.  13,  xxviii.  14  ; 
Ezra  ix.  7;  Neh.  iii.  36;  pap,  1  Chron.  xii.  18,  xxi.  11;  2  Chron.  xxix.  10;  Ezra  viii.  30; 
nirp  1V3  n3X?tp  (or  D'npX  '2  'O),  I  Chron.  xxiii.  4,  xxvi.  30  ;  Ezra  iii.  6,  vi.  22  ;  Neh. 
x.  34,  xi.  22,  etc.  Vet  all  those  phrases  occur  not  exclusively  in  our  books,  but  occasionally 
elsewhere  (3l3rin,  for  example,  in  Judg.  v.  2,  9  ;  nii'lNil  in  several  constructions  also,  2  Kings 
xviii.  35,  and  often  in  Ezek. ;  ni3  also  in  Esther  and  Daniel,  p3p  there  also,  and  in  Prov. 
and  Job,  etc.).  Actual  idioms  of  the  books  of  Chron.,  Ezra,  and  Neh.,  from  which  tlieii 
derivation  from  one  author  may  seem  to  follow,  are  properly  only  such  phrases  as  DHDV  ^>y, 
2  Chron.  xxx.  16,  xxxv.  10;  Neh.  viii.  7,  ix.  3,  xiii.  11 ;  nnn,  1  Chron.  xvi.  27  ;  Neh.  viii.  10; 
Ezra  vi.  16  ;  -ii-23,  '■  basin,"  1  Chron.  xxviii.  17 ;  Ezra  i.  10,  viii.  27  ;  pimo^>  1J7,  2  Chron. 
xxvi.  15 ;  Ezra  iii.  13  (comp.  the  other  constructions  with  p  TJ  in  2  Chron.  xvi.  14,  xxvi.  8, 
xxxvi.  16,  etc.)  ;  D'TUID  in  the  plur.,  2  Chron.  xxx.  22  ;  Neh.  ix.  3  ;  comp.  Ezra  x.  1 ;  nj^B, 
of  divisions  of  the  Levites,  2  Chron.  xxxv.  5  ;  Ezra  vi.  18.  To  this  may  be  added  such  phrases 
and  formulae  resting  on  the  priestly  and  legal  ideas  and  facts  of  these  books,  as  L3Su'S3- 

1  Chron.  xxiii.  31  ;  2  Chron.  xxxv.  13,  xxx.  16  ;  Ezra  iii.  4 ;  Neh.  viii.  18  (this  phrase  is 
peculiar  to  our  books,  while  the  synonymous  miF13  31D33  occurs  often  in  the  older  writings); 

nirPP  ippni  Vlin,  1  Chron.  xvi.  4,  xxiii.  30,  xxv.  3,  etc.  ;  Ezra  iii.  11  ;  likewise  the  liturgical 
form  ppnp?  nilinp,  and  "  for  He  is  good,  for  His  grace  eudureth  for  ever,"  1  Chron.  xvi.  34,  41 ; 

2  Chron.  v.  13  ;  Ezra  iii.  11  ;  not  less  the  standing  phrases  in  describing  festivals,   nnob'3 

(1  Chron.  xii.  40,  xxix.  9,  17 ;  2  Chron.  xv.  15,  xx.  27,  xxix.  30,  36,  xxxi.  23,  26 ;  Ezra  iii.  12) 
and  TTI  'T-pJ>  (1  Chron.  xxv.  2,  6;  2  Chron.  xxiii.  18,  xxix.  27;  Ezra  iii.  10);  lastly,  the 

official  names  of  certain  temple  ministers  and  sacred  musicians  found  only  in  our  books, 
especially  D'JTU,  D'Tlit'Qn  and  DT1PVD.     If  we  add  to  these  common  properties,  extending 

even  to  literal  agreement  in  expression,  the  preference  in  these  three  writings  for  genealogies 
and  lists  of  officers  and  the  like  (comp.  1  Chron.  i.-ix. ;  Ezra  iii.,  vii.  1-5,  viii.,  x.  20  ft'.  ;  Neh. 
vii.  6  ff.,  x.  1  ff.,  xi.,  xii.),  as  well  as  the  great  prominence  of  the  temple  musicians  and  porters 
as  an  institution  mentioned  with  peculiar  interest  (1  Chron.  vi.  16  ff.,  ix.  14  ff.,  xv.  16  ff., 
xvi.  4  ff.,  xxiii.  5,  xxv.  1  ff.,  xxvi.  12  ff. ;  2  Chron.  v.  12  ff.,  viii.  14  ff.,  xxiii.  13  ff.,  xxxi.  11  ff.. 
xxxiv.  12  f.,  xxxv.  15;  Ezra  ii.  42,  70,  iii.  10  f.,  vii.  7,  x.  24;  Neh.  vii.  1,  45,  x.  29,  xi.  17  ff., 
xii.  24  ff.,  xiii.  5),  there  grows  up  a  certain  probability  for  the  presumption  of  one  author  for 
the  three  writings  in  question.  But  this  presumption  cannot  be  regarded  as  "  altogether 
established"  and  "fully  demonstrated"  (Bertheau,  p.  xx.).  The  great  majority  of  the 
coincidences  adduced  are  sufficiently  explained  by  supposing  a  plurality  of  authors,  nearly  of 
the  same  date,  inspired  by  a  like  Levitico-sacerdotal  interest  and  impulse,  drawing  from  the 
like  sources,  of  whom  the  last,  in  order  to  produce  a  uniform  edition  of  these  similar  historical 
works,  submitted  his  two  predecessors  to  a  common  revision.  Comp.  on  the  other  hand,  Keil 
(Comment,  p.  15  ff.),  who,  however,  certainly  derives  at  least  two  of  the  works  in  question. 
Chronicles  and  Ezra,  from  one  author;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  Bleek,  Einleit.  ins  A.  T. 
(2d  edit.  §  171,  p.  404),  who,  coming  nearer  the  truth,  claims  distinct  authors  for  the  three 
books,  but  regards  the  author  of  Chronicles  as  the  last  writer  and  the  redactor  of  the  books  ot 
Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  The  question  not  immediately  affecting  our  problem,  whether  the  books 
of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  are  to  be  regarded  as  forming  originally  one  work,  or  as  independent 
productions  of  different  authors,  will  have  to  be  incidentally  treated  in  the  following  investiga- 
tion concerning  the  author  of  our  book  and  the  time  of  its  composition. 

[The  arguments  from  the  above  phenomena  for  a  redaction  of  these  books  are  not  con- 
vincing. An  author  writing  in  the  language  of  the  people,  especially  in  the  East,  will  use 
and  repeat  the  current  phrases  of  his  day.  The  rise  of  new  habits,  objects,  and  acts  will 
demand  new  words  and  constructions  for  their  expression.  These  two  circumstances  are 
nearly  sufficient  to  account  for  all  the  diversities  and  identities  that  have  been  noted,  without 
having  recourse  to  the  hypothesis  of  one  author  or  one  redactor.  A  familiarity  with  the  pre- 
vious authors  of  the  Old  Testament  will  probably  balance  the  account. — J.  G.  M.] 


THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES. 


§  3.    AUTHOR,   AND   TIME   OF   COMPOSITION. 

As  Chronicles  at  its  close  mentions  the  edict  of  Cyrus  permitting  the  return  of  the  Jews 
from  the  Babylonish  exile  (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  22  f.),  and  in  1  Chrou.  iii.  19-24  it  traces  the 
descendants  of  Zerubbabel  through  six  generations  (see  the  exposition  of  the  passage  and 
Remark  at  the  end  of  the  section),  it  cannot  have  been  composed,  or  at  least  put  in  its  present 
form,  before  the  time  of  Zerubbabel,  or  for  a  considerable  time  after  Ezra.  With  \n  average 
of  thirty  years  for  each  of  the  generations  after  Zerubbabel,  the  last,  consisting  of  tlie  seven 
sons  of  Elioenai,  must  be  supposed  to  flourish  after  the  year  350  B.C.  The  last  decade  of  the 
Persian  monarchy,  if  not  the  beginning  of  the  Grecian  period,  is,  moreover,  indicated  by  several 
other  circumstances,  among  which  are  the  following: — 

a.  The  computation  employed  in  1  Chron.  xxix.  7  (in  the  history  of  David)  by  Dariks. 
D^'sTIX.  a  Persian  gold  coin,  occurring  also  in  the  books  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah, — that,  whether 

first  stamped  under  Darius  Hystaspis  or  not,  refers  the  time  of  the  composition  of  the  work  to 
the  Persian  sway  over  the  Jews,  or  even  some  time  after  it; ' 

b.  The  name  fTVa,  castle,  likewise  indicating  the  Persian  period,  designates  the  temple  as 

a  magnificent  building  (1  Chron.  xxix.  1,  19), — a  term  only  occurring  elsewhere  in  the  books 
of  Esther  and  Xehemiah,  which  there  designates  either  the  palace  of  the  Persian  monarch 
(Esth.  i.  2,  5,  ii.  3,  8;  Neh.  i.  1),  or  the  castle  near  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  the  later  BSici; 
(Neh.  ii.  8,  vii.  2); 

c.  The  orthography  and  Chaldaizing  style  betraying  a  pretty  late  age  (comp.  Remark  on 

§2); 

d.  The  position  of  the  work  in  the  canon  as  the  last  of  the  Hagiographa,  and  thus  after  the 
books  of  Ezra  and  Xehemiah,  to  which  it  would  scarcely  have  been  subjoined  by  the  collectors, 
if  any  certain  knowledge  of  its  composition  before  or  even  contemporary  with  them  had 
existed  in  Jewish  tradition  ; 

e.  The  circumstance  that  the  books  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  for  which,  on  account  of  the 
already  adduced  verbal  and  other  coincidences  with  our  books,  au  almost  identical  date  of 
composition  must,  be  asserten,  must  have  been  already  written  a  considerable  time  after  their 
heroes  and  traditional  authors,  as  the  proper  memoirs  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  were  used  a* 
sources  in  them, — the  age  of  these  men  (Neh.  xii.  26,  47)  is  represented  as  already  in  the 
distant  past;  and,  moreover,  lists  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Levites  (Neh.  xii.  23)  and  of  the  hiyh 
priests  (Neh.  xii.  10  ff.)  are  given  therein,  that  extend  down  to  Jaddua.  the  holder  of  the 
high  priest's  office  in  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great.  That  this  Jaddua,  according  to 
Josephus  (Autiij.  xi.  8),  high  priest  during  the  last  years  of  the  Persian  Empire,  as  well  as 
under  Alexander,  was  a  contemporary  of  the  author  of  the  book  of  Nehemiah.  appears  in  fact 
very  probable,  according  to  the  twelfth  chapter  of  the  book.  Yet  Ewald  and  Bertheau  have 
gone  too  far,  when  they  infer,  from  the  manner  in  which  both  in  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  Cyrua 
and  his  successors  are  constantly  mentioned  as  Persian  kings  (Ezra  i.  1,  iv.  5:  comp.  iv.  7, 
vi.  1,  etc.),  that  the  Grecian  monarchy  had  already  commenced.  The  author  might  consider 
it  suitable  to  give  prominence  to  the  Persian  nationality  of  these  kings,  in  contrast  with  the 
former  kings  of  Judah.  And  all  else  that,  after  Spinoza,  has  been  urged  by  de  AVette. 
Berthold,  Gramberg,  and  others  (recently  again  by  Ndldecke,  Die  alttestamentl.  Literat.,  1868. 
p.  63  f.).  fur  the  origin  of  the  book  under  the  Macedonic  or  the  Seleucidic  government,  amounts 
only  to  hypercritical  conjectures  (comp.  Keil,  Ajmlog.  Versuch,  p.  17  ff.  ;  Havernick,  hint.  ii. 
274  ff.). 

If  our  book  appears  from  the  above  considerations,  especially  those  adduced  under  c-e,  tc 
belong  to  a  time  falling  after  Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  it  is  impossible  for  Ezra  himself  to  be  the 
author.  The  Talmud,  indeed,  regarded  him  as  the  common  originator  of  the  book  called  after 
him  and  of  Chronicles  (Bala  bathr.  fol.  lo,  1  :  Esra  scripsit  librum  suum  et  gentalogiam  in  libra 
Chronicorum  usque  ad  se),  in  which  it  was  followed  by  most  Rabbins,  some  Fathers,  as  Theo- 

'  That  the  composition  must  have  taken  place  during  the  Persian  rule,  and  before  Alexander  the 
Great,  can  scarcely  be  inferred  from  the  mention  of  this  coin  (against  Movers).  For  as  Bleek  justly 
remarks,  p.  3'.tS  :  "It  may  well  be  imagined,  and  is  in  itself  quite  natural,  that  a  silver  or  gold  coin, 
once  introduced  into  the  country  and  extensively  circulated,  will  continue  in  currency  lung  after  the 
dvnusty  that  coined  it  has  ceased  to  rule." 


INTRODUCTION.  9 


loret,  and  later  theologians,  as  Carpzov,  Heidegger,  Paieau,  Starke,  Lunge,  Eichhorn  {Einl 
iii.  597  ff.),  Havernick,  Welte,  Keil  {Apolog.  Versuch,  p.  144  ff.,  Einl.  p.  497;  comp.  Comment. 
p.  14),  and  Jul.  Fiirst  (Gesch.  derbibl.  Lit.  ii.  210,  5:37  ff.),  and  others.  But  he  can  no  more 
have  written  the  book  of  Chronicles  than  the  book  of  Ezra  itself.  Both  belong  notoriously 
to  a  later  age;  and  in  view  of  their  manifold  internal  and  external  connection,  the  hypothesis 
of  Movers,  that  a  writer  living  some  centuries  after  Ezra  wrote  both  works  as  a  continuous 
whole,  though  afterwards  separated  (Mov.  Krit.  Unters.  p.  14  ff.),  would  commend  itself,  were 
it  not  necessary  to  take  into  account  the  relation  of  the  book  of  Nehemiah  to  both,  and  to 
admit  some  sort  of  connection  among  the  three  books.  To  show  that  this  consists  in  being 
derived  from  the  same  author  has  been  attempted  by  Zunz  {Gottestlienstl.  Voririi  ;e  der  Juihn, 
Berlin  1832,  p.  18  ff.),  Ewald  {Gesch.  des  v.  Isr.  i.  p.  264.  2d  edit.),  Bertheau  (Kurzyef.  exet) 
Uandb.,  Einl.  p.  15),  Graf  {Die  geschicHl.  Backer  des  A.  T.  p.  114  ff.),  Dillmann  (in  Herzog's 
Real-Encycl,  Art.  "  Chronik "),  Davidson  {lutrod.  to  the  Old  Test.  ii.  p.  115  sq.).  They 
have  regarded  the  books  of  Chronicles,  Ezra,  and  Nehemiah  as  three  constituent  parts  of  a 
single  historical  work,  composed  in  the  end  of  the  Persian  or  the  opening  of  the  Grecian 
period.     But  against  this  are  the  following  considerations : — 

1.  The  identity  of  Ezra  i.  1-3  with  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  22  f.,  which  is  more  easily  understood 
if  we  regard  it  as  the  work  of  a  redactor  who  wished  to  show  the  second  of  the  two  originally 
separate  works  to  be  a  kind  of  continuation  of  the  first,  than  if  we  suppose  that  the  narrative 
originally  proceeded  from  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  23  to  Ezra  i.  4,  and  then,  after  rending  the  two 
books  asunder,  the  opening  words  of  the  second  concerning  the  edict  of  Cyrus  were  repeated 
at  the  close  of  the  first.  Comp.  Keil,  Comm.  p.  14  f. :  "  For  such  a  separation  with  an  addi- 
tion there  seems  to  be  no  ground,  especially  as  the  edict  of  Cyrus  must  be  repeated.  The 
introduction  of  this  edict  with  the  words,  '  And  in  the  first  year  of  Cyrus,  king  of  Persia,  that 
the  word  of  the  Lord  by  the  mouth  of  Jeremiah  might  be  fulfilled,  etc.,'  is  so  closely  connected 
with  the  close  of  the  description  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  carrying  away  of 
Judah  to  Babylon,  '  and  they  were  servants  to  him  (King  Nebuchadnezzar)  and  his  sons  until 
the  reign  of  the  Persians,  to  fulfil  the  word  of  the  Lord  by  the  mouth  of  Jeremiah  ...  to 
fulfil  seventy  years,'  ver.  20  f.,  that  the  edict  of  Cyrus  cannot  be  separated  from  the  fore- 
going ;  much  rather  must  the  same  author,  who  wrote  vers.  20,  21,  and  represented  the 
seventy  years  of  exile  as  the  fulfilment  of  Jeremiah's  prophecy,  have  also  mentioned  the  edict 
of  Cyrus,  and  connected  it  with  this  prophecy.    This  connection  of  the  edict  with  that  prophecy 

•  furnishes  an  incontrovertible  proof  that  the  verses  containing  the  edict  form  an  integral  part 
of  Chronicles."  On  the  whole,  the  supposition  of  a  supplementary  separation  of  a  history 
originally  forming  one  whole  is  attended  with  serious  difficulties ;  and  neither  the  apparently 
somewhat  abrupt  close  of  Chronicles,  as  it  now  stands  (with  ">jh,  "  And  let  him  go  up  "),  nor 

the  circumstance  that  the  opening  words  of  Ezra,  though  verbally  coinciding  in  general  with 
the  closing  words  of  Chronicles,  yet  differ  from  them  in  some  particulars  (namely,  for  *Q3  of 
S  Chron.  xxxvi.  22,  150,  and  for  fey  VffJK  nin"   of  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  23,  'j/  '|>K  \T),  can  be 

satisfactorily  reconciled  with  the  hypothesis  of  separation,  both  phenomena  agreeing  be  ter 
with  the  supposition,  that  the  conforming  hand  of  a  later  redactor  had  established  a  coincidence 
in  the  main  between  two  passages  that  were  originally  somewhat  different. 

2.  The  plan,  also,  of  the  books  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  clearly  aiming  at  the  presentation  of 
contemporary  or  very  recent  history,  speaks  against  the  hypothesis  of  their  original  immediate 
connection  with  the  book  of  Chronicles.  Whatever  there  is  in  the  plan  of  this  work,  or  in 
the  position  of  the  writer,  with  respect  to  the  sources  used  by  him  resembling  the  historio- 
graphic  method  of  the  other  two  books,  is  easily  explained  by  supposing  the  authors  to  be 
guided  in  general  by  the  same  views,  and  to  write  in  the  same,  or  nearly  the  same  times. 

3.  And  as  neither  these  merely  subordinate  resemblances  of  plan  and  form,  nor  the  already 
mentioned  verbal  and  orthographical  coincidences,  suffice  to  disprove  the  independent  charac- 
ter of  the  three  works,  neither  can  the  circumstance,  that  the  author  of  the  apocryphal  third 
book  of  Ezra,  from  the  way  in  which  he  strings  together  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  21  and  Ezra  i.  1, 
seems  not  to  have  been  acquainted  with  the  separation  of  Chronicles  from  Ezra,  nor  the 
phenomenon  parallel  to  this  circumstance,  that  the  Talmud,  the  Masora,  and  the  ancient 
Christian  Church  count  the  books  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  generally  as  one  book.  At  the 
ground  of  this  latter  phenomenon  obviously  lies  the  Jewish  endeavour  not  to  let  the  number 


10  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES. 


of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  exceed  that  of  the  twenty-two  letters  of  the  Hebrew 
alphabet  (Origen  in  Euseb.  H.  Eccl.  vi.  25;  Jerome,  Prol.  gal.;  Talmud,  Baba  bathr.,  in 
Buxtorf,  Tiberias,  c.  xi.  p.  108  sqq.), — an  endeavour  from  which  the  oldest  Church  Fathers, 
in  their  lists  of  the  canonical  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament,  were  not  free,  and  of  which  the 
circumstance  that  two  of  the  oldest  stss.  of  the  Septuagint,  the  cod.  Alexandrinus  and  tke 
Friderico-Augustanus,  separate  the  book  of  Nehemiah  by  no  interval  from  that  of  Ezra  (comp. 
Tischendorf's  Vetus  Testamentum  juxta  LXX.  Interprets,  edit.  iv.  1869,  T.  I.  p.  611),  must  be 
regarded  as  a  later  effect. 

If,  according  to  all  this,  the  connection  of  these  three  books  is  not  to  be  viewed  as  a  unity, 
forbidding  their  original  independent  existence,  and  if,  notwithstanding  all  traces  of  an  almost 
contemporary  origin,  no  common  author  needs  to  be  assumed  for  them,  nothing  is  more 
natural  than  to  regard  one  of  the  two  or  three  supposed  authors  as  the  originator  of  that 
redactional  conformation  on  which  the  present  affinity  and  mutual  relation  of  the  three 
hooks,  so  far  as  it  betrays  the  hand  of  a  literary  reviser,  depends.  And  in  all  probability 
this  redactor  was  the  author  of  Chronicles,  as  a  compilation  presupposing  the  existence  of  the 
other  two,  and  adapting  itself  to  them.  The  already  extant  works  concerning  Ezra  and 
Nehemiah,  proceeding  perhaps  from  the  younger  contemporaries  of  these  men,  may  have 
served  as  the  occasion  and  impulse  to  this  writer  to  present  the  previous  history  of  God's 
people  in  a  like  spirit  of  Levitical,  priestly  pragmatism,  and  in  a  similar  annalistic  method, 
and  so  to  project  his  review  of  the  progress  of  the  kingdom  of  God  from  Adam  to  the  end  of 
the  exile,  running  parallel  with  the  earlier  historical  books,  which  he  partly  supplements  and 
partly  abstracts.  That  he  prefixed  the  closing  verses  of  this  work  as  an  introduction  to  its 
sequel  the  book  of  Ezra,  to  mark  externally  the  connection  of  the  two  works,  must  be  con- 
sidered more  probable  from  the  above  remarks,  than  the  reverse  hypothesis  of  Bleek,  that  "  he 
brought  over  the  first  verses  of  that  work  (Ezra)  as  the  close  of  this  latter."  Comp.  through- 
out Bleek,  Einl.  §  171,  p.  404  f.,  with  whose  representation  of  the  origin  of  our  three  works 
we  only  differ  on  this  subordinate  point,  while  we  must  regard  it  otherwise  as  the  most  satis- 
factory solution  of  the  present  question. 

Concerning  the  person  of  this  author  of  Chronicles  and  final  redactor  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah, 
who  belonged  to  the  last  years  of  the  Persian  dynasty,  only  this  can  be  established,  that  he 
must  have  belonged  to  the  Levites  of  the  second  temple,  and  in  particular  to  the  singers  or 
song-masters,  in  whom  he  takes  a  special  interest,  as  the  constant  putting  of  them  forward 
(as  also  the  porters)  along  with  priests  and  Levites  in  many  parts  of  his  work  shows;  see  above, 
§  2,  Remark,  p.  6.  When  Keil  (Comment,  p.  17  ff.)  urges  against  this  hypothesis  the  fact, 
that  "  in  all  places  where  he  speaks  of  musicians  aud  porters  we  also  find  the  priests  men- 
tioned," sufficient  attention  is  not  paid  to  the  fact,  that  this  express  mention  of  such  inferior 
officers  as  singers  and  musicians,  along  with  the  priests  and  other  officials  of  the  temple, 
implies  a  special  interest  in  them  on  the  part  of  the  author.  Certainly  the  porter  is  often 
mentioned  in  the  same  places;  but  the  interest  of  the  narrator  in  the  musicians  and  their 
doings  (into  which  he  often  enters  minutely,  while  he  only  mentions  the  porters  by  the  way) 
plainly  outweighs  everything  else.  And  nothing  is  obviously  deducted  from  the  authority  and 
credibility  of  our  writer,  if  we  think  of  him  as  an  Asaph  of  the  later  sanctuary,  though  his 
identification  with  Ezra  the  priest  becomes  thereby  impossible. 

Remark. — The  difficult  passage  1  Chron.  iii.  19-24,  the  full  elucidation  of  which  we  must 
reserve  for  the  commentary  itself,  names  from  Hananiah,  the  son  of  Zerubbabel,  five  other 
generations,  represented  by  Shechaniah,  Shemaiah,  Neariah,  Elioenai,  and  Hodaiah,  the  last  of 
which  generations,  Hodaiah  with  his  six  brothers,  which  appears  to  be  nearly  contemporary  with 
the  author  of  our  work,  can  scarcely,  even  if  we  reckon  a  generation  at  30  years,  have  flourished 
before  350  or  340  B.C.  To  this  date  points  also  another  note  contained  in  ver.  22.  The 
Hattush  here  mentioned  as  great-grandson  of  Zerubbabel,  is  perhaps  the  same  Hattush  men- 
tioned, Ezra  viii.  2,  as  a  descendant  of  David,  and  as  brought  under  Ezra  from  Babylon  to 
Judea.  Now,  as  in  vers.  22  and  23  the  grandsons  of  Neariah,  a  younger  brother  of  this 
Hattush,  are  mentioned,  we  shall  thus  be  carried  down  beyond  the  year  400,  as  the  earliest 
possible  time  of  the  drawing  up  of  this  genealogy;  and  the  omission  of  some  intervening 
members  after  Hattush  would  carry  it  down  considerably  later.  These  chronological  com- 
binations  taken  from  1  Chron.  iii.  19  ff.  may  not  appear  absolutely  certain  and  indisputable, 
as  the  Hattush  of  Ezra  might  possibly  be  different  from  that  of  our  passage  (comp.  Keil,  Einl. 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

p.  490),  and  as,  especially  in  ver.  21,  where  all  connection  of  the  rVDl  '33  with  the  fore- 
going is  wanting,  the  suspicion  (uttered  by  Vitringa,  Heidegger.  Carpzov,  etc.)  of  cor- 
ruption, or  the  supposition  that  a  fragment  of  some  other  genealogy  has  crept  into  the  text 
(Haverii.,  Movers,  Keil,  etc.),  appears  sufficiently  plausible.  Notwithstanding  this  uncertainty 
and  partial  obscurity  of  the  passage,  the  opinion  expressed  is  probable  enough ;  and  the  more 
so,  the  more  clearly  the  other  considerations  (under  c-e)  above  mentioned  point  to  a  still 
later  time  than  that  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah. 

[The  data  presented  by  the  books  of  Ezra,  Nehemiah,  and  Chronicles,  prove,  at  most,  that 
a  touching  hand  was  applied  to  them  after  the  lifetime  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  simply  adding 
a  few  names  to  a  list  or  pedigree.  But  this  comes  far  short  of  proving  that  these  works  were 
not  produced  by  Ezra  anil  Nehemiah,  the  authors  to  whom  they  are  usually  assigned.  To 
give  even  plausibility  to  this  negative  conclusion,  it  is  necessary  to  apply  our  modern  notions 
or  habits  of  composition  to  the  men  of  ancient  times,  before  printing  was  invented,  or  the 
rules  of  literature  determined.  There  is  great  risk  of  mistake  in  taking  this  important  s'.ep, 
as  the  modern  man  of  letters  is  liable  to  carry  up  into  those  primitive  days  his  own  subjective 
views,  and  make  a  world  of  ancient  literature  after  the  fashion  of  the  nineteenth  century.  To 
infer,  for  instance,  that  a  work  was  not  compose!  till  the  last  person  now  named  in  it  had 
lived  and  flourished,  may  seem  legitimate.  Yet  it  is  not  necessarily  true  even  of  modern 
works,  as  names  an  1  facts  may  be  added  by  an  editor  or  contiuuator.  Still  less  can  it  be 
affirmed  of  ancient  works  antecedent  to  printing,  especially  when  they  are  of  national 
importance,  ami  under  the  care  of  men  competent  and  authorized  to  make  such  trifling  addi 
tions  as  are  supposed  bv  some  to  discredit  the  authorship  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah. — J.  G.  M.] 


§  4.    MATTER,    PLAN",    AND    OBJECT   OK   THE    WORK. 

In  regard  to  matter,  Chronicles  falls,  as  already  stated,  into  two  main  divisions — a  shorter 
genealogical,  i.  1-9,  and  a  longer  historical  one.  If  we  take  into  account  the  several  groups 
of  genealogical  and  historical  material  that  exist  within  these  main  paits,  the  following  detailed 
scheme  of  contents  results  : — 

I.  Genealogical  tables  or  registers,  with  brief  historical  data,  1  Chron.  i.-ix. 

a.  Genealogies  of  the  patriarchs  from  Adam  to  Israel  and  Edom,  with  the  descendants 

of  the  latter  till  the  era  of  kings,  i. 

b.  The  sons  of  Israel  and  the  generations  of  Judah  till  David,  with  David's  posterity  till 

Elioenai  and  his  seven  sons,  ii.-iv.  '_':i. 

c.  The  generations  of  Simeon,  and  the  transjordanic  tribes  of  Keuben,  Gad,  and  half- 

Manasseh.  till  the  deportation  of  the  latter  by  the  Assyrians,  iv.  24-v.  26. 
a.  The  generations  of  the  Levkes,  with  a  statement  of  their  cities  in  the  different  tribes, 

v.  27-vi. 
e.  The  generations  of  the  remaining  tribes,  except  Dan  and  Zebulun,  and  in  particular, 

of  the  Benjamite  house  of  Saul,  vii.,  viii. 
/.  The  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  till  the  period  of  kings,  with  the  genealogy  of  Saul 

repeated,  forming  the  transition  to  the  history  of  David,  ix. 

II    History  of  the  kings  in  Jerusalem  from  David  to  the  exile. 
1.  David,  x.-xxix. 

a.   Introduction  ;  the  fall  of  the  house  of  Saul,  x. 

6.  David's  elevation  to  the  throne:  arrangement  of  his  residence  at  Jerusalem;  wars 
and  enumeration  of  the  people,  xi.-xxi. 
[Removal  from  Hebron  to  Jerusalem,  xi.  1-9:  the  heroes  and  worthies  of  David, 
xi.  10-xii.  ;  preparation  for  removing  the  ark  to  Jerusalem,  xiii.  ;  David's  house- 
building, family,  and  wars  with  the  Philistines,  xiv.  ;  the  solemn  conveyance  of  the 
ark.  xv..  xvi. :  David's  purpose  to  build  a  temple  to  the  Lord,  xvii. :  his  wars, 
xviii.-xx. ;  the  numbering  of  the  people,  with  the  plague;  determination  of  the 
place  for  the  future  temple,  xxi.l 


12  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES. 


c.  David's  arrangements  concerning  the  temple;  other  spiritual  and  temporal  regula- 
tions ;  last  will  and  death,  xxii.-xxix. 
[Provisions  for  the  temple,  xxii. ;  division  of  the  Levitos  and  priests,  and  order  of 
their  service,  xxiii.-xxvi.  ;  division  of  the  war  officers,  and  order  of  the  service, 
xxvii. ;  last  directions  concerning  the  transfer  of  the  government  to  Solomon,  and 
end  of  David,  xxviii.,  xxix.] 

2.  Solomon,  2  Chron.  i.-ix. 

a.  His  solemn  sacrifice  at  Gibeon,  and  his  riches,  i. 
6.  The  building  and  consecration  of  the  temple,  ii.-vii. 

c.  Solomon's  building  of  cities,  and  serfs;  religious  ordinances;  navigation  to  Ophir; 
intercourse  with  the  queen  of  Sheba ;  glory ;  length  of  reign,  and  end,  viii.,  ix. 

3.  The  kings  of  Judah,  from  Rehoboam  to  Zedekiah,  x.-xxxvi. 

a.  Rehoboam  ;  the  prophet  Shemaiah,  x.-xii. 

b.  Abijah,  xiii. 

c.  Asa ;  the  prophets  Azariah  son  of  Oberl,  and  Hanani,  xiv.-xvi. 

'/.  Jehoshaphat ;  the  prophets  Micah  son  of  Imlah,  Jehu  son  of  Hanani,  etc.,  xvii.-xx. 

e.  Joram  ;  letter  of  the  prophet  Elijah,  xxi. 

f.  Ahaziah,  xxii.  1-9. 

q.  Athaliah,  xxii.  10-xxiii. 

h.  Joash  ;  the  prophet  Zechariah,  son  of  Jehoiada,  xxiv. 

i.  Amaziah.  xxv. 
k.  Uzziah,  xxvi. 

/.  Jotham.  xxvii. 
m.  Ahaz     the  prophet  Oded,  xxviii. 
n.  Hezekiah  ;  the  prophet  Isaiah,  xxix.-xxxii. 
o.  Manasseh  and  Amon,  xxxiii. 
/).  Josiah  ;  the  prophetess  Huldah,  xxxiv.,  xxxv. 
q.  Jehoahaz,  Jehoiakim,  Jehoiachiu,  Zedekiah ;  close,  xxxvi. 

From  this  survey  of  contents,  the  following  points  appear  characteristic  for  the  standpoint 
*    I  plan  of  our  historian  : — 

1.  The  taking  up  of  the  kingdom  of  David  as  a  moment  in  the  history  of  the  tribe  and 
st.  te  of  Judah,  with  the  corresponding  retreat  of  the  genealogy  and  history  of  the  northern 
tnoes  (cf  which  Dan  and  Zebulun  are  not  even  mentioned;  Issachar,  Naphtali,  Asher,  an  I 
half-Manasseh  are  only  briefly  noticed),  and  especially  of  the  reigns  of  Saul  and  Ishbosheth, 
at  the  same  time  with  the  total  omission  of  Jeroboam  and  his  successors,  which  determines 
thut  of  the  prophets  of  the  northern  kingdom,  and  thus  the  action  of  Elijah,  Eli.sha,  etc. 

2.  The  prominence  given  to  the  tribe  of  Levi,  its  ordinances  and  divisions,  offices  and 
functions, — a  moment  appearing  with  characteristic  force  as  well  in  the  genealogical  portion 
(1  Chron.  v.  27-vi.  66)  as  in  the  history  of  David  (1  Chron.  xxiii.-xxvi.),  of  Solomon  and  his 
temple-consecration  (2  Chron.  v.  ff.),  of  Rehoboam,  Asa,  Joash,  Hezekiah,  and  Josiah. 

3.  The  preference  for  reporting  genealogical  series,  which  goes  so  far,  that  one  list  of  this 
kind  is  unnecessarily  repeated  (that  of  the  house  of  Saul,  1  Chron.  viii.  29  ff. ;  comp.  with 
ix.  35  ff.)  ;  and  in  the  history  of  David,  a  register  of  his  heroes,  worthies,  and  offices,  is  inserted 
several  times  in  apparently  improper  places  (thus  1  Chron.  xii.,  the  list  of  the  heroes  adhering 
to  him  during  his  persecution  by  Saul,  that  of  his  worthies  who  raised  him  to  the  throne  in 
Hebron,  and  xxvii.,  the  summary  of  his  forces,  princes,  and  officers,  for  which  a  more  suitable 
place  w  juid  have  b»en  xviii.  12  ff.). 

-t.  The  visible  inclination  to  dwell  on  the  glorious  periods  of  the  theocracy  and  the  theocratic 
worship,  and  by  depicting  such  bright  seasons,  and  treating  as  briefly  as  possible  the  contrary 
times  of  darkness  and  superstition,  to  display  conspicuously  the  full  blessing  of  preserving  pure 
the  national  religion  of  Jehovah  and  the  legitimate  temple-service:  on  which  account,  such 
reigns  as  those  of  David,  Solomon,  Asa,  Jehoshaphat,  Joash,  Hezekiah,  and  Josiah,  are  depicted 
with  peculiar  delight;  while  the  last  days  of  Solomon,  the  rule  of  Ahaziah  and  Athaliah.  and 
that  of  the  last  kings  before  the  exile,  are  despatched  with  comparative  brevity,  or  entirely 
omitte  1,  like  the  whole  history  of  the  kingdom  of  Ephraim. 

The  above-mentioned  moments  appear  still  more  clearly  as  favourite  points  of  history  aud 


INTRODUCTION.  13 


fundamental  peculiarities  of  our  historian,  if  we  compare  the  course  of  his  historical  repre- 
sentation witli  that  of  the  parallel  historical  books,  especially  the  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings. 
Characteristic  for  the  time  before  the  kings  is  his  endeavour,  by  suitable  abbreviations  of  the 
genealogical  sections  of  Genesis,  to  give  the  clearest  possible  view  of  the  descent  of  the  house 
of  David  from  the  antediluvian  patriarchs;  comp.  1  Cliron.  i.  1-4  as  an  abri  Igment  of  Gen.  v. ; 
1  Chron.  i.  5-23  as  a  corresponding  abbreviation  of  Gen.  x. ;  1  Chron.  i.  24-27  as  contracted 
from  Gen.  xi.  10-26  ;  1  Chron.  i.  29-33  as  recapitulated  from  Gen.  xxv.  1-15  ;  1  Chron. 
i.  35-54  as  recapitulated  from  Gen.  xxxvi.  10-43;  1  Chron.  ii.  1-5  as  a  summary  of  the  list 
of  Jacob's  sous  (especially  those  of  Perez)  in  Gen.  xlvi.  8-12;  also  1  Chron.  ii.  10-12  (list  of 
the  descendants  of  Ram  to  Jesse)  with  Ruth  iv.  19-22;  and  in  particular,  the  list  of  the 
Levitical  cities,  1  Chron.  vi.  39-66,  with  Josh.  xxi.  10-39.  There  is  throughout,  as  these 
parallels  show,  an  endeavour  aiming  at  the  exaltation  of  the  Davidic  sovereignty  as  the 
brightest  point  of  the  history  of  God's  people  before  the  exile,  by  which  the  author  has  been 
guided  in  the  genealogical  preface  to  his  history.  For  the  history  of  David  are  equally 
significant,  both  that  which  is  omitted  of  the  books  of  Samuel,  and  that  which  is  added  as  a 
supplement.  He  has  here  omitted  most  of  the  facts  concerning  the  relation  of  David  to  Saul 
and  his  house  (in  particular  the  reign  of  Ishbosheth,  2  Sam.  i.-iv.  9)  ;  nearly  all  the  events  of 
David's  private  life,  especially  those  less  favourable  to  his  call,  as  the  scene  with  Michal 
(2  Sam.  vi.  20-23)  ;  the  adultery  with  Bathsheba  (2  Sam.  xi.,  xii.)  ;  the  dishonour  of  Tamar 
by  Amnon ;  Amnon's  death  by  Absalom,  and  Absalom's  rebellion,  with  its  consequences 
(2  Sam.  xiii.-xix  )  ;  the  revolt  of  Sheba  (2  Sain,  xx.) ;  the  delivery  of  some  descendants  of 
Saul  to  the  Gibeonites  for  execution  (2  Sam.  xxi.  1  —14)  ;  David's  thanksgiving  song  and  last 
words  (2  Sam.  xx;i.,  xxiii.  1-7)  ;  Adonijah's  attempt  at  usurpation,  and  the  thereby  hastened 
anointing  of  Solomon  (1  Kings  i.)  ;  lastly,  David's  last  will  regarding  Joab,  the  sons  of  Bar- 
zillai,  and  Shimei  (1  Kings  ii.  1-9).  On  the  contrary,  he  has  supplemented  the  account  of  the 
older  historians  by  his,  list  of  the  brave  men  from  all  tribes  who  joined  David  during  the  per- 
secution of  Saul,  and  the  warriors  who  made  him  king  in  Hebron  (1  Chron.  xii.),  by  his 
account  of  the  part  taken  by  the  Levites  in  the  conveyance  of  the  ark  (1  Chron.  xv.,  xvi.),  his 
long  descriptions  of  David's  preparations  for  the  building  of  the  temple  (xxii.),  his  no  less  full 
statistical  description  of  the  priests  and  Levites,  and  the  military  and  civil  officers  under  David 
(xxiii.-xxvii.),  and  his  account  of  the  arrangements  made  by  David  shortly  before  his  death  in 
a  great  assembly  of  the  people  (xxviii.,  xxix).  It  is  not  less  characteristic,  that  the  author 
has  omitted  in  Solomon's  history  a  number  of  facts  which  refer  to  the  private  life  of  this  king, 
and  are  partly  unfavourable  to  his  character,  as  the  punishment  of  Joab,  Shimei,  and  Adonijah 
(1  Kings  ii.  13-46),  the  marriage  with  Pharaoh's  daughter(l  Kings  iii.  1-3),  the  wise  judg- 
ment of  the  king,  and  the  full  picture  of  his  glory  and  wisdom  (1  Kings  iii.  16-v.  1),  his 
palace  (1  Kings  vii.  1-12),  his  polygamy  and  idolatry,  with  the  consequences  following  as  a 
divine  judgment  (1  King-;  xi.  1-10),  while  he  reports  all  that  relates  to  the  building  and  con- 
secration of  the  temple,  the  building  of  cities,  bond-service,  trade  with  Ophir,  etc.,  at  equal, 
if  not  greater  length,  than  in  the  books  of  Kings.  Lastly,  in  the  period  from  Solomon  to  the 
exile,  he  significantly  omits  the  whole  history  of  the  ten  tribes,  their  kings  and  prophets,  with 
the  sole  exception  of  the  friendly  or  hostile  relations  in  which  they  stood  to  the  kingdom  of 
Judah  (to  which  belongs  also  the  letter  of  Elijah  given  in  2  Chron.  xxi.  12  ff.).  On  the  con- 
trary, regarding  the  kingdom  of  Judah  in  this  period,  a  whole  series  of  supplementary  accounts 
are  given,  especially  such  as  serve  to  glorify  the  theocratically-disposed  sovereigns  of  thi« 
kingdom,  but  others  also  that  exhibit  along  with  these  bright  places  darker  shadows  of  the 
apostasy  and  the  resulting  national  misfortune  ;  as  accounts  of  Rehoboam's  cities  of  defence, 
reception  of  the  Levites  driven  from  the  northern  kingdom,  and  family  connections  (2  Chron. 
xi.  5—24)  ;  of  Abijah's  war  with  Jeroboam,  his  wives  and  children  (xiii  3-21) ;  of  Asa's  victory 
over  the  Kushite  Zerah,  and  the  action  of  the  prophets  Az  iriah  and  Hanani  under  this  king 
(xiv.  3-15,  xv.  1-15,  xvi.  7-10)  ;  of  Jehoshaphat's  internal  and  external  administration,  and 
his  great  victory  over  the  allied  Ammonites,  Moabites,  and  others  (xvii.-xx.)  ;  of  Joram's 
fratricide,  idolatrous  reign,  and  punishment  (xxi.  2—4,  11-19)  ;  of  Joash's  final  fall  into  idolatry 
after  the  death  of  Jehoiada  (xxiv.  15-22)  ;  of  Ainaziah's  increase  of  his  army  and  idolatry 
(xxv.  5-10,  14-1G)  ;  of  Uzziah's  successful  war  with  the  Philistines  and  Arabians,  his  fortifi- 
cations and  his  troops  (xxvi.  6-15)  ;  of  Jotham's  fortifications  and  victory  over  the  Ammonites 
(xxvii.  4-6)  ;  of  the  theocratic  reforms  of  Hezekiah,  his  Passover,  and  the  abundance  of  his 


14  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES. 

treasures  (xxix.  3-31,  xxxii.  27-30);  of  Manasseh's  removal  to  Babylon,  repentance,  and 
return  from  captivity  (xxxiii.  11-17);  of  Josiah's  Passover,  and  the  part  taken  in  it  by  the 
priests  and  Levites  (xxxv.  '2-1'.)). 

The  author  has  no  very  fixed  principle  in  making  his  abbreviations  and  additions:  other- 
wise, notwithstanding  his  theocratic  tendencies,  he  would  have  imparted  some  traces  of  David's 
family  history,  ami  along  with  the  building  of  the  temple  and  the  cities,  would  have  noticed 
that  of  Solomon's  palace  (1  Kings  vii.  1-12)  ;  he  would  perhaps  have  been  silent  on  the  idolatry 
of  Joash  and  Amaziah,  as  well  as  of  Solomon,  and  have  dwelt  longer  on  the  bright  point  of  the 
Jewish  monarchy  in  the  reign  of  Josiah  ;  and  if  it  concerned  him  to  bring  out  the  dark  shadow 
of  apostasy  with  the  light  spots  of  this  later  period,  he  might  have  given  a  fuller  account  of  the 
idolatrous  reign  of  Ahaz,  and  of  the  misgovernment  of  the  last  kings,  Jehoiakim,  Jehoiachin. 
Zedekiah,  etc.  The  inconsistency  indicated  by  a  dim  perception  of  his  design,  and  a  want  of 
thorough  pragmatism,  rests  undoubtedly  on  the  nature  of  his  sources,  the  disproportion  in  the 
matter  of  which  must  have  produced  a  similar  defect  iu  himself,  and  prevented  him  from 
exhibiting  a  uniform  whole  resulting  from  a  single  casting.  On  the  whole,  however,  the 
correctness  of  our  remarks  on  the  prevailing  tendency  of  the  author  is  not  prejudiced  by  these 
anomalies.  It  is  indubitable,  from  his  priestly-Levitical  standpoint,  that  he  wished  in  general 
to  relate  the  theocratic  civil  and  religious  history  of  the  Jews  from  David  with  a  chief  regard 
to  their  bright  periods,  and  a  recognition  of  their  times  of  apostasy  being  invariably  attended 
with  divine  judgments,  and  to  hold  up  to  his  contemporaries  a  mirror  encouraging  them  to 
fear  God,  and  warning  them  against  unfaithfulness  to  the  Lord.  Otherwise  than  the  author 
of  the  books  of  Kings,  who  relates  the  events  more  objectively  in  their  natural  order,  "our 
author  places  the  facts  and  occurrences  in  connection  with  the  conduct  of  the  prince  and  the 
people  toward  the  Lord,  and  endeavours  so  to  illustrate  the  historical  facts,  that  they  teach 
how  God  rewards  the  faithful  with  peace  and  blessing,  and  visits  the  revolt  from  His  covenant 
with  penal  judgments.  The  narrative  thus  acquires  a  parenetic  character  that  often  rises  to 
the  rhetorical  manner.  This  pareuetico-rhetorical  stamp  of  his  work  meets  us  not  only  in  the 
many  speeches  of  the  agents,  but  also  in  many  historical  delineations  (for  example,  in  Joram, 
2  Chron.  xxi. ;  in  Ahaz,  xxviii. ;  in  Manasseh,  xxxiii.  ;  and  in  Zedekiah,  xxxvi.  12-21).  From 
this  parenetic  tendency,  and  the  reflective  mode  of  viewing  history,  is  explained  the  greater 
part  of  his  deviations  from  the  parallel  accounts  in  Samuel  and  Kings,  as  well  the  omission  of 
collateral  circumstances  as  the  pictorial  descriptions  of  religious  regulations  and  festivals,  the 
manifest  object  of  which  is  to  awaken  in  the  mind  of  the  reader  delight  and  joy  in  the  attractive 
services  of  the  Lord,  and  to  confirm  the  heart  in  fidelity  to  the  Lord  and  His  law  "  (Keil, 
Comment,  p.  11).  On  account  of  this  property,  directed  with  special  preference  to  the  worship 
and  the  officers  of  worship,  this  history  has  been  designated  as  specially  Levitical, — a  designa- 
tion which  is  only  suitable  and  free  from  misconception,  when  we  bear  in  mind  that  it  is  not 
the  Levites  as  such,  but  as  the  ministers  of  the  lawful  theocratic  worship,  the  source  of  all 
salvation  and  blessing  for  the  people  of  God,  to  whom  the  author  devotes  his  special  attention. 
"The  Chronist  wishes,  not  to  glorify  the  Levites  and  the  Levitical  worship,  but  rather  to  lead 
the  proof,  from  the  history  of  the  kingdom  in  Israel,  that  faithfulness  to  the  covenant  which 
the  Lord  has  made  with  Israel  brings  happiness  and  blessing;  neglect  of  it,  misery  and  per- 
dition. But  Israel  shows  fidelity  in  walking  after  the  standard  of  the  law  given  by  Moses, 
when  he  worships  Jehovah  the  God  of  his  fathers  in  His  sanctuary,  as  He  has  appointed  iu  the 
ordinances  of  worship  The  author  lays  stress  on  the  Levitical  worship  only  so  far  as  the 
faithfulness  of  Israel  shows  itself  in  its  careful  observance  "  (Keil,  Comm.  p.  8). 

Remark  —The  forty  or  more  parallel  sections  which  the  part  of  Chronicles,  common  with 
the  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings,  presents,  now  in  longer,  now  in  shorter  form,  and  now  in 
corresponding,  now  in  deviating  sequence,  are  exhibited  in  the  following  table  (from  Keil, 
EM.  p.  479;  comp.  Davidson,  Introd.  p.  81  sq.,  and  Tubingen  Theolvg.  Quartahchr.  1831, 
p.  209  ff.)  :— 

1  Chron.  x.  1-12, 1  Sam.  xxxi. 

xi.  i_9, 2  Sam.  v.  1-3,  6-10. 

„       xi.  10-47, ,       xxiii.  8-39. 

„       xiii.  1-14, vi.  1-11. 

„       xiv.  1-7,  8-17,      ...  „       v.  11-16,  17-25. 


INTRODUCTION. 


16 


1  Ohron.  xv.,  xvi., 

„  xvii.,  . 
„  xviii.,  . 
xix.,  . 
„  xx.  1-3, 
„  xx.  4-S, 
„      xxi.,      . 

2  Ohron.  i.  2-18, 

„       i.  11-17, 
,,       ii., 


iii.  1-v.  1, 
v.  2-vii.  10, 

vii.  11-22,     . 
viii., 

ix.  1-12,  13-28,    . 
ix.  29-31,      . 
x.  1-xi.  4, 
xii.  2,  3,  9-16,       . 
xiii.  1,  2,  22,  23,   . 
xiv.  1,  2,  xv.  lfi-19, 
xvi.  1-6,  11-14,    . 
xviii.  2-34,    . 
xx.  31-xxi.  1, 
xxi.  5-10,  20, 
xxii.  1-6,  7-9, 
xxii.  10-xxiii.  21, 
xxiv.  1-14,  23-27, 
xxv.  1-4,  11,  17-28, 
xxvi.  1-4,  21-23,  . 
xxvii.  1-3,  7-9,     . 
xxviii.  1-4,  26,  27, 
xxix.  1,2, 
xxxii.  1-21,  . 
xxxii.  24,  25,  32,  33, 
xxxiii.  1-10,  20-25, 
xxxiv.  1,  2,  8-32, 
xxxv.  1,  18-24,  26,  27. 
xxxvi.  5.  6,  8-12, 
xxxvi.  22,  23, 


1-1 


2  Sam.  vi.  12-23. 
„       vii. 
viii. 
„       x. 

„       xi.  1,  xii.  26-31. 
„       xxi.  18-22. 
,,       xxiv. 

1  Kings  iii.  4-15. 

„       x.  26-29. 
„       v.  15-23. 

vi.,  vii.  13-51 
„        viii. 
„       ix.  1-9. 
„       ix.  10-28. 
„       x.  1-13,  14-29. 
„       xi.  41-43. 
,,       xii.  1-24. 
„       xiv.  21-31. 
„       xv.  1,  2,  fi-8. 
„       xv.  11-16. 
„       xv.  17-24. 
,,       xxii.  2-35. 
,,       xxii.  41-51. 

2  Kings  viii.  17-24. 

„       viii.  25-29,  ix.  16-28,  x.  12-14. 

„       xi. 

„       xii.  1-17,  18-22. 

„       xiv.  1-14,  17-20. 

„       xiv.  21,  22,  xv.  2-7. 

„       xv.  33-36,  38. 

„       xvi.  2-4,  19,  20. 

„       xviii.  2,  3. 

,,       xviii.  13-xix.  37. 

„       xx.  1,  2,  20,  21. 

„       xxi.  1-9,  18-24. 

,,       xxii.,  xxiii.  1-3. 

,,       xxiii.  21-23,  28,  29-84. 

xxiii.  36,  37,  xxiv.  1,  5,  6,  8-19. 
Ezra  i.  1,  2. 


The  value  of  this  table  of  parallel  passages  consists  in  this,  that  it  not  only  exhibits  the 
mutual  relation  of  the  sections,  showing  now  an  extension,  now  an  abridgment,  on  the  part  of 
our  author,  but  also  indicates  where  deviations  in  the  order  of  the  several  events  take  place. 
For  in  the  order  of  his  materials  the  Chronist  by  no  means  agrees  throughout  with  the  books 
of  Samuel  and  Kings ;  as  he,  in  1  Chron.  xi.  10-47,  takes  a  list  of  David's  heroes  from  2  Sam. 
xxiii.  8-39,  and  attaches  it  to  events  which  are  parallel  with  2  Sam.  v.,  and  the  account  in 
2  Sam.  v.  he  does  not  reproduce  continue,  but  takes  beforehand  the  section  2  Sam.  vi.  1-11 
(see  1  Chron.  xiii.  1-14),  as  he  farther  places  the  history  of  David's  numbering  of  the  people, 
and  ol  the  plague,  2  Sam.  xxiv.,  not  quite  at  the  end  of  the  section  belonging  to  David,  but 
subjoins  to  it  accounts  of  David's  provision  for  the  building  of  the  temple,  as  well  as  his 
spiritual  and  temporal  officers  (1  Chron.  xxii.-xxix.);  as  he  also,  in  Solomon's  history,  takes 
beforehand  the  small  section  concerning  Solomon's  treasures  and  troops,  1  Kings  x.  26-29,  and 
places  it  beside  that  which  is  related  in  1  Kings  iii.— v.,  and  so  on.  That  which  appears 
arbitrary  in  these  deviations,  vanishes  when  we  reflect  that  our  author  followed  not  so  much 
the  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings  in  their  existing  state,  as  certain  old  sources  partly  lying  at 
their  foundation,  and  partly  deviating  from  them  ;  and  thus  the  nature  of  his  sources  had  ar 
effect  on  determining  the  arrangement  and  sequence  of  his  materials. 


16  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES. 

[To  this  very  thoughtful  and  interesting  section  it  may  be  added,  that  the  author  of 
Chronicles  confines  his  attention  to  David,  and  the  kingdom  founded  on  the  j  romise  made  to 
him  in  2  Sam.  vii.  Hence  he  excludes  from  direct  consideration  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes, 
which  gradually  fell  into  idolatry,  and  had  long  ceased  to  exist  at  the  time  in  which  he  wrote. 
The  facts  do  not  warrant  us  in  limiting  his  theme  or  his  aim  more  than  this,  and  therefore 
prevent  us  from  charging  him  with  any  inconsistency  which  an  imaginary  limit  of  a  narrower 
kind  might  create.  The  temple  and  its  ordinances  of  worship  become  a  prominent  matter  of 
fact  iu  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  its  ministers  and  services  claim  a  corresponding  place  in  the 
history  of  this  kingdom,  without  any  motive  in  the  writer  more  special  than  zeal  for  the  glory 
of  the  true  and  living  God  — J.  G.  M.] 

§  5.    SOURCKS  OF  THE  CHRONIST. 

From  a  closer  examination  of  the  contents  of  the  several  sections,  it  appears  an  indubitable 
fact  that  the  peculiar  stamp  of  our  history  depends  on  the  nature  of  certain  sources  used  by 
the  author,  which  must  have  been  in  great  part  different  from  the  historical  books  contained 
in  the  canon,  and  must  have  included  many  other  accounts  in  addition  to  these. 

I.  Of  the  genealogical  tables  and  registers,  and  the  geographical  terms  in  the  first  or 
genealogical  part  (1  Chron.  i.-ix.),  only  the  introductory  data  referring  to  the  patriarchs  and 
the  posterity  of  Edom,  which  are  contained  in  1  Chron,  i.-ii.  2,  appear  to  be  wholly  and 
without  exception  taken  from  Genesis  (see  the  special  proof  above,  §  1,  p.  11).  A  derivation 
of  these  data  from  any  other  source  than  Genesis  is  improbable,  for  this  reason,  that  they 
follow  very  exactly  the  order  of  this  book  (extracting  and  recapitulating  from  Gen.  v.,  x., 
xi.,  xxv.,  xxxvi.,  and  xxxv.  22  ff.),  and  they  do  not  present  a  single  supplementary  notice. 
A  quite  different  impression  is  made  by  a  comparison  of  the  following  genealogies  and 
historical  notices  with  the  corresponding  data  of  the  Pentateuch,  the  book  of  Joshua,  and  the 
other  historical  books.  These  matters  occur  in  those  older  books  neither  as  continuous  series 
of  names,  nor  as  genealogical  lists  interwoven  with  shorter  or  longer  historical  data  (as,  for 
example,  ch.  iv.  22  f.,  iv.  39—13,  v.  10-19).  So  far  as  they  occur  in  them,  they  appear  in 
quite  a  different  connection,  seldom  forming  longer  series  running  through  many  generations; 
not  leaving  the  impression  of  genealogical  registers,  or  dry  lists  of  names  with  occasional 
historical  statements,  but  rather  as  integral  moments  of  pragmatic  narrative;  while,  in  our 
book,  they  bear  throughout  the  character  of  a  genealogical  register.  In  mauy  deviations  also, 
which  are  found  in  the  number  of  generations,  the  genealogical  materials  of  our  book  appear 
independent  of  the  older  histories  ;  such  as  in  the  diverse  spelling  of  many  names,  which  may 
rest  partly  on  mere  errors  of  writing  (which  might  easily  creep  in,  especially  in  lists  of  names; 
compare  the  collection  of  notorious  errors  of  this  kind  in  Movrs'  Krit.  Unters.  p.  66  ff.,  and 
see  beneath,  in  our  exeg.  explanations,  passim),  but  in  no  small  part  owe  their  origin  to  a 
different  tradition  ;  as  so  many  differences  regarding  geographical  data  (for  example,  regard- 
ing the  names  of  the  Levitical  cities,  1  Chron.  vi.  39-66,  compared  with  Josh.  xxi.  10-39) 
must  be  referred  to  diverse  old  traditions,  and,  therefore,  to  peculiar  sources.  And  such 
must  be  those  of  his  sources  that  had  in  great  measure  prepared  the  way  for  his  collecting 
and  arranging  propensity,  in  so  far  as  they  themselves  contained  longer  genealogical  series, 
composed  in  like  manner,  and  interwoven  with  like  historical  data,  aud  so  were  not  prag- 
matically-fashioned historical  works  from  which  ne  must  have  artificially  constructed  his  lists. 
He  himself  testifies  iu  some  places,  that  what  he  presents  in  genealogies  and  other  lists  of 
names  is  not  the  fruit  of  his  arranging  and  editing  care,  but  is  derived  from  sources  of  a 
genealogical  kind.  For  at  the  tribe  of  Gad.  1  Chron.  v.  17,  he  refers  to  a  list  of  the  families 
of  this  tribe  that  was  prepared  in  the  time  of  Jotham,  king  of  Judah,  and  Jeroboam  n.  of 
Israel ;  at  Issachar,  1  Chron.  vii.  2,  he  refers  to  a  census  of  this  tribe  made  in  the  time  of 
David;  and  it  is  said,  ix.  1,  that  a  census  of  '"all  Israel,"  that  is,  of  the  whole  northern 
kingdom,  had  been  made.  And  as  in  the  second  or  historical  portion  reference  is  several 
times  (xxiii.  3,  27,  xxvi.  31,  xxvii.  24)  made  to  a  census  in  the  reign  of  David,  and  as  the 
book  of  Nehemiah,  which  so  nearly  resembles  our  work  in  contents,  mentions  a  list  of  the 
heads  of  the  Levitical  houses  prepared  in  the  time  of  the  high  priest  Johanan  (xii.  23), 
and  a  register  found  by  Nehemiah  of  the  families  that  returned  with  Zerubbabel  irom  the 


INTRODUCTION.  17 


exile  (vii.  5;  comp.  also  Ezra  ii.  59,  02),  it  appears  not  only  highly  probable,  but  absolutely 
certain,  that  there  were  ample  and  authentic  genealogical  sources  from  which  our  author  took 
his  lists.  And  it  certainly  appears  from  1  Ohron.  xxiv.  and  ix.  1  (comp.  Neh.  xii.  23)  as  if 
a  part  at  least  of  these  sources  had  been  a  constituent  part  of  a  greater  historical  work, 
namely,  that  old  chronicle  of  the  kingdom  which  is  entitled,  1  Chron.  xxvii.  24,  Dibre 
hajjamim  (the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  King  David),  and,  ix.  1,  as  "the  book  of  the  kings  of 
Israel."  In  particular,  the  short  lists  in  1  Chron.  v.  and  vii.  of  the  ten  tribes  according  to 
their  families  and  houses,  may  be  extracts  from  the  genealogical  and  statistical  part  of  these 
old  annals  of  the  kingdom;  while  the  lists  of  a  purely  chronological  kind,  which  refer  to 
celebrated  families  or  to  single  persons,  of  public  or  of  eminent  private  character,  may  have 
come  rather  from  the  old  family  archives,  to  which  our  author,  or  other  collectors  before  him, 
had  found  access.  It  is  at  all  events  natural  to  suppose  that  the  endeavours  of  the  times  of 
Zerubbabel  and  Ezra  to  enter  into  relation  with  the  time  before  the  exile,  and  to  make  the 
most  diligent  use  of  the  connection  with  it,  prepared  the  way  for  his  hunting  up  and  making 
use  of  these  genealogical  registers.  "  In  the  endeavour  of  the  new  community  to  restore  the 
old  relations,  the  divisions  of  the  tribes,  bring  connected  with  the  whole  remnant  of  the  old 
community,  must  have  acquired  a  new  importance,  and  Chronicles  is  itself  a  proof  of  the 
attention  that  was  paid  to  them.  Its  author  gladly  admits  lists  into  his  work,  because  he 
himself  in  this  respect  moves  in  the  direction  prevalent  in  his  time.  In  short,  from  various 
side-  comes  to  us  the  certainty,  that  the  author  of  Chronicles  was  able  to  draw  older  lists  of 
the  divisions  of  the  tribes  and  their  number  from  other  sources  perhaps,  but  also,  according 
to  his  own  showing,  from  historical  works  in  which  the  results  of  the  registration  and 
numeration  of  the  families  were  collected.  Aud  his  lists  themselves  point  to  a  derivation 
from  historical  works;  for  they  contain  brief  historical  accounts  standing  in  the  closest  con- 
nection with  the  recited  names,  and  in  them  occurs  the  remark  that  something  has  continued 
"unto  this  day"  (1  Chron.  iv.  41,  43,  v.  20), — a  remark  which,  it  is  evident,  cannot  proceed 
from  him  who  was  charged  with  making  out  the  lists,  and  is  not  added  by  the  author  of 
Chronicles,  because  it  refers  not  to  his  time,  but  to  the  date  of  the  work  used  by  him,  and  is 
taken  thence  along  with  the  other  data"  (Bertheau,  p.  xxxi.  f.).  Even  an  approximately 
exact  determination  of  the  date  of  these  lists  can  scarcely  be  given,  because  often  an  old  list 
may  have  been  carried  on  some  steps,  either  by  our  author  or  by  some  earlier  investigators  or 
collectors  before  him,  so  that  its  original  closing  point  can  no  longer  be  clearly  ascertained. 
Meanwhile,  the  fact  that  there  were  older  or  younger  genealogical  sources  on  which  he  rested 
in  ch.  ii.-ix.,  is  by  no  means  disturbed  or  rendered  doubtful  by  the  partial  uncertainty  of 
their  age,  or  the  impossibility  of  sharply  separating  them  from  one  another. 

II.  A  still  more  ample  array  of  ancient  sources  and  accounts  must  have  been  accessible  to 
our  author  for  his  second  or  historical  part;  for  at  the  death  of  almost  every  king  he  refers 
to  writings  in  which  his  acts  and  the  events  of  his  reign  are  recorded;  only  in  Joram. 
Ahaziah,  Athaliah,  and  in  the  later  kings  Jehoahaz,  Jehoiachin,  and  Zedekiah,  are  these 
references  to  older  sources  wanting.     He  cites  in  all  the  following  sources: — 

1.  In  David,  the  "  words"  (dibre)  of  Samuel  the  seer,  of  Nathan  the  prophet,  and  Gad  the 
seer  ("spier"),  1  Chron.  xxix.  29;  2.  In  Solomon,  the  "  words"  of  Nathan  the  prophet,  the 
prophecy   (nsu:)  of  Ahijah  of  Shilo,  and  the  "visions"   (niin)  of  Iddi  the  seer   against 

Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat,  2  Chron.  ix.  29;  3.  In  Rehoboam,  the  "  words"  of  Shemaiah  the 
prophet  and  of  Iddo  the  seer,  xii.  15 ;  4.  in  Abijah,  the  "  Midrash  "  of  Iddo  the  prophet,  xiii.  22; 
5.  In  Asa,  the  book  of  the  kings  of  Judah  and  Israel,  xvi.  11  ;  6.  In  Jehoshaphat,  the 
"  words"  of  Jehu  the  son  of  Hanani,  which  were  inserted  in  the  book  of  the  kings  of  Israel, 
xx.  34;  7.  In  Joash,  the  "  Midrash"  of  the  book  of  the  kings,  xxiv.  27  ;  8.  In  Amaziah,  the 
book  of  tin-  kings  of  Judah  and  Israel,  xxv.  26;  9.  In  Uzziah,  a  "writing"  (2nr)  of  Isaiah 

the  prophet,  xxvi.  22;  10.  In  Jotham,  the  book  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah,  xxvii.  7; 
11.  In  Ahaz.  the  book  of  the  kings  of  Judah  and  Israel,  xxviii.  26;  12.  In  Hezekiah,  the 
"vision"    (jitn)    of   Isaiah   the    prophet,   in   the   book   of   the   kings  of   Judah   and  Israel, 

xxxii.  32;  13.  In  Manasseh,  the  "words"  of  the  kings  of  Israel,  as  well  as  the  words  of 
Chosai,  xxxiii.  18,  19  ;  14.  In  Josiah,  the  book  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah,  xxxv.  27; 
15.   In  Jehoiakim.  the  same  work,  xxxvi.  8. 

B 


18  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES. 

That  this  list  of  sources  admi  s,  nay  demands,  a  considerable  number  of  reductions,  appears 
indubitable,  if  we  reflect  that  the  thrice  quoted  "book  of  the  kings  of  Judah  and  Israel"  can 
hardly  have  been  different  from  the  as  often  quoted  "  book  of  the  kings  of  Israel  :md  Judah,'' 
and  also  bear  in  mind  the  obvious  identity  of  the  "  book  of  the  kings  of  Israel "  mentioned  in 
No.  (i,  and  the  "words  of  the  kings  of  Israel "  quoted  in  No.  18,  with  that  Israelito-Jewieh 
book  of  Kings.  For  the  name  "  Israel  "  in  the  latter  two  references  can  only  be  the  collective 
designation  of  the  whole  people  (as  it  deals,  in  both  eases,  with  accounts  of  the  kingdom  of 
Judah,  and  not  of  the  northern  kingdom)  ;  and  the  phr.ise  "  book,"  or  "  words," — that  s, 
events,  history  of  the  kings  of  Israel, — appears  to  be  merely  an  abbreviation  of  the  more 
complete  title.  According  to  this  well-ascertained  assumption,  which  is  shared  by  almost  all 
recent  writers  (Movers,  Ewall,  Bertheau,  Dillm.,  Keil,  Graf,  and  Fiirst,  Gesch.  der  biiil. 
Liter,  ii.  p.  214),  the  sources  here  quoted  of  a  properly  historical  (not  prophetical)  character 
reduce  themselves  to  one  chief  work — a  great  annalistic  history  of  the  kingdom  of  all  Israel. 
It  remains  doubtful  whether  the  book  used  by  the  author  for  the  reign  of  Joash,  which  he 
calls  the  "Midrash"  of  the  book  of  Kings,  was  identical  with  this  great  work,  or  different 
from  it.  For  the  identity,  Keil  had  formerly  maintained  (EM.  1  Aufl.  p.  494)  that  the 
history  of  Joash  agrees  as  exactly  with  2  Kings  as  the  history  of  those  kings  for  which  the 
book  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah  is  quoted  ;  but  he  has  recently  acknowledged  the 
objections  raised  to  this  by  Bertheau  to  lie  on  the  whole  plausible,  or  at  all  events  difficult  to 
refute.  Accordingly,  it  would  be  hazardous  to  hold  the  phrase  12D  EH"ID  as  at  once  equiva- 
lent to  the  simple  "iBD,  even  if  we  wished  to  take  CHIO,  after  2  Chron.  xiii.  22,  in  the  sense 
of  essay,  treatise  (so  Ewald,  Gesch.  Isr.  i.  295),  and  not  rather,  as  appears  more  obvious,  and 
creates  no  tautology  with  12D,  in  that  of  exposition,  commentary  (Gesen.,  Thenius,  Fiirst, 

etc.).  And  the  assumption  appears  not  far-fetched,  that  "  the  connection  in  which  the 
apostasy  of  the  king,  the  prophecy  of  Zechariah,  and  the  victory  of  a  small  number  of  Syrians 
over  the  numerous  host  of  the  Jews  stand  in  Chronicles,  was  set  forth  prominently  in  a 
Midrash  or  exposition  of  the  book  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah"  (Bertheau,  p.  xxxiii.). 
The  weight  of  these  grounds  for  assuming  the  diversity  of  the  "  Midrash  "  of  the  book  of  the 
kings  quoted  2  Chron.  xxiv.  27  from  that  book  itself,  cannot  be  mistaken.  Yet  it  still 
remains  uncertain  whether  we  are  to  regard  it  as  an  explanatory  work  referring  to  the  whole 
book  of  Kings,  that  might  be  used  even  elsewhere  without  express  mention  by  our  author,  or 
as  consisting  of  elucidations  or  digressive  additions  referring  merely  to  the  reign  of  Joash  and 
its  relations.  The  first  view  is  that  of  Fiirst  (in  p.  q.),  who,  on  the  ground  of  Talmudic  usage, 
explains  the  term  Midrash  by  "enlargement  of  the  history  from  oral  or  written  tradition,"  and 
transfers  this  process  of  legendary  enlargement  of  the  old  book  of  Kings,  or  embellishment  of 
it  with  historical  "Midrash,"  to  the  first  Persian  period,  without  being  able,  however,  to 
adduce  definite  grounds  for  this  course. 

It  is  difficult,  also,  to  decide  the  question  concerning  the  relation  of  the  book  of  the  kings 
of  Israel  and  Judah,  so  often  quoted  by  our  author,  to  the  works  often  adduced  in  the 
canonical  books  of  Kings,  which  are  there  separately  designated  as  "  the  book  of  the  chronicles 
(dibre  hajjamim)  of  the  kings  of  Israel,"  and  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  kings  of 
Judah.  In  contents,  these  annalistic  sources  of  the  canonical  book  of  Kings  must  be  identical 
with  the  chief  written  source  of  our  Chronist,  as  the  mostly  verbal  agreement  of  the  accounts 
concerning  the  same  transaction  in  that,  as  in  this,  shows.  But  what  was  to  the  author  of 
the  book  of  Kings  two  distinct  works,  one  referring  to  the  north  and  one  to  the  south 
kingdom,  this  the  Chronist  must  have  had  before  him  in  the  shape  of  one  single  work ;  for 
he  quotes  it  under  the  name  of  the  book  of  the  kings  of  Israel  for  several  of  the  southern 
kings,  and  for  such  even  after  the  downfall  of  the  northern  kingdom  as  Manasseh,  Josiah, 
and  Jehoiakim.  It  is  now  a  question,  however,  whether  this  single  source  of  the  Chronist 
was  a  later  elaboration  or  combination  of  the  dibre  hajjamim,  or  old  annals,  quoted  separately 
by  the  author  of  the  book  of  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah,  which  were  no  longer  extant,  or  was 
to  be  held  as  nothing  else  than  our  present  book  of  Kings,  so  that  the  wavering  manifold  way 
nf  designating  it  was  to  be  set  down  merely  to  the  account  of  the  defect  of  our  author  in 
diplomatic  accuracy.  Against  the  latter  assumption  (still  not  unfavourably  discussed  by 
Keil.  p.  20  of  his  Comment.)  speaks  decidedly,  a,  the  circumstance  that  the  Chronist  often 
refers  to  the  book  of  the  Kings,  etc.,  as  a  source  presenting  full  details,  whereas  the  canonical 


IXIKODUCTION.  1!) 


books  of  Kings  present  not  at  all  a  fuller,  but  quite  a  briefer  statement  (oomp.  for  example, 
his  account  of  Jotham  2  Chron.  xxvii.  with  2  Kings  xv.  32-38)  ;  6,  the  circumstance  that  the 
Chronist  presents  a  mass  of  accounts  for  which  we  look  in  vain  in  the  books  of  Kings;  ami 
c,  the  statement  contained  in  2  Chron.  xxxiii.  18  concerning  Manasseh,  that  his  prayer  to 
God,  and  the  words  of  the  seers  that  spake  to  him,  are  written  in  the  words  of  the  kings  of 
Israel,  by  which  our  canonical  book  of  Kings,  with  its  very  meagre  account  of  Manasseh, 
cannot  possibly  be  meant.  Equally  impossible  is,  however,  also  the  supposition  of  the  identity 
of  the  annalistic  sources  of  the  Chronist  with  the  double  dilre  hajjamim  of  the  books  of  Kings 
(Keil,  Bleek,  Davidson,  etc.);  for  these  are  uniformly  quoted^s  two  different  works,  the  onu 
referring  to  Israel,  the  other  to  Judah.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Chronist  never  uses  the  name 
dibn  hajjamim  for  his  source;  for  it  could  only  be  in  1  Chron.  xxvii.  24  that  he  referred  to  it 
under  this  name,  which,  however,  cannot  be  called  probable,  and  if  it  were  the  case,  would 
of  itself  prove  nothing.  In  short,  the  apprehension  of  the  "  book  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and 
Judah  "as  a  later  combination  of  the.  dibre  hajjamim  mentioned  in  the  books  of  Kings  (  Kwald, 
Bertheau,  Dillm.,  Graf,  Noldecke,  etc.)  remains  alone  probable.  Scarcely  anything  more 
definite  can  be  ascertained  concerning  the  form  and  date  of  these  two  annalistic  sources,  of 
which  the  older,  twofold  in  form,  forms  the  basis  of  the  books  of  Kings ;  the  younger,  parallel 
to  this,  that  of  Chronicles.  Only  so  much  appears,  that  they  bore  not  a  political-official,  but 
rather  a  prophetical  character, — that  is,  they  were  not  at  once  identical  with  the  official  records 
of  the  acts  and  events  of  the  several  reigns  made  by  the  royal  chancellors  or  historiographers 

(D'TJTD)  (as  Jahn,  Movers,  Stahelin,  and  others  thought),  but  annalistic  representations  of 

the  history  of  the  kingdom  derived  from  these  official  records,  composed  by  prophetic  writers, 
and,  therefore,  conceived  in  a  prophetic  spirit,  ami  like  our  books  of  Kings  aud  Chronicles, 
founded  upon  them,  breathing  a  prophetic  pragmatism.  Farther,  with  respect  to  the  date  of 
these  old  annalistic  histories  of  the  kingdom,  this  at  least  appears  certain,  that  the  older 
works  used  by  the  author  of  the  books  of  Kings  were  composed  before  the  fall  of  the  two 
kingdoms,  as  the  oft-recurring  formula  "  unto  this  day  "  presumes  clearly  the  existence  of  the 
kingdom  in  question,  and  that  the  new  elaboration  of  those  old  annals  used  as  the  chief 
source  of  the  Chronist  must  have  originated  at  least  before  the  exile,  because  this  also  some- 
times presents  the  phrase  under  circumstances  that  forbid  the  dating  of  the  collection  after 
the  exile  (see  2  Chron.  v.  9,  viii.  8,  x.  19,  xxi.  10,  and  therewith  comp.  1  Kings  viii.  8,  ix.  13, 
21,  xii.  19,  2  Kings  ii.  22,  viii.  22,  x.  27,  xiv.  7.  xvi.  6).  Comp.  Keil,  Comment,  p.  21  ff.,  who 
justly  infers  the  composition  of  the  sources  in  question  before  the  exile  from  the  double 
circumstance — -'that,  on  the  one  hand,  the  references  to  these  annals  in  both  kingdoms 
continue  not  to  the  last  kings,  but  (so  at  least  in  the  book  of  Kings,  2  Kings  xv.  31,  xxxiv.  5) 
close  for  the  kingdom  of  Israel  with  Pekah,  for  that  of  Judah  with  Jehoiakim;  on  the  other 
hand,  in  several  events  the  formula  'unto  this  day'  occurs,  which,  because  it  mostly  refers 
not  to  the  time  of  the  exile,  but  to  the  times  of  the  still  existing  kingdom,  cannot  proceed 
from  the  authors  of  our  canonical  books  of  Kings  and  Chronicles,  but  is  taken  over  from  the 
sources  used,  and  in  these  can  oidy  then  be  rightly  conceived,  if  they  were  written  a  more  or 
less  brief  time  after  the  events."  How  completely  arbitrary  are,  therefore,  such  dates  as 
those  of  Noldecke  (Die  Alttestamentl.  Literal,  p.  59),  namely,  that  the  dibre  hajjamim,  or 
"'  old  lost  chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah,"  were  first  composed  about  550  B.C., 
during  the  exile,  and  the  head  source  of  the  Chronist  thence  derived  (the  book  of  the 
kings  of  Israel  and  Judah),  like  the  parallel  canonical  books  of  Kings,  were  of  still  later 
origin, — this  needs  no  special  proof.  And  again,  that  the  latest  times  before  the  exile 
might  very  well  be  the  date  of  the  prophetic  annals  serving  the  Chronist  as  chief  source, 
must  be  evident  enough,  when  we  think  of  the  efforts  of  a  king  bke  Josiah.  and  the  learned 
literary  labour  of  a  prophet  like  Jeremiah.  Against  Bahr's  opinion  (Die  Biicher  (Ur  K.  vol. 
vii.  of  the  Bibelw.  p.  ix.  ff.),  that  for  the  activity  of  an  annalistic  collector  such  as  is  now 
mder  consideration,  the  time  shortly  before  the  fall  of  the  kingdom,  the  time  of  complete 
disorder,  seems  to  be  the  least  adapted,  Keil  appears  to  be  justified  in  mentioning  the  prophet 
Jeremiah,  who  belongs  precisely  to  this  time,  and  must  have  been  particularly  occupied  with 
the  older  sacred  writings.  And  like  the  writings  of  this  prophet,  an  annalistic  historical 
work  such  as  that  in  question  might  very  well  escape  the  destructive  catastrophes  of  the 
time  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  by  some  means  come  into  the  hands  of  its  later  extractors  and 


20  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES. 

redactors  (namely,  the  author  of  the  canonical  book  of  Kings,  who,  according  to  Biihr,  p.  viii., 
wrote  still  during  the  exile  and  in  Babylon,  and  then  our  author  after  the  exile). 

Further,  with  regard  to  the  prophetical  writings  above  enumerated  under  Nos.  1,  2,  3,  6,  9, 
12,  and  14,  it  is  a  question  whether  we  are  to  see  in  these  independent  historical  works,  oi 
mere  constituent  parts  of  the  before-mentioned  "  book  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah." 
Against  the  independence  affirmed  by  most  older  writers,  and  recently  by  Bleek,  Davidson, 
Fiirst,  Keil.  etc.,  and  for  the  hypothesis  that  they  were  merely  sections  of  the  great  annalistic 
book  of  Kings,  named  after  certain  contemporary  prophets.  Ewald,  Berth.,  Dillm.,  Noldecke, 
and  even  Biihr  in  p.  q.,  mainly  urged  the  circumstance,  that  of  two  of  these  prophetic  writings, 
the  dibre  of  Jehu  (No.  6)  and  the  "  vision  "  of  Isaiah  (No.  12),  it  is  expressly  said  by  the 
Chronist  that  they  were  in  the  book  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah,  or  what  amounts  to  the 
same  thing,  were  inserted  in  it  (No.  6).  But,  1.  What  is  said  of  these  two  writings  can 
scarcely  be  transferred  at  once  to  all  other  writings  of  this  kind  ;  the  notice  referring  to  their 
incorporation  into  the  greater  historical  work,  or  their  belonging  to  it,  must  have  been  repeated 
oftener  than  once  or  twice,  if  serious  doubt  of  their  independence  were  to  be  justified.  2.  The 
•■  Midrash  "  of  the  prophet  Iddo  mentioned  2  Chron.  xiii.  22  (No.  4),  even  because  it  is  called 
a  Midrash,  cannot  possibly  be  regarded  as  a  separate  section  or  integral  part  of  the  great  book 
of  Kings;  rather  might  it  have  been  a  separate  part  of  the  after-mentioned  (xxiv.  27)  "Mid- 
rash of  the  book  of  Kings,"  but  would  still  even  then  be  considered  distinct  from  that  older 
historical  work.  3.  The  statement  made  regarding  Isaiah,  2  Chron.  xxvi.  22,  that  he  "wrote 
(3ri3)  the  acts  of  Uzziah,  first  ami  last,"  may  certainly  refer  to  a  historical  book  composed  by 
him,  and  incorporated  at  once  into  the  great  book  of  Kings,  and  so  be  understood  in  the  sense 
of  that  hypothesis;  but  by  the  prophecy  (nNUj)  of  Ahijah  of  Shilo,  and  the  visions  (nitn) 
of  Iddi  against  Jeroboam  (2  Chron.  ix.  29,  No.  2),  it  is  highly  improbable  that  we  are  to 
understand  historical  works.  These  writings,  as  well  as  the  incidentally-mentioned  vision  of 
Isaiah  (2  Chron.  xxxii.  32),  appear  to  have  been  rather  books  of  prophecy,  with  occasional 
historical  notices;  writings  which,  from  their  predominant  character,  were  little  fitted  for  in- 
corporation in  a  great  historical  work,  and  of  which,  therefore,  if  such  incoiporation  took  place, 
it  needed  to  be  expressly  mentioned  (as  in  the  vision  of  Isaiah  above).  4.  And  where  these 
writings  of  prophets  are  introduced  with  the  term  dibre,  "  words,"  as  in  Samuel,  Nathan,  and 
3ad  (No.  1),  in  Nathan  (No.  2),  in  Shemaiah  and  Iddo  (No.  o),  in  Jehu  (No.  (i),  and  in  Chozai 
(No.  10),  it  is  at  least  as  natural,  after  the  analogy  of  the  superscriptions  in  Amos  i.  1,  Jer. 
i.  1,  etc.,  to  think  of  books  of  prophets  as  of  historical  notices  ;  and  it  is  at  all  events  significant, 
that  only  of  one  of  these  prophetic  works,  the  dibre  of  Jehu  son  of  Hanani,  is  its  insertion  in 
the  book  of  the  kings  of  Israel  expressly  mentioned,  whereas  of  the  remainder  nothing  of  the 
kind   is   stated.      5.   The  dibre  Chozai   (••fin  ,13rl),  indeed,  2  Chron.  xxxiii.  19,  are  named 

along  with  "  the  words  of  the  kings  of  Israel  "  (as  in  ver.  18)  as  historical  sources  for  the  reign 
of  Manasseh,  and  thus  plainly  distinguished  from  the  book  of  Kings,  and  by  no  means  repre- 
sented as  part  of  it.  Whether  these  dibre  Chozai  were  actually  the  writing  of  an  otherwise 
unknown  prophet,  Chozai  or  Chazai  (possibly  an  abbreviation  of  [ftPI ;  com)).  Fiirst,  ii.  210), 
or  the  phrase  be  rather  identical  with  D^tnn  '"OT  in  the  previous  verse,  so  that  an  error  in 

writing  is  to  be  assumed,  and  the  original  reading,  according  to  the  hiyoi  -run  i^uvTuu  of  the 
Sept.,  restored, — in  any  case,  here  is  an  independent  prophetic  book,  distinct  from  the  old  book 
of  Kings,  which  is  not  very  favourable  to  the  hypothesis  that  all  these  various  writings  belong 
to  that  historical  work.     6.  And  the  somewhat  obscure  and  ambiguous  phrase  L'TITinp  after 

the  form  of  quotation,  "  Are  they  not  written  in  the  words  of  Shemaiah  the  prophet  and  of 
Iddo  the  seer"  (2  Chron.  xii.  15;  see  above,  No.  3),  can  afford  no  proof  of  the  dependence  of 
the  two  works  to  which  it  refers.  For  whether  we  interpret  this  enigmatical  phrase  by  "on 
genealogy,"  or,  supplying  Tr\  or  VVl  JV3,  by  "on  the  genealogy  of  the  house  of  David,"1  in 
no  case  does  it  appear  an  addition  from  which  the  dependence  of  the  "  words  of  Iddo  the 

1  The  latter  assumption  is  rendered  probable  by  the  rendering  of  the  Targumist :  "  in  the  genealogy  of 
the  house  of  David."  It  has,  at  all  events,  far  more  for  it  than  the  unmeaning  «*<  wf*lus  «.it*»Z  of  the 
Sept.  (which  Movers,  p.  179,  labours  in  vain  to  reduce  to  a  various  reading  of  the  original),  or  the  no  less 
unintelligible  et  diligenter  exposita  of  the  Vulg.  Comp.  also  Fiirst  in  p.  q.,  p.  215,  and  in  his  Hebrew 
fjexicon  under  BTPJin. 


INTRODI'CTION. 


seer,"  that  i»,  tbeir  belonging  to  a  greater  work  of  another  kind,  must  be  concluded;  for  not 
the  place  where  those  words  of  Iddo  are  to  be  found  (Ew.,  Berth.,  etc.).  but  rather  the  end 

they  are  to  serve, — their  purpose,  namely,  to  be  a  genealogy, — appears  to  have  been  intruded 
by  the  preposition  5.  7.  Further,  from  the  circumstance  that  "reference  is  ma  le  for  the  whole 
history  of  David,  Solomon,  Rehoboam,  Jehosha.pl  at  (as  well  as  Uzziah)  to  prophetic  writings, 
and  likewise  for  the  whole  history  of  Asa,  Amaziah,  Jotham,  Ahaz,  and  Josiah  to  the  book 
of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah"  (Berth,  p.  xxxvi.),  no  argument  can  be  drawn  for  the 
assumption  of  one  connected  historical  work  of  which  those  prophetic  writings  were  only 
separate  facts.  From  that  circumstance,  it  merely  follows  "that  in  some  kings  the  prophetic 
writings,  in  others  the  history  of  the  kingdom,  contained  everything  important  on  their  life 
and  reign,  and  that  the  history  of  the  kingdom  presented  also  accounts  concerning  the  action 
of  the  prophets  in  the  kingdom,  as  the  prophetic  writings  concerning  the  affairs  of  the  kings" 
(Keil,  p.  2;)).  What  grounds  determined  the  Ghronist  to  refer  for  the  one  king  to  the  royal 
annals,  and  for  the  other  to  the  prophetic  writings,  it  is  impossible  to  conjecture,  and  it  would 
he  equally  impossible  to  ascertain,  in  the  case  of  the  dependence  of  both  kinds  of  writing  (so 
if  the  question  were  about  only  two  ways  of  quoting  one  and  the  same  greater  work).  8. 
Lastly,  if  (by  Bahr,  in  p.  q.,  p.  viii.  ff.)  the  verbal  agreement  of  certain  sections  declared  by 
our  Chronist  to  be  taken  from  the  writings  of  particular  prophets,  as  Nathan,  Shemaiah  and 
Iddo.  Isaiah  and  Chozai,  witli  the  sections  of  the  books  of  Kings  that  are  quoted  as  taken 
from  the  old  royal  annals  of  Israel  or  of  Judah,  is  urged  to  make  it  probable  "that  the  book 
of  the  kings  of  Judah  consisted  of  the  historical  writings  of  several  prophets  or  seers,"  this 
line  of  argument  cannot  be  admitted  as  cogent.  For  Chronicles  exhibits  in  the  reigns  of 
Solomon,  Rehoboam,  Abijah,  Uzziah,  and  Manasseh,  along  with  some  things  verbally  agreeing 
with  the  books  of  Kings,  whole  series  of  accounts  exclusively  its  own,  for  which  the  prophetic 
writings  in  question  must  have  formed  the  source.  And  that  a  partly  verbal  accordance  of 
their  accounts  with  those  of  the  old  book  of  Kings  takes  place,  only  proves  that  this  work  was 
composed  by  the  use  of  still  older  prophetic  writings,  to  which  a  very  high  value  belonged  as 
contemporary  records,  but  not  that  those  prophetic  writings  formed  integral  parts  of  the  book 
of  Kings.  It  may  be  that  the  words  of  Nathan  the  prophet  were  taken  in  great  part  into  his 
work  by  the  later  compiler  of  those  dihre  hajjamim  from  which  the  auth  >r  of  the  canonical 
book  of  Kings  mainly  drew,  and  likewise  the  words  (res  gestie,  note-books)  of  Gad,  Shemaiah, 
Iddo,  etc.  But  must  the  independent  existence  of  these  old  prophetic  sources  forthwith 
cease?  .Might  not  these  prophetic  books,  also,  like  the  dibre  hajjamim  or  the  "history  of  the 
kings  of  Israel  and  Judah"  derived  from  them,  if  not  collectively,  yet  in  great  part,  have  been 
preserved  through  the  storms  of  the  exile,  to  serve  the  collectors  after  the  exile  as  soirees  and 
helps  for  their  annalistic  compilations?  Where  so  many  and  so  variously  named  sources  are 
adduced,  as  in  our  author,  it  is  most  natural  to  suppose  him  actually  to  have  access  to  a  very 
rich  field  of  original  materials.  The  contrary  supposition,  which  refers  the  constant  change  in 
his  citations  partly  to  unnecessary  parade  of  literary  knowledge  and  unmeaning  fondness  for 
a  piebald  multiplicity  of  terms,  partly  to  inaccuracy  or  negligence,  encounters  far  greater 
difficulties,  and  makes  such  a  variety  of  hypothetical  helps  necessary,  that  it  cannot  be  regarded 
its  moving  on  the  soil  of  sound  historical  investigation. 

Moreover,  it  must  be,  and  is  confessed  by  the  opponents  of  our  hypothesis,  for  example  by 
Bertheau,  p  xxxviii.,  that  our  author,  besides  the  sources  actually  cited,  may  have  used  an 
indefinite  number  of  such  works  as  he  did  not  find  it  necessary  to  adduce.  Thus,  for  his  list 
of  David's  heroes  (1  Chron.  xi.  10-47),  David's  worthies  in  Hebron  (xii.),  the  military  and 
civil  officers  of  this  king  (xxvii.),  the  families  and  divisions  of  the  Levites,  priests,  singers,  etc. 
(xxiii.-xxvi.),  he  certainly  used  old  documents,  which,  however,  he  does  not  think  it  nee.  ssarj 
expressly  to  adduce,  perhaps  because  it  was  understood  of  itself  that  they  were  of  an  official 
kind,  and  therefore  trustworthy  (comp.  for  example,  2  Chron.  xxxiv.  4,  where  the  author 
makes  Josiah  mention  at  the  feast  of  the  Passover  a  2H3  of  David  and  a  3FI3D  of  Solomon 

concerning  the  services  of  the  Levites  and  priests,  or  the  temple  liturgy, — documents,  without 
doubt,  which  he  himself  had  used  in  those  sections  of  his  first  book  [xxiii.-xxvi.]),  or  which 
he  did  not  eite.  "because  he  had  taken  them  wholly  into  his  work"  (Keil),  so  that  there  was 
no  place  for  a  reference  to  them  tor  further  details.  That  our  canonical  books  of  Samuel  and 
Kings  belong  to  these  rich  sources  tried  by  our  author  is  still  possible  ;  for  the  frequent  verbal 


22  THE  ROOKS  OF  CHRONICLES. 

coincidence  of  bis  accounts  with  those  of  these  books,  may  in  some  cases  rest  on  the  direct  ose. 
as  well  as  on  the  copying,  of  a  common  ancient  source ;  and  it  would  not  be  impossible  that 

by  the  words  of  Samuel  the  seer  (ntjhil  ^NttDC;  nrn)  cited  in  1  Chron.  xxix.  29  our  books 

of  Samuel  were  meant.  Yet  the  pretty  numerous  material  as  well  as  formal  and  verbal 
variations,  which  the  parallel  texts  present  almost  everywhere,  form  a  weighty  counterpoise 
against  this  supposition  ;  and  what  Movers,  p.  95  ff.,  de  Wette  (EM.  $  192a),  Ewald  {Gesch. 
i.  238),  Rleek  (Einl.  §  167.  p.  400),  and  recently  Graf  (Die  geschichtl  Biicher,  p.  114  ff.) 
have  adduced  in  its  favour,  appears,  from  the  replies  produce!  by  H'avernick,  Rertheau,  and 
especially  by  Keil  (Einl.  §  144,  2),  to  be,  if  not  quite  refuted,  yet  shaken  in  such  a  degree, 
that  far  the  greater  probability  lies  ou  the  side  of  those  who  exclude  our  books  of  Samuel  and 
Kings  from  the  sources  used  by  the  Chronist. 


§  6.    CREDIBILITY    OF  THE   CHIIONIST. 

The  question  of  the  credibility  of  our  author  would  be  simply  answered  by  the  remarks 
already  made  on  his  historical  sources,  and  would  admit  of  no  unfavourable  answer,  if 
throughout  and  in  every  respect  a  faithful  use  of  his  sources  may  be  presumed.  That  this 
praise  can  only  be  conceded  to  him  in  a  limited  sense,  has  been  recently  asserted,  after  the 
example  of  K.  H.  Graf  (iu  p  q.  p.  114  ff.),  again  by  several  critics,  as  Ed.  Riehm  (Stud,  und 
Krit.  1868,  ii.  p.  376  ff.),  H.  Schultz  (Alttestamentl.  TheoL  ii.  p.  274  f.),  H.  Holtzmann  (in 
Ruusen's  Bibelwerk,  vol.  iv.  part  2,  p.  12  ff.),  and  even  Rertheau  (Jahrb.  f.  deutsche  TheoL 
1866,  p.  159  f.).  The  latter  had  formerly  defended  the  substantial  credibility  of  the  author. 
as  one  employing  good  old  sources,  and  using  them  with  sedulous  care,  against  the  blunt 
attacks  of  de  Wette  and  Gramberg  (who  made  the  Chronist  merely  copy  the  books  of  Samuel 
and  Kings,  but  in  all  places  deviating  from  them,  distorting  them  in  an  arbitrary  manner, 
misinterpreting,  embellishing,  or  supplementing  by  invented  additions1),  and  thus  almost 
without  reserve  accepted  that  which  J.  G.  Dahler  (De  libr.  Paralip.  auctoritate  atque  Jide  hist., 
Argentor.  1819),  Movers  (Krit.  Untersuch.,  etc.).  Keil  (Apo'.  Versuch  and  Einl.  ins  A.  T.). 
Havernick  (Einl.  1839),  Ewald,  and  others  had  brought  forward  on  behalf  of  the  Chronist. - 
On  the  contrary,  he  is  now  (Jahrbiicher  f.  d.  Theol.  in  p.  q.,  in  a  review  of  Grafs  work,  and 
;u  art.  "Chronik"  in  Schenkel's  Bibel-Lex.)  gone  over  to  the  modified  reproduction  of  the 
de  Wette-Gramberg  view  attempted  by  Graf,  at  least  so  far  as  to  confess  that  he  had  not 
formerly  estimated  highly  enough,  nor  duly  considered,  the  proper  action  of  the  author  of 
Chronicles ;  he  had  taken  him  for  a  more  trustworthy  and  objective  extractor  from  his  sources 
than  he  really  was.  Th.  Nbldecke  has  gone  still  farther,  in  his  treatise  on  Die  Alttestamentl. 
Literat.  (1868,  p.  59  ff.).  Ry  such  sentences  as,  "  All  great  wars  mentioned  only  in  Chronicle! 
must  be  very  suspicious,"  "his  narrative  is  therefore  very  defective,"  "he  proceeds  very 
negligently,  and  often  contradicts  himself,"  and  so  on,  he  has  almost  wholly  returned  to  the 
position  of  Gramberg,  ami  has  thereby  incurred  the  severe  censure  even  of  F.  Hitzig.  The 
latter  not  long  ago  (in  a  conversation  on  Nbldecke's  paper  concerning  the  inscription  of  Mesha. 
king  of  Moab,  in  the  Heidelberg  Jahrb.  der  Literat.  1870,  p.  437)  expressed  his  surprise  to 
hear  Mr.  Noldecke  assert  that  "  the  account  2  Chron.  xx.  is  a  strange  story,  only  a  trans- 
formation of  2  Kings  iii.,  with  the  removal  of  difficulties,  aud  the  addition  of  a  great  deal  of 
edifying  matter."  He  further  remarks  :  "  This  is  the  strangest  thing  that  has  occurred  to  the 
writer  since  Volkmar  wished  to  see  the  Apostle  Paul  in  the  false  prophet  of  the  Apocalypse. 
Has  Mr    N   ever  thought  of  the  origin  of  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat  in  Joel  iv.  2?     Has  he 

1  De  Wette,  Beitr.  zur  Einl.  ins  A.  T.  i.,  Halle  1S06,  and  Lehrb.  der  hist.-krit.  Einl.,  etc.,  1817, 
6th  ed.  1S45  ;  C.  P.  W.  Gramberg,  Die  Chron.  nach  ihrem  geschichtl.  Charakter  und  ihrer  Glauburiirdig- 
keil  neu  gepriifi,  Halle  1823.  Comp.  also  Gesenius.  Gesch,  der  Hebr.  Sprache  mul  Sckrifi,  1S15,  §  12. 
p.  37  ff. .  and  Kom/ment.  zu  Jen.,  1821,  i.  268  ff. 

*  Kurzgef.  exeg.  Handb.,  Einl.  p.  xliii.  :  "That  the  author  of  Chronicles  ever  intentionally  distorted 
the  sense  or  made  false  statements  does  not  appear  from  the  comparison  of  the  sections  parallel  with 
Samuel  and  Kings.  The  parallel  sections  rather  warrant  the  assumption,  that  even  where  he  impartf 
accounts  and  statements  that  are  not  found  in  the  other  books  of  the  O.  T.,  he  adhered  most  closely 
to  his  sources,"  etc.  Quite  similar  to  this  is  the  language  of  Dillmann  in  the  art.  "Chronik  "  in  Herzog's 
Real-Em- yd.  p.  693. 


INTRODUCTION.  23 


read  Movers  on  Chronicles?     And  is  he  always  so  bright,  that  he  should  stain  the  hypotheses 
of  others?     QuU  tulerit  Gracchost"  etc. 

We  cannot  but  see  in  this  venomous  onslaught  of  the  Heidelberg  theologian  a  chastisement 
on  the  whole  deserved;  for  even  in  the  more  moderate  and  more  carefully  supported  views  of 
Graf  there  is  expressed,  in  our  opinion,  a  great  deal  of  hypercritical  arrogance  and  vehement, 
prejudice  against  our  author.  Accordingly  he  appears  as  a  biassed  historian  going  to  work 
in  an  unconscionable  manner,  idealizing,  embellishing,  and  often  capriciously  transforming  on 
a  narrow  Levitical  principle,  moved  by  the  desire  to  write  the  history  of  the  Jews,  so  that  it, 
shall  be  an  impressive  admonition  to  keep  the  commandments  of  God,  especially  to  observe 
the  ordinances  of  worship,  and  at  the  same  time  a  solemn  warning  against  apostasy  from 
God.  Instead  of  adhering  closely  to  that  which  is  found  in  his  sources,  he  stamps  on  bis  work 
(which  is  a  history  of  the  Church  more  than  of  the  people  or  kingdom)  throughout  his 
Levitical-priestly  tendency,  along  with  the  characteristic  spirit  of  his  late  age;  he  writes  the 
history  so  as  the  variously-distorting  and  colouring  mirror  of  the  fourth  century  B.C.  reflects 
i*,  and  on  behalf  of  the  tastes  and  requirements  of  his  contemporaries,  seizes  glaring  colours, 
institutes  striking  contrasts,  and  handles  the  original  material  capriciously  after  his  manner 
(comp.  Berth,  in  the  JahrbUchern  fur  deutxche  Theol.  in  p.  q.).  Thus  he  makes  use  of  the 
books  of  Samuel  and  Kings  as  if  not  the  only,  yet  the  principal  sources,  leaves  out  what  ap- 
pears to  have  no  interest  for  his  time  and  tendency,  and  alters  their  reports  in  various  places 
as  he  requires,  by  means  of  enlarging  insertions,  various  changes  of  meaning,  and  recast ings. 
so  that  the  number  of  passages  borrowed  by  him  from  these  books  appears  much  smaller  thaw 
it  really  is.  Such  is,  above  all,  his  whole  history  of  David  (1  Chron.  x.-xxix.),  a  work  formed 
by  the  manifold  transformation  of  the  corresponding  account  in  the  books  of  Samuel ;  only 
the  lists  of  names  inserted  therein,  especially  those  in  ch.  xxiii.-xxvii.,  are  derived' from 
special  sources, — by  no  means,  however,  more  respectable  nor  earlier  than  the  exile  ;  and  the 
words  of  Samuel  the  seer,  of  Nathan  the  prophet,  and  of  Gad  the  seer,  mentioned  1  Chron. 
xxix.  29,  are  not  special  prophetic  writings  of  a  high  age,  but  mere  sections  of  our  canonical 
books  of  Samuel.  Thus  it.  cannot  be  determined  how  far  those  sources  are  only  freely  and 
inaccurately  used  by  him  ;  and  this  applies  as  well  to  the  sources  of  the  history  of  David  as  to 
the  genealogical  sources  used  by  him  in  the  time  before  David  (in  1  Chron.  i.-ix.).  Farther, 
our  Chronist's  representation  of  the  history  of  Solomon  {2  Chron.  i.-ix.)  is  merely  elaborated 
on  the  basis  of  2  Kings  i.-xi.,  with  the  omissiou  of  Solomon's  secular  doings,  his  palace  build- 
ing, and  idolatry  ;  only  in  viii.  36  gleams  forth  a  peculiar  source  different  from  1  Kings  ix. 
17-19,  which  is  used  by  him.  Such  sources  also,  differing  from  the  text  of  the  book  of  Kings, 
are  used  in  the  sections  on  Rehoboam  (2  Chron.  xi.  5-xii.  18-23),  Abijah,  Asa,  Jehoshaphat, 
Ahaziah,  Joash,  Uzziah,  Jotham,  and  Hezekiah.  Throughout  the  Chronist  has  made  use  of 
these  sources,  which  are  all  to  be  referred  to  the  "  book  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah " 
lying  at  the  root  of  the  canonical  books  of  Kings,  in  accordance  with  his  object.  This  trans- 
forming bias  of  the  Chronist  appears  most  surprising  in  the  narrative  of  the  fali  of  Athaliah 
by  the  co-operation  of  the  priests  and  Levites  (xxiii.)  ;  as  also  in  the  embellished  accounts  of 
the  successful  wars  of  Abijah  against  the  northern  kingdom  (xiii.).  in  which,  at  the  most,  the 
statement  of  the  three  cities  conquered  by  him  (ver.  19)  rests  on  old  written  sources ;  and 
likewise  in  the  account  of  Solomon's  ascending  the  throne  (1  Chron.  xxviii.  29),  the  deviations 
of  which  from  1  Kings  i.  are  due  to  the  inventive  turn  of  the  Chronist,  and  not  to  any  written 
or  oral  traditions  whatever  ;  as  well  as  in  the  accounts  concerning  the  divisions  of  the 
priests,  Levites.  and  singers  in  David's  preparation  for  the  temple,  and  in  the  building  and 
consecration  of  it  by  Solomon,  wherein  it  is  evidently  the  design  of  the  writer  to  represent 
the  relations  of  these  religious  officials  as  already  existing  at  the  time  of  the  founding  of  the 
temple. 

The  irpurrj!/  ij/'.ioa:  of  Graf's  accusations  and  suspicions  of  the  historical  character  of  our 
work  wnsists  in  the  totally  unfounded  presupposition,  that  the  author  made  use  of  the 
canonical  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings  almost  alone,  as  sources,  and  that  his  deviations  from 
them  are  to  be  ascribed  to  the  caprice  of  the  redactor.  We  have  already  shown  it  to  be 
extremely  probable  that  our  author  made  no  use  whatever  of  these  b  oks  (§  5).  The  number 
of  passages  in  which  there  is  a  verbal  coincidence  of  his  accounts  with  those  of  the  older 
historical  books  is  comparatively  small,  and  even  these  may  without,  much  difficulty  be  re- 
garded as  flowing  from  a  common  source,  so  that  the  assumption  that  they  belong  to  the 


THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES. 


sources  of  our  author  appears  by  110  means  necessary.  But  even  if  it  were  proved,  both  that 
he  drew  from  the  historical  books  of  the  canon,  and  that  he  made  a  free  use  of  them  with  an 
occasional  departure  from  them,  liis  credit  as  a  trustworthy  historian  in  all  essential  matters 
would  suffer  no  more  than  it  would  from  a  siriilar  use  of  his  other  materials. 

1.  For  his  parenetic  tendency  permitted  him,  if  he  did  not  interfere  with  the  objective 
historical  fact,  in  numerous  cases  to  transform  the  old  accounts  to  suit  his  peculiar  Levitical 
ecclesiastical  pragmatism,  to  which,  in  respect  of  the  times  of  our  author,  as  full  a  privilege 
must  be  conceded  as  to  the  theocratico-prophetic  pragmatism  of  the  older  historians  (comp 
the  examples  to  be  adduced  under  No.  4).  And  that  the  non-subjective  mode  of  our  historian, 
compared  with  the  more  objective  fashion  of  the  books  of  Kings,  led  to  no  distortions,  falsifi- 
cations, or  arbitrary  transformations  of  facts,  is  manifest  from  the  circumstance  already 
noticed,  that  he  has  not  kept  back  all  that  was  at  his  command  on  behalf  of  his  pragmatic 
tendency,  and  has  often  omitted  matters  of  consequence  for  his  point  of  view,  so  that  he  may 
be  justly  charged  with  a  ceitain  degree  of  inconsistency  (comp.  §  4). 

2.  A  quite  harmless  and  allowable  class  of  alterations,  that  our  author  makes  in  his 
materials,  refers  to  the  genealogical  lists,  especially  those  of  the  first  part,  where  he  in  part 
arranges  anew  and  groups  in  certain  proportions  the  lists  of  names  taken  from  the  Pentateuch, 
not  so  much  to  aid  the  memory  as  to  exhibit  the  numerical  law  and  symbolic  import  of  these 
parts  of  sacred  history.  Thus  he  not  only  in  ch.  i.  keeps  apart  the  ten  patriarchs  from 
Adam  to  Noah  and  the  ten  from  Noah  to  Shem,  but  derives,  certainly  without  defining  or 
marking  this  by  giving  express  prominence  to  the  number.  70  nations  from  Noah,  70  families 
from  Abraham,  and  70  descendants  from  Judah  (i.  28,  ii.  25),  refers  the  eight  sons  of  Jesse  to 
the  sacred  number  seven,  aud  leaves  out,  partly  from  a  religious  and  symbolic  consideration, 
the  tribe  of  Dan  repeatedly  in  his  enumeration  of  the  tribes  (see  on  vii  12).  It  is  obvious 
that  by  none  of  these  idealizing  changes  of  the  genealogical  matter  that  come  to  hand  is  a 
proper  distortion  of  the  historical  relations  effected,  and  still  less  by  so  many  other  less 
intentional  alterations,  such  as  the  transpositions  and  reductions  in  the  series  of  names  in 
Genesis ;  for  example,  iv.  1  ff. 

3.  Another  class  of  alterations,  which  proceed  as  little  from  caprice  or  culpable  negligence, 
belongs  to  the  linguistic  department.  It  consists  in  the  exchange  of  many  phrases  and  turns 
belonging  to  the  old  Hebrew  for  the  corresponding  phrases  of  the  later  language,  and  has  in 
most  cases  no  deeper  ground  than  such  orthographic  changes  as  the  scriptio  plena  instead  of 
the  defective/.,  ami  the  reverse — the  introduction  of  later,  Aramaiziug  forms  instead  of  the  older 

ones      To  this  belong  the  change  of  older  formations,  as  riSPDD,  nsnn,  D?ij'-  etc.,  into  the 

later  JTOPD,  pjnn,  DiVl"  the  change  of  the  construction  by  omission  of  the  infill,  absol.  with 

the  verb  finit.,  or  by  the  use  of  the   preposition  7X   or  of    n   Inc.  in  verbs  of  motion,  as 

N13,  T17H,  rOW,  the  avoiding  or  paraphrasing  of  certain  pregnant  constructions  of  the  older 

language,  and  the  like  (comp.  the  collection  of  numerous  examples  of  all  these  in  Movers,  p. 
200  ff. ;  and  after  him.  in  Havernick  and  Keil.  Einl.  §  142,  p.  482  ff.).  These  deviations 
from  the  old  forms  of  the  sources  are  of  the  less  importance,  as  they  are  carried  to  a  very  small 
extent,  and  the  character  of  the  original  may  almost  always  be  clearly  distinguished  from  that 
of  the  chronicle. 

4.  Of  scarcely  more  importance  are  those  changes  occasioned  by  the  religious  and  dogmatic 
views  of  the  author,  which,  without  touching  the  facts,  bring  out  new  aspects  of  the  religious 
side  of  the  history.  For  example,  in  the  account  of  David's  numbering  of  the  people,  where 
the  author  (1  Chron.  xxi.  1)  refers  that  which  in  the  older  account  (2  Sam.  xxi.  1)  is 
represented  as  the  direct  effect  of  the  divine  wrath  to  the  subordinate  activity  of  Satan,  and 
where  he  represents  God's  "being  entreated  "  at  the  end  of  the  older  account  (2  Sam.  xxiv. 
25)  in  a  more  concrete  and  pictorial  manner  as  an  "  answering  from  heaven  by  tire  upon  the 
altar  of  burnt-offering  "  (comp.  also  2  Chron.  vi.  1  with  1  Kings  viii.  54  f.)  ;  or  as  in  such 
pragmatic  reflective  additions  as  2  Chron.  vii.  11  ("all  that  he  wished  to  do  in  the  house  of 
Jehovah  and  in  his  own  house  was  successful."  for  which  the  older  parallel  1  Kings  ix.  1  has 
only  "  what  he  wished  to  do,"  etc.)  ;  likewise  2  Chron.  viii.  11  (the  ground  on  which  Solomon 
built  a  separate  house  for  Pharaoh's  daughter:  comp.  1  Kings  ix.  24) ;  2  Chron.  xxii.  7  (giving 
prominence  to  the  divine  dispensation  occasioning  the  death  of  king  Ahaziah:   comp.  2  Kings 


INTRODUCTION.  25 


viii.  29):  -  Chron.  xviii.  31  ("And  Jehovah  helped  him,  and  God  drove  them  from  him  ;  ■1 
comp.  the  account  omitting  all  such  remarks,  1  Kings  xxii.  32  f.)  ;  also  1  Chron.  x.  13  f. 
I  remark  on  Saul's  deserved  death  ;  comp.  1  Sam.  xxxi.  12),  and  xi.  3  (reference  to  Samuel's 
prophetic  announcement  of  the  coronation  of  David  at  Hebron  ;  comp.  2  Sam.  v.  3). 

5.  A  further  class  of  deviations  from  the  older  parallel  accounts  involves  a  number  of 
actually  erroneous  statements,  that  are  mostly  to  be  ascribed  to  old  corruptions  of  the  text 
either  found  in  the  sources  of  the  Chronist  or  introduced  into  his  work  by  the  fault  of 
negligent  transcribers,  and  therefore  cannot  affect  the  character  and  credibility  of  the  author. 
The  only  nearly  certain  example  of  an  error  on  his  part,  arising  apparently  from  geographical 
ignorance,  is  the  explanation  of  the  Tarshish  ships  of  the  Red  Sea  as  being  designed  to  trade  to 
Tarshish  (2  Chron.  ix.  21  and  xx.  3G).  This  appears,  according  to  1  Kings  x.  22.  xxii.  49,  to  be 
a  real  misinterpretation,  which  can  be  removed  no  more  by  an  identification  of  Tarshish  with 
Ophir  than  by  the  supposition  that  our  author  was  acquainted  with  a  place  of  the  name  of 
Tarshish  (thus,  an  eastern  Tartessus)  in  Ophir  or  its  neighbourhood  (comp.  Biihr  on  1  Kings 
x.  22,  and  the  exeg.  expl.  given  on  2  Chron.  ix.  21).  If  we  except  this  one  passage,  all  else  of 
an  erroneous  nature  in  his  text  is  most  probably  to  be  reduced  to  errors  in  copying,  that 
either  existed  in  his  sources  or  were  introduced  into  his  text.  Under  this  head  come  especially 
the  numbers  which  deviate  from  those  in  the  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings,  on  account  of 
which  it  has  been  thought  necessary  (by  de  Wette,  Gramberg,  etc.)  to  impute  to  him  arbitrary 
exaggeration  of  the  greatness  of  Israel  before  the  exile,  of  his  armies,  population,  treasures, 
offerings,  etc.,  without  considering  that  the  older  historical  books  often  exhibit  notorious 
corruptions  of  the  text  in  numbers  (for  example,  the  30,000  chariots  of  the  Philistines  in 
1  Sam.  xiii.  5,  or  the  70  men  and  50,000  men  of  Bethshemesh  in  1  Sam.  vi.  11*  ;  comp.  more 
examples  of  this  kind  in  Wellhauseu,  Der  Ttxt  Jer  Backer  Samuelis,  etc.,  pp.  20,  GO,  81,  133. 
219,  etc.),  and  that  in  some  cases  Chronicles  gives  the  smaller  and  more  credible  number ;  for 
example,  2  Chron.  ix.  25,  where  it  mentions  4,000  stalls  for  Solomon's  horses,  which  is 
certainly  more  correct  than  the  parallel  text  1  Kings  v.  6,  where  the  number  of  these  horses 
and  stalls  amounted  to  40,000  (comp.  Bahr's  crit.  note  on  the  p.,  p.  2G).  As  notorious  instances 
of  textual  corruption  in  numbers  not  due  to  the  author,  are  to  be  noted  1  Chron.  xxi.  5,  where 
the  1,100,000  men  in  Israel  rests  on  a  simple  clerical  error  for  800,000;  2  Chron.  xvi.  1,  where, 
instead  of  the  36th,  the  16th  year  of  Asa  is  to  be  read  (as  in  the  previous  verse  instead  of 
the  35th  the  loth);  2  Chron.  xx.  2,  wdiere  the  42  years  of  King  Ahaziah's  age,  instead  of  the 
22  of  2  Kings  viii.  26,  appear  to  have  arisen  from  the  exchange  of  o  and  3.  That  the  use  of 
the  letters  for  numbers  is  very  ancient,  and  was  adopted  long  before  the  Masoretic  recension, 
is  proved  by  the  circumstance  that  the  Sept.  exhibits  in  its  text  a  great  deal  of  the  errors  in 
numbers  arising  from  the  exchange  of  letters,  and  indeed  not  merely  in  Chronicles,  but  in 
various  other  books;  for  example,  in  Ezra  ii.  G9,  where  it  reproduces  the  error  of  61,000,  instead 
of  4 1 .01  ii  1.  Darics  from  the  Hebrew  text  (comp.  Neh.  vii.  70-72),  and  often  also  in  the  books  of 
Samuel,  etc.  Along  with  these  numerical  errors  resting  on  the  corruption  of  the  text,  there  are 
a  great  many  cases  in  which  the  Chronist  himself  or  his  source  before  him  shows  decided 
differences  in  his  numbers  from  the  other  canonical  books ;  and  these  are  by  no  means  at  once 
to  be  ascribed  to  the  boastful  and  exaggerating  bias  of  the  author.  Rather,  as  Ked  (Komm. 
]i.  30)  justly  points  out,  are  we  to  bear  in  mind,  with  regard  to  these  different  numbeis,  a. 
"  That  they  are  geuerally  round  numbers  determined  only  to  thousands,  depend  therefore  not 
on  actual  numbering  but  on  loose  estimates  of  contemporaries,  and  assert  nothing  more  than 
that  the  size  of  the  army  and  the  number  of  the  slain  or  the  captives  was  rated  very  high  ;  " 
and  b.  "That  in  the  quantity  of  gold  and  silver  collected  by  David  for  the  building  of  the 

temple, — 100,000  shekels  or  hundredweight  (D'lSS)  of  gold  and   1,000,000  hundredweight  of 

silver,  1  Chron.  xxii.  13, — the  actual  amount  cannot  be  ascertained,  because  we  know  not  the 
weight  of  the  shekel  of  that  day," — a  circumstance  that  must  be  taken  into  account  in  many 
other  differences,  as  the  exegesis  of  the  several  passages  will  show. 

6.  Actual  deviations  from  the  older  historical  works,  but  still  none  that  can  be  charged  to 
our  author  as  wilful  distortions  or  falsifications,  are  contained  in  many  of  the  speeches  ascribed 
to  David,  Abijah,  Asa,  and  other  kings,  or  even  to  private  persons,  especially  prophets  ;  for 
example,  the  speeches  of  David  given  in  1  Chron.  xiii.  2  f.,  xv.  12  f.,  xxviii.  2—10,  xxix. 
I  ff.,  10  ff..  which  have  little  or  no  parallel  in  the  books  of  Samuel;  that  of  Abijah,  2  Chron. 


26  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES. 

xiii.  4-12;  of  Asa,  2  Chron.  xiv.  11  ;  of  Azariah  son  of  Oded,  2  Cliron.  xv.  1-7  ;  of  Hezekiah, 
2  Chron.  xxxii.  7  f.,  etc.  That  the  greater  number  of  those  speeches,  if  not  all,  were  con- 
tained in  the  sources  of  our  author,  may  be  concluded  with  sufficient  certainty  from  the 
one  circumstance,  that  three  speeches  of  Solomon  which  he  communicates  (2  Chron.  i.  8-10, 
vi.  4-11,  12-42)  occur  in  almost  the  same  words  in  the  book  of  Kings,  whence  his  fidelity 
and  care  in  the  reproduction  of  such  pieces  are  manifest.  Here  the  speeches  of  different 
persons  distinguish  themselves  in  a  characteristic  manner  by  their  line  of  thought,  their 
figures  and  turns;  the  peculiar  speech  and  style  of  the  Chronist  is  stamped  upon  them  only 
in  a  comparatively  small  degree.  This  is  very  striking  in  three  of  David's  speeches,  namely, 
in  the  longer  addresses  relating  to  the  future  building  of  the  temple  by  Solomon  (1  Chrcn. 
xxii.  7-16,  xxviii.  2-22,  xxix.  1-5).  Here  the  author  appears,  as  the  manifold  conformity  of 
that  which  is  put  in  the  mouth  of  David  with  his  peculiarities  in  thought,  speech,  etc.,  shows, 
to  have  acted  pretty  freely,  and  without  resting  on  sources  to  have  attempted  an  ideal 
reproduction  of  the  thoughts  moving  the  soul  of  the  aged  king  and  uttered  by  him.  But 
the  prayer  of  David  annexed  to  the  last  of  these  addresses,  1  Chron.  xxix.  10-19,  proves 
itself  to  be  derived  from  ancient  sources  by  its  manifold  coincidence  with  the  Psalms  of 
David  (see  on  vers.  11  and  15),  especially  ver.  18,  with  which  it  agrees  iu  the  characteristic 
accumulation  of  predicates  of  God.  And  all  the  other  speeches  in  question  show  similar 
traces  of  old  original  peculiarities  foreign  or  remote  from  the  Chronist's  manuer  of  thought, 
speech  and  style;  for  example,  that  of  Abijah,  2  Chron.  xiii.  4-12,  that,  among  other 
accordances  with  our  author,  exhibits  in  the  phrases  D"p~l  D'L'^S  and  ^jj»?3  '33  clear  marks 
of  their  connection  with  the  usage  of  the  time  of  David  and  Solomon;  that  of  Hezekiah, 
2  Chron.  xxxii.  7  f.,  in  which  the  phrase  "ib'3  V'1"U  reminds  us  of  his  intercourse  with  the 

prophet  Isaiah  (Isa.  xxxi.  3)  ;  lastly,  the  shorter  or  longer  utterances  handed  down  by 
various  prophets,  which  generally  contain  much  that  is  original,  especially  that  of  Azariah 
son  of  Oded  addressed  to  King  Asa,  2  Chron.  xv.  1-7,  which,  by  its  remarkable  coincidence 
with  parts  of  the  Oratio  eschatologica  of  Christ,  as  Matt.  xxiv.  6  f.,  Luke  xii.  19,  proves  itself 
to  be  an  old  independent  creation  of  the  genuine  prophetic  stamp  (comp.  C.  P.  Caspari, 
Der  syrisch-ephraim.  Krieg,  Christiania  1849,  p.  55  ft'.).  Thus  it  is  essentially  the  same  with 
the  speeches  given  by  our  historian  as  with  those  in  the  other  historical  books,  from  the 
Pentateuch  and  Judges  down  to  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  and  the  Gospel  of  John.  The 
original  and  subjective  proper  to  the  late  reporter  appears  in  them  connected  as  matter  and 
form,  as  seed  and  shell,  without  any  sharp  distinction  of  the  reporter's  addition  from  the 
original  text.  But  a  certain  formative  influence  of  the  original  type  proper  to  the  old  source 
appears  in  the  diction  and  style  of  the  younger  writer.  And  as  the  glass  transmits  no  light 
without  imparting  its  peculiar  hue,  or  the  instrument  conveys  no  tone  without  its  own 
individual  modification,  so  the  physiognomy  of  the  speeches  in  our  book  exhibits  that 
mutual  influence  of  the  proper  individuality  of  the  author  and  of  the  materials  that  have 
come  down  to  him  from  the  past,  that  interchange  of  subjectivity  and  objectivity,  which 
displays  itself  in  a  similar  way  in  the  speeches  of  Judges  and  Kings  (especially  the  prophetical ; 
comp.  Delitzsch,  Komm.  zu  Jesaja,  Eiul.  p.  xiv.  f.),  and  also  in  the  New  Testament,  in  the 
speeches  of  Christ  in  John,  and  of  Peter,  Stephen,  aud  Paul  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 

7.  The  last  class  of  deviations  chargeable  to  the  subjectivity  of  the  Chronist  relates  to  the 
descriptions  of  religious  festivals,  particularly  in  the  history  of  David  (1  Chron.  xv.,  xvi.), 
Solomon  (2  Chron.  v.-vii.),  Hezekiah  (xxix.-xxxi.),  and  Josiah  (xxxv.),  where  the  same 
circumstantial  description  of  certain  acts  of  worship,  especially  of  the  playing  and  singing 
of  the  Levites  and  priests,  constantly  recurs,  and  always  in  essentially  the  same  rhetorical 
dress,  aud  with  the  same  phrases  and  liturgical  formulae  (comp.  §  2  above).  It  may  seem 
at  first  sight  that  the  author  in  such  descriptions  dates  back  the  liturgical  usages  and 
ceremonies  of  his  own  age,  and  transfers  not  only  his  Levitical  and  priestly  mode  of  thought, 
but  the  religious  customs  and  performances  of  his  time,  uncritically  to  the  worship  of  the 
reigns  of  David,  Solomon,  Hezekiah,  etc.  But  the  suspicions  in  this  direction  expressed  by 
de  Wette,  Gramberg,  and  recently  by  Graf,  Nbldecke,  Holtzmanu,  and  others,  rest  on  » 
twofold  misconception — (1)  That  the  sacrificial  worship,  according  to  the  rules  of  Leviticus, 
or  the  introduction  of  music  and  singing  of  psalms,  dates  from  the  exile;  and  (2)  tlmt  out 
author,  whenever  he  treats  of  the  occurrence  of  such   usages,   writes  wholly  without  ancient 


INTRODUCTION.  27 


sources,  and  so  lays  himself  open  to  the  charge  of  arbitrary  falsifications  of  history  in  favour 
of  his  own  views  and  times.  On  the  contrary,  the  essentials  of  the  form  of  worship 
undoubtedly  go  back  to  the  times  of  Moses,  or  at  all  eveDts,  long  before  the  exile;  and  the 
modification  which  our  author  makes  in  his  accounts  of  the  festivals  consists  only  in  individual 
touches  and  details,  whereby  he  endeavours  to  trace  out  for  himself  and  his  readers  a  clear 
picture  of  the  actual  events.  That  he  herein  allowed  himself  a  certain  drawing  together  of 
far-separated  times  and  customs,  a  presentation  of  earlier  usages  in  the  light  of  the  current 
times, — in  short,  a  modernizing  process  in  minor  particulars, — does  not  on  the  whole  mar  the 
credibility  of  his  narrative.  It  may  be  that  in  1  Chron.  xvi.  8-36,  in  describing  the  solemn 
conveyance  of  the  ark  to  Jerusalem,  he  lets  a  psalm  be  introduced  by  Asaph  and  his  brethren 
which  David  had  not  literally  composed  for  this  solemnity,  but  which  was  an  ideal  reproduc- 
tion of  the  psalm  then  sung,  but  springing  from  a  later  time;  that  he  allowed  himself  here 
the  same  sort  of  substitution  as  if  a  modern  historian  were  to  set  back  Luther's  "  Eiu  feste 
burg,"  etc.,  from  the  year  1530,  or  from  the  time  of  the  Augsburg  Diet,  to  which  its  origin 
was  really  due,  till  the  year  1521,  or  the  time  of  the  Diet  of  Worms.  In  like  manner,  what 
is  said  (1  Chron.  xxviii.  11-19)  of  the  several  materials  and  vessels  of  the  future  temple 
which  David  reckoned  up  and  handed  over  to  Solomon  may  involve  a  proleptic  idealizing  and 
altering  of  the  transaction,  which  forms  a  deviation  not  only  from  the  far  simpler  and  shorter 
account  in  the  book  of  Kings,  but  from  that  which  lay  before  the  author  regarding  the  last 
acts  of  the  reign  of  David.  And  so  it  may  be  with  several  other  details  of  religious  action 
in  the  statements  of  our  author ;  for  example,  his  notice  of  the  temple  gates  and  porticos 
ander  David  (1  Chron.  xxvi.  16-18),  of  the  reform  of  Hezekiah  (2  Chron.  xxix.  ff.),  etc. 
On  the  whole,  these  freer  combinations  of  historical  events,  corresponding  with  the  priestly 
Levitical  pragmatism  and  parenetic  tendency  of  the  author,  derogate  nothing  from  the  credi- 
bility of  his  narrative.  It  remains,  therefore,  highly  probable,  that  much  if  not  most  of  these 
modifications  of  the  history  before  the  exile  had  its  root  in  the  sources  before  the  author, 
particularly  in  the  "book  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah,"  the  harmony  of  which,  with  his 
views  and  predilections,  must  neither  be  exaggerated  nor  underrated  (coinp.  Del.  in  p.  q., 
p.  xvi.). 

On  the  whole,  a  marked  subjective  colouring  of  his  narrative  in  the  direction  of  the 
priestly-Levitical  standpoint  may  be  ascribed  to  our  author;  he  may  be  charged  with  having 
less  aptitude  for  quiet,  strictly  objective  conception  and  presentation  of  his  materials  than  his 
predecessors,  the  authors  of  the  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings,  and  with  putting  forward  his 
didactic-moralizing  bent  often  too  strongly,  and  not  always  free  from  a  legal  exurnality  of 
thought  ami  intuition.  But  it  appears  unwarranted  to  reproach  him  with  a  want  of  love  for 
the  truth  or  an  uncritical  levity  in  dealing  with  facts,  or  to  charge  him  with  wilful  invention 
or  falsification  of  history  ;  for  the  solid  foundation  of  old  original  tradition  gleams  forth  at 
every  step  of  his  narrative,  and  conveys,  even  where  he  goes  farthest  from  the  parallel  text 
of  the  books  of  Kings,  and  brings  in  the  most  important  supplements  to  their  report,  the 
impression  of  the  highest  trustworthiness:  for  example,  in  the  accounts  of  Rehoboam's 
building  of  forts  and  his  domestic  concerns  (2  Chron.  xi.  5  ff.,  18  ff.)  ;  in  the  statements 
concerning  the  three  cities  conquered  by  Abijah,  and  concerning  his  family  (xiii.  19-21)  :  in 
the  history  of  Jehoshaphat,  so  full  of  concrete  details  of  the  most  trustworthy  kind  (xvii.-xx.); 
in  the  surprisingly  exact  yet  obviously  authentic  statements  concerning  Amaziah's  troops 
aired  from  Israel,  and  the  plundering  raid  in  which  they  engaged  after  they  were  discharged 
(xxv.  o  ff.)  ;  in  the  history  of  Manasseh,  for  the  details  of  which  he  certainly,  not  without 
grounds,  refers  to  older  sources,  as  the  book  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  the  words  of  Chr.zai 
v'xxxiii.).  etc  Th:  Levitical-pnestly  and  legal  external  stamp  of  his  history  may  be  regarded 
as  a  characteristic  mean  between  the  prophetic  pragmatism  of  the  older  historians,  as  the 
authors  of  the  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings,  and  the  pharisaic  pragmatism  of  the  writers  after 
the  canon,  as  the  author  of  the  2  Maccabees,  or  Josephus.1  Yet  he  stands  incomparably 
nearer  to  his  prophetic  predecessors  of  the  time  of  or  immediately  before  the  exile,  than  tc 
these  Epigoni  of  all  Old  Testament  history  ;  and  not  a  trace  is  to  be  discovered  in  him,  either 

1  Comp.  H.  Schultz,  Alttestamentl.  Tlieol.  ii.  p.  274  f.,  and  Oehler's  remark  on  this  passage  (All}, 
'.iter.  Amxig.  1S70,  Nov.,  p.  340):  "The  way  in  which  here  (in  Chron.)  the  doctrine  of  retributiol 
monies  forth,  forms  the  transition  to  the  pharisaic  rejection  of  it,  as  the  comparison  of  the  second  boo* 
nf  Maecahees  exhibits  also  in  this  point  the  partition  between  Judaism  in  the  canon  and  after  it." 


28  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES. 

of  the  spiritless  externality  or  fanatical  rigorism  of  the  doctrine  of  retribution  as  it  appears 
in  such  apocryphal  books  as  Judith,  2  Maccabees,  etc.,  or  of  the  Rome-favouring,  and  there- 
fore anti-national  and  untheocratic,  pragmatism  of  the  Pharisee  Josephus. 

Remark: — With  respect  to  the  text  of  Chronicles,  Jerome  perceived  that  the  greatest 
critical  care  must  be  taken,  especially  on  account  of  the  many  names  which  are  presented 
in  it,  and  have  been  variously  corrupted  and  distorted  iu  the  Sept.  and  the  Itala  :  "  Ita  et  in 
Grsscis  et  Latimis  codicibus  hie  nominum  liber  vitiosus  eat,  ut  non  tarn  Hebrxa  quam  barbara 
qusedam  et  Sarmalica  n< mina  congesta  arbitrandum  ait."  Thus  he  speaks  in  his  Prxf.  in  'ib. 
Paralip.  juxta  Sept.  interp.  (Opp.  t.  x.  p.  432,  edit.  Vail.);  and  he  relates  there  that  he 
employed  a  learned  Jew  of  Tiberias,  and  with  him  compared  the  text,  "  a  aertice  ut  aiunt  usque 
ad  extremum  unguem."  In  the  relative  fidelity  and  accuracy  that  otherwise  notoriously  exists 
in  this  part  of  the  Alexandrine  version  (and  the  Itala,  which  agrees  with  it  word  for  word),1 
this  observation,  which  he  was  compelled  to  extend  on  further  examination  to  the  numerical 
data  of  Chronicles,  and  to  many  other  details,  is  certainly  remarkable.  Iu  a  still  higher 
degree  must  he  have  been  surprised,  on  a  more  extended  knowledge  of  languages  and  an 
exacter  method  of  critical  investigation,  by  the  state  of  the  text  of  another  old  version  of 
our  book,  the  Syriac  version  or  Peshito  (with  its  omissions  of  whole  series  of  names,  its 
various  gaps  and  interpolations,  its  transpositions  and  occasional  arbitrary  deviations  from 
the  original).2  The  acknowledgment  of  no  small  uncertainty  of  the  original  Hebrew  text 
itself  is  forced  upon  us  in  view  of  this  serious  corruption  of  the  oldest  versions,  in  which  the 
later  of  necessity  participate ;  for  example,  the  Arabic  version  derived  from  the  Peshito, 
likewise  the  comparatively  young  Targutu  originating  scarcely  before  the  seventh  century 
(published,  with  a  Lat.  vers.,  by  M.  F.  Beck,  Augttstse  Vindel.  UI80,  and  with  greater  critical 
care  by  Dav.  YVilkins,  Amstelsedam.  1715,  4)  ;  and  hence  arises  for  expositors  the  equally 
important  and  difficult  problem  of  a  frequent  correction  of  the  Masoretic  text,  to  be  cautiously 
executed  and  wisely  limited,  according  to  those  versions,  as  well  as  the  p  rallel  passages  in 
the  older  books  of  the  canon.  This  necessity  of  an  occasional  amendment  in  numbers  and 
names,  imposed  by  the  peculiarity  of  the  text  of  Chronicles,  was  acknowledged  by  J.  Alb. 
Bengel ;  for  on  2  Chron.  xxviii.  1  (comp.  xxix.  1)  he  adds  the  marginal  note,  Hie  videtur 
lectin  Grseca,  qux  viyinti  qninque  annos  Achazo  tribuit,  prteft  rendu  Hebrxo.  "  Errors  may 
have  more  easily  crept  into  the  books  of  Chronicles,  because  they  were  not  publicly  read  as 
the  books  of  Moses,"  etc.  (Contributions  to  Bengel's  exposition,  and  his  remarks  on  the 
Gnomon  N.  T.  from  manuscript  notes,  published  by  Dr.  Osk.  Wachter,  Leips.  1865,  p.  IS. J 
To  this  well-grounded  conjecture  regarding  the  very  numerous  textual  errors  of  our  book 
Bertheau  also  points  (Komm.  p.  xlvii.)  :  "  It  appears  as  if  the  same  careful  regard  was  not 
paid  to  the  text  by  the  Jews  in  older  times,  to  which  we  owe  the  faithful  transmission  of  that 
form  of  the  text  of  most  other  books  of  the  Bible  that  came  into  general  acceptance  about 
the  time  of  Christ ;  comp.  for  example,  1  Chron.  xvii.  18,  21  ;  2  Chron.  ii.  9,  x.  14,  16, 
xx.  25,  xxvi.  5."  That,  moreover,  the  endeavour  to  refer  the  deviations  of  the  Chronist  from 
the  other  historical  books  of  the  Old  Testament  to  mere  corruptions  of  the  text  may  be 
carried  too  far,  and  has  been  carried  too  far  perhaps  by  Movers  (p.  50  ff.),  at  all  events  by 
Laur.  Reinke  in  his  Beitrdgen  zur  Erkl.  des  Alten  T.,  Abhaudl.  I.,  has  been  justly  pointed  out 
by  Davidson,  Introd.  ii.  p.  114  sq. 

[The  only  error  here  traced  to  the  Chronist,  and  supposed  to  arise  from  his  ignorance  of 
ancient  geography,  is  the  statement  that  ships  of  Tarshish  (1  Kings  x.  22,  xxii.  49)  were 
ships  trading  to  Tarshish  (2  Chron.  ix.  21,  xx.  36).     It  may  turn  out,  however,  that  the  error 

1  Movers  (p.  93)  calls  the  translation  of  Chronicles  in  the  Sept.  "a  careful,  skilfully-performed,  and 
strictly  literal  version  ;"  he  praises  it  as  "one  of  the  best  efforts  of  these  translators,"  and  as  "  by  far 
surpassing  that  of  the  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings  proceeding  from  another  author."  On  the  close 
adherence  of  the  old  Itala  to  the  text  of  the  Sept.,  comp.  Kijntsch,  Itala  und  Vulgata  (Marb.  lMJ'J) ; 
Fr.  Kaulen,  Geschichte  der  Vulgata  (Mainz  1S6S),  p.  137  ff. ;  and  Ernst  Kanke,  Par  Palimptestorum 
Wirceburgensium,  etc.,  Vindob.  1871. 

1  As  examples  of  omission  of  long  series  of  names,  comp.  1  Chron.  ii.  45,  47-49,  iv.  7  ff.  ;  also  of 
leaving  out  other  long  sections,  1  Chron.  xxvi.  13-27,  2  Chron.  iv.  11-17,  xxix.  10-19  ;  of  interpolations, 
1  Chron.  xii.  1,  17-19,  xvi.  3,  42  ;  of  transpositions,  1  Chron.  xii.  15,  2  Chron.  xxviii.  23-25 ;  of  devia- 
tions from  the  text  or  very  free  translations,  1  Chron.  ii.  52,  iv.  12-18,  iv.  33-39,  2  Chron.  xxii.  19,  etc. 
Comp.  Bertheau,  p.  xlviii.  ;  and  for  the  like  peculiarities  of  the  Arabic  version  derived  from  it, 
Roediger,  de  urlg.  et  indole  Arab,  librorum  V.  T.  historic,  interpretation-is,  Hal.  1829,  p.  104. 


INTRODUCTION.  29 


lies  with  the  modern  critic  rather  than  with  the  ancient  chronicler.  It  is  recorded  tbat 
Pharaoh  Neko  (G17-601  B.C.)  employed  Phoenician  mariners  to  sail  from  the  Arabian  Gulf 
round  Africa,  and  return  by  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  (Herod,  iv.  4"J), — a  voyage  which  was 
accomplished  in  line  year.*.  Herodotus  accepts  the  fact,  though  he  discredits  the  statement 
that  in  sailing  round  Africa  they  had  the  sun  on  the  right, — a  statement  which  goes  to  prove 
the  veracity  of  the  reporters.  And  until  it  is  proved  that  the  Phoenicians  were  not  acquainted 
with  this  way  of  reaching  Tarshish  by  hugging  the  shore  of  Africa,  and  bartering  as  they 
went  along  for  ivory  and  other  African  commodities,  the  geographical  error  has  not  been 
brought  home  to  this  ancient  and  otherwise  accredited  writer.  (See  further  on  the  passages 
in  the  Coram.)  We  merely  add  to  what  has  been  here  so  ably  and  thoughtfully  said  on  the 
general  question  of  credibility,  that  the  supposed  bias  or  leaning  of  the  writer  of  Chronicles  is 
due  not  to  any  real  narrowness  or  onesidedness,  but  to  the  necessity  of  having  some  distinct 
and  important  end  in  going  over  the  same  ground  as  the  former  historical  works.  This  end  is 
*Jiat  which  justifies  the  production  of  another  history  of  the  past  times.  The  chronicler,  we 
have  no  doubt,  had  the  Pentateuch  and  the  former  prophets  before  him,  containing  the  history 
of  t lie  dealings  of  God  with  ma  from  the  beginning,  to  the  fall  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah  by 
the  capture  of  the  city  of  David  and  the  burning  of  the  temple  of  Solomon.  He  could  have  no 
reason  for  going  over  any  part  of  this  ground,  unless  he  had  some  new  aspect  of  the  history 
to  signalize,  and  some  new  lesson  to  convey  to  the  people  of  God  on  returning  from  the 
captivity.  This  new  thing  is  the  distinct  and  exclusive  history  of  the  kingdom  of  David,  with 
its  peculiar  arrangements  for  the  worship  of  the  temple,  in  which  the  orders  of  priests  and 
Levites  were  established,  and  the  masters  of  song  took  a  promineut  part.  This  is  to  be  the 
system  of  things  until  it  has  given  birth  to  a  new  economy  or  development  of  the  kingdom  of 
God  on  earth.  And  the  new  lesson,  which  is  indeed  an  old  lesson,  is  the  uniform  dependence 
of  national  prosperity  and  progress  on  intelligent  and  voluntary  walking  with  God  in  all  His 
ordinances  and  commandments.  Chronicles  therefore  stands  to  the  older  history  as  Deutero- 
nomy to  the  preceding  four  books  of  Moses,  or  as  John  to  the  synoptical  Gospels.  It  would 
have  no  warrant  for  its  place  in  the  canon,  if  it  did  not  show  an  object  distinct  from  that  of 
the  older  history;  and  instead  of  ascribing  its  peculiar  characteristic  to  the  idiosyncrasy  of 
the  author,  it  behoves  us  to  discern  in  it  the  special  purpose  for  which  it  was  appended  to  the 
previous  record.  We  do  not  expand  this  hint  at  present,  but  leave  it  to  the  consideration  of 
the  reader.  With  regard,  moreover,  to  the  psalm  committed  by  David  to  Asaph,  1  Chron.  xvi. 
7,  for  thanking  the  Lord,  see  on  the  passage. — J.  G.  M.] 


§  7.    LITERATURE. 

Neither  the  exegetical  nor  the  critical  literature  of  this  book  is  very  lich  ;  indeed,  there  is 
scarcely  one  portion  of  the  Old  Testament  that  has  found  fewer  labourers  either  in  the  one 
respect  or  the  other.  The  older  Jewish  commentators  shrank  from  the  many  difficulties 
which  the  genealogies  of  the  first  chapters  presented.  Yet  a  tolerably  full  commentary  on 
our  book  has  been  ascribed  to  Rashi  (I!.  Solomon  Isaaki,  +  1105),  which,  however,  according 
to  J.  Weisse  in  Kerem  Chemed  (Prague  bs41  :  eomp.  Fiitst,  Bill.  Jutl.  ii.  85),  cannot  proceed 
from  this  celebrated  Rabbinical  scholar  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Other  Rabbinical  commentaries 
are  those  of  Joseph  ben  David  A  ben  Jechija  (comp.  the  edit,  of  D.  Wilkins,  Paraphrasis  Chal- 
daica  in  ii.  lib.  Chron.  auctore  Ii.  Josepho,  Amstel.  1715),  and  of  Isaac  ben  R.  Sol.  Jabez ; 
comp.  Carpzov.  Introd.  in  Vet.  T.  p.  298;  also  R.  Simon's  Hist.  Critique  du  V.  Te.*t..  Par.  1680, 
p.  30. 

Of  the  Church  Fathers,  Jerome  (only  in  a  cursory  and  mengre  way  in  his  Qutestiones Hear 
in  Chron.,  Opp.  t.  iii.  851  sq.),  Theodoret,  ami  Procopius  of  Gaza  have  commented  on 
Chronicles;  comp.  Themlored  eparitrsis  tig  /3.  a'».  ft  n«w>,iiT.,  Opp-  edit.  Schulze,  t.  i.  p. 
554  ff.,  and  Prncopr.  Gaz.  scholia  in  libb.  Raj.  et  in  Paralip.,  edit.  Jo.  Meursius.,  Lugd.  Bat. 
1620,  4. — A  "Latin  commentary  on  Chronicles  of  the  9th  century"  has  been  published  by 
Abr.  Rahmer,  Thorn  1866. 

Modern  expositors  since  the  Reformation. — None  of  the  Reformers  have  treated  Chronicles 
exegetically,  not  even  Brenz.  by  whom  there  are  commentaries  on  the  collective  historical 
hooks   of   the   Old   Testament.      The   expository   writings   of   the   sixteenth   and   Seventeenth 


SO  THE  BOOKS  OF  CHRONICLES. 

centuries  are  mostly  collected  in  M.  Pole,  Synapsis  criticorum,  etc.,  Lond.  1660  ff. — Special 
prominence  is  merited  by  Lurl.  Lavateri  Comment,  in  Paralip.,  Heidelb.  1599,  on  account  oi 
the  very  careful  treatment  of  the  genealogical  lists.  Comp.  also  Victorin  Strigel,  Comm.  in 
libb.  Sam.,  Reg.,  el  Paralip.,  Lips.  1591  ;  Erasm.  Sarcerius,  Comm.  in  lib.  Chron.,  Basil.  1560  ; 
and  the  Catholic  commentaries  of  Nic.  Serrarius  (Comm.  in  lib.  Reg.  et  Paralip.,  Lugd.  Bat. 
1618),  Casp.  Sanctius  (in  Paralip.  II.  ii.,  Antw.  1624,  Lugd.  1632),  Jac.  Bonfrere  (Comm.  in 
libr.  Reg.  et  Paralip.,  Tornac.  1613).  Likewise  M.  Fr.  Beck,  Paraphr.  Chaldaica  ii.  libr. 
Chron.,  Aug.  Vindel.  1680,  83. 

Of  the  eighteenth  century:  Aug.  Calmet's  Comment'dre  literal  stir  tov.<  les  livres  fie  Vane,  et 
nouv.  Test.,  Par.  1707  ff. — Jo.  Clerici,  Comment,  in  Hagiogr.,  Amstel.  1731. — Joh.  H.  Michaelis. 
Uberiores  adnot.  in  Hagiographos  V.  T.  libros,  Hal.  1720,  vol.  iii.  (the  first  book  of  Chronicles 
treated  by  J.  H.  Michaelis,  the  second  by  J.  J.  Rambach). — H.  B.  Stark,  Notx  selects  in 
Pent.,  Jos.,  Jud.,  Sam.,  Reg.,  Chron.,  Esr.,  et  Neh.,  Lips.  1714. — Chr.  Starke's  Synopsis,  part 
iii.  2d  edit.,  Leipz.  1756. — J.  D.  Michaelis,  Uebers.  des  Alt.  Test,  in  Anmerkungen  fur  Unge- 
lehrte,  part  xii.,  1785. 

Of  the  nineteenth  century:  J.  B  D.  Maurer,  Comm.  gram.  crit.  in  V.  T.  vol.  i..  Lips. 
1835. — E.  Bertheau,  Die  Biiher  der  Chronik  erklart  (fifteenth  issue  of  the  Kurzgef.  exeget. 
Handbuch  zum  A.  T.),  Leipz.,  Brockhaus,  1865. — C.  F.  Keil,  Bill.  Komm.  iiber  die  nach- 
exilischen  Geschichtsbiicher:  Chron,,  Ezr.,  uud  Esth.  (part  v.  of  the  Bibl.  Komment.  iiber  das  A. 
T.~),  Leipz.,  Dorffl.,  and  Franke.  1870  [translated  in  Clark's  Foreign  Theological  Library]. — 
B.  Neteler,  Die  Biicher  der  biblischen  Chronik,  ubersetzt  und  erklart,  Minister,  C  oppeurath,  1872 
(second  issue  by  this  publisher  of  the  General  Commentary  on  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  Testament  on  Catholic  Principles). 

Introductory  critical  monographs: — a.  Of  destructive  tendency:  De  Wette,  Beitrage  zur 
Einleitung  ins  A.  T.,  part  i.,  Leipz.  1806  (comp.  above,  §  6). — C.  P.  W.  Gramberg,  Die  Chronik 
nach  ihrem  geschichtlichen  Ckarakter  und  Hirer  Glanbwtirdigkeit  gepruft,  Halle  1823. — K.  H. 
Graf,  Die  geschichtlichen  Biicher  des  A.  7'.,  two  historico-critical  discussions,  Leipz.  1806,  p. 
114  ff. 

b.  Of  apologetic  tendency:  J.  G.  Dahler.  De  libr.  Paralip.  auctoritate  et  fide  historica. 
Argentor.  1819. — E.  F.  Keil.  A/ml.  Verxuch  iiber  die  Biicher  der  Chronik  und  iiber  du  Inte- 
grity des  Bitches  Esra,  Berk  18  3. — F.  C.  Movers,  Kritische  Untersuchungen  iiber  die  bibl. 
Chronik,  Bonn  183-1. — M.  Stuart,  Critical  History  and  Defence  of  the  O.  Test.  Canon  (con- 
cerning especially  the  Pentateuch,  the  writings  of  the  prophets,  and  of  Solomon,  Esther,  and 
Chronicles),  Andover,  U.  S.,  1845. — Bertheau,  Art.  "Chronik"  in  Schenkel's  Bibellexicon,  vol. 
i.  p.  528  ff.  (also  in  his  critique  of  Graf's  ruouogr.  in  the  Jahrb.  fiir  deutsche  Theol.  1866,  p. 
158  ff.). 

Exegetical  and  critical  monographs  on  particular  passages  :  B.  Kennicott,  Comparatio 
capitis  undecimi  libri  1  Chron.  cum.  cap.  ipiinto  libri  2  Samuelis,  in  Diss,  super  rutione  text-is 
Hebraic!  V.  T.,  ex  Angl.  Lot.  vertit  G.  A.  Teller,  Lips.  1756. — Jul.  Wellhausen,  De  gentibus 
et  familiis  Judteis,  qux  1  Chron.  ii.-ic.  enunierantur,  Gottingen  1870.  —  Seb.  Schmid,  lu 
Uteris  Eliie  ad  Jaramiim,  Argentor.  1717  (on  2  Chron.  xxi.  12-15).  —  C.  P.  Caspari,  Der 
tyrisch-ephraimiti&che  KrUg  unter  Jotham  und  Alias.  Christiania  1849  (especially  on  2  Chron. 
xxvii.,  xxviii.). — K.  H.  Graf,  Die  Gefangmschafi  uud  Bekehrung  Manassc's  2  Chron.  xxxiii., 
Theol.  Stud.  u.  Kill.  1859,  part  iii.  p.  467  ff. — Against  him:  E.  Gerlach,  Die  Gefangensckafit 
and  Bekehrung  Manasse's  ebendas.,  1861,  part  iii.  p.  503  ff.,  and  L.  Reinke,  Die  Geschichte  des 
Konigs  Manasse  und  die  darin  liegende  nngebliche  Sclncierigkeit  (in  vol.  viii.  of  his  Beitrage  zur 
Erklarung  des  A.  T.,  1872,  p.  115  ff.). — Comp.  also  Eberh.  Schrader.  Die  Keilinschriften  und 
das  Alte  Test.,  Giessen  1872,  pp.  238-243 ;  which  excellent  work,  like  the  papers  on  this  sub- 
ject by  the  same  author  in  the  Zeitschrift  der  Deulschen  morgenland.  Gesellschaft,  and  in  the 
Theol.  Stud.  u.  Krit.  (1869,  70,  71),  contains  rich  monographic  contributions  to  the  exposition 
as  well  of  the  other  historical  books  of  the  Old  Testament  as  especially  of  Chronicles. 


THE    BOOKS  OF   CHRONICLES. 


FIRST    BOOK. 

§  l.  GENEALOGICAL  TABLES  OR  PEDIGREES,  WITH  SHORT  HISTORICAL 
STATEMENTS  INTERSPERSED.— Ch.  i.-ix. 

n   Genealogies  of  the  Patriarchs  from  Adam  to  Isaac's   Sons  Israel  and  Edom.  wire 
the  Posterity  of  the  Latter  till  the  Times  of  the  Kinc.s.  Ch  < 

1-3  Adam,  Sheth,   Enosh.      Kenan,   Mahalalel,  Jered.      Henoch,   Methushelah, 
4,  5  Lamech.     Noah,  Shem,  Ham,  and  Japheth.     The  sons  of  Japheth  :  Gomer, 

6  and  Magog,  and  Madai,  and  Javan,  and  Tubal,  and  Mesliech,  andTiras.     And 

7  the  sons  of  Gomer:  Ashkenaz,  and  Kiphath,1  and  Togarmah.     And  the  sons  of 

8  Javan:  Elisha,  and  Tarshisliah,  Kittim,  and  Rodanim.2     The  sons  of  Ham: 

9  Cush  and  Mizraim,  Put  and  Kanaan.     And  the  sons  of  Kush  :  Seba,  and 
Havilah,  and  Sabta,  and  Rama,  and  Sabtecha.    And  the  sons  of  Rama:  Sheba 

10  and  Dedan.     And  Kush  begat  Nimrod ;  he  began  to  be  a  hero  on  the  earth. 

11  And  Mizraim  begat  the  Ludim,3  and  the  Anamim,  and  the  Lehabim,  and  the 

12  Naphtuhim.     And    the  Pathrusim,  and  the  Kasluhim,  of  whom  came   the 

13  Pelishtim,  and  the  Kaphtorim.     And  Kanaan  begat  Zidon,  his  first-born,  and 
14,15  Heth.     And  the  Jebusite,  and  the  Amorite,  and  the  Girgashite.     And  the 

16  Hivite,  and  the  Arkite,  and  the  Sinite.    And  the  Arvadite,  and  the  Zemarite, 

17  and  the  Hamathite.     The  sons  of  Shem:  Elam,  and  Asshur,  and  Arpakshad, 

18  and  Lud,  and  Aram,  and  Uz,  and  Hul,  and  Gether,  and  Meshech.4     And 

19  Arpakshad  begat  Shelah,  and  Shelah  begat  Heber.     And  to  Heber  were 
born  two  sons;  the  name  of  the  one  was  Peleg  [division];  for  in  his  days  was 

20  the  earth  divided ;  and  his  brother's  name  was  Joktan.     And  Joktan  begat 

21  Almodad,  and  Sheleph,  and  Hazarmaveth,  and  Jerah.     And  Hadoram,  and 
22,  23  Uzal,  and  Diklah.     And  Ebal,  and  Abimael,  and  Sheba.     And  Ophir,  and 

Havilah,  and  Jobab.     All  these  are  sons  of  Joktan. 
24—27         Shem,  Arpakshad,  Shelah.   Eber,  Peleg,  Reu.  Serug,  Nahor,  Terah.  Abram ; 
28,29  that  is,  Abraham.    The  sons  of  Abraham :  Isaac  and  Ishmael.    These  are  their 

generations:  Ishmael's  first-born  was  Nebaioth;  then  Kedar,  and  Adbeel,  and 
30,  31  Mibsam.     Mishma,  and  Dumah,  Massa,  Hadad,  and  Tenia.     Jetur,  Naphish. 

32  and  Kedemah:  these  are  sons  of  Ishmael.     And  the  sons  of  Keturah,  Abra- 
ham's concubine:  she  bare  Zimran,  and  Jokshan,  and  Medan,  and  Midian, 

33  and  Ishbak,  and  Shuah  ;  and  Jokshan's  sons  :  Sheba  and  Dedan.     And  the 
sons  of  Midian :  Ephah,  and  Epher,  and  Henoch,  and  Abida.  and  Eldaah  :  all 

34  these  are  the  sons  of  Keturah.     And  Abraham  begat  Isaac;  the  sons  of  Isaac: 

35  Esau  and  Israel.     The  sons  of  Esau:  Eliphaz,  Eeuel,  and  Jeush,  and  Jalam, 

36  and  Korah.     The  sons  of  Eliphaz;  Teman,  and  Omar,  Zephi,  and  Gatam, 

37  Kenaz,   and  Timnah,   and   Amalek.      The  sons  of  Reuel  :   Nahath,   Zerah, 

38  Shammab,   and   Mizzah.      And  the  sons   of  Seir :  Lotan,  and  Shobal.  and 

31 


32 


L  CHRONICLES. 


Zibon,  and  Anah,  and  Dishan,  and  Ezer,  and  Dishan.  And  the  sons  of 
Lotan:  Hori  and  Homam;  and  Lotan's  sister  was  Timnah.  The  sons  of 
Shobal:  Alj<m,'5  and  Manahath,  and  Ebal,  Shephi,6  and  Onam ;  -and  the  sons 
of  Zibon  :  Ajah  and  Anah.  The  sons  of  Anah  :  Dishon  ;  and  the  sons  of 
Dishon  :  Hamran,7  and  Eshban,  and  Ithran,  and  Keran.  The  sons  of  Ezer : 
Bilhan,  and  Zaavan,  and  Jaakan  ;  the  sons  of  Dishan  :  Uz  and  Aran. 

And  these  are  the  kings  that  reigned  in  the  land  of  Edom  before  the  sons  of 
Israel  had  kings  :  Bela,  son  of  Beor  ;  and  the  name  of  his  city  was  Dinhabah. 
4-4,  45  And  Bela  died,  and  Jobab,  son  of  Zera  of  Bozrah,  reigned  in  his  stead.  And 
Jobab  died,  and  Husham,  of  the  land  of  the  Temanites,  reigned  in  his  stead. 
And  Husham  died,  and  Hadad,  son  of  Bedad,  who  smote  Midian  in  the  land 
of  Moab,  reigned  in  his  stead;  and  the  name  of  his  city  was  Ajuth.8  And 
Hadad  died,  and  Samlah  of  Masrekah  reigned  in  his  stead.     And  Samlah 

49  died,  and  Shaul  of  Rehoboth  by  the  river  reigned  in  his  stead.     And  Shaul 

50  died,  and  Baal-hanan,  son  of  Hakbor,  reigned  in  his  stead.  And  Baal-hanan 
died,  and  Hadada  reigned  in  his  stead;  and  the  name  of  his  city  was  Fahi; 
and  the  name  of  his  wife  was  Mehetabel,  daughter  of  Matred,  daughter  of 

51  Mezahab.     And  Hadad  died;  and  the  dukes  of 'Edom  were:  the  duke  of 

52  Timnah,  duke  of  Aljah,10  duke  of  Jetheth.     Duke  of  Oholibamah,  duke  of 

53  Elah,  duke  of  Pinon.     Duke  of  Kenaz,   duke  of  Teman,  duke  of  Mibzar. 
54-  Duke  of  Magdiel,  duke  of  Hiram  :  these  are  the  dukes  of  Edom. 


39 

40 

41 
42 

43 


46 

47 
43 


1  nD"H  is  certainly  an  error  of  the  pen  for  nB'H,  Oen.  x.  8,  which  is  found  here  in  many  mss.  and  editions,  as  well 

as  in  the  Sept.  and  the  Vulg. 

-  D*3"n~l  appears  to  be  an  error  of  the  pen  or  an  arbitrary  amendment  for  DsJ"l^i  Gen  x.  4,  which  many  mss  and 

older  editions  ptesent  here  also.    But  comp.  ttie  exposition. 

3  So  (D^lv)  the  Keri  in  our  passage,  which,  however,  may  rest  on  a  confirmation  with  Gen.  x.  13.     The  Kethib  has 

D11*^?,    a  long  plural  form,  which  is  to  D,fclv  as  in  English  Lydian  would  be  to  Lydan,  or  as  in  nebrew  Dssw>3, 

Vm  ix  12,to  D^ii'lS,  2  Chron.  xxi.  8. 

*  On  7|l"D  instead  of  E'D,  Gen.  x  2.3,  see  the  Commentary 

5  Instead  of  Aljan  (]vj?)  many  mss.  liavc  A'van  (jvj?)*  in  accordance  with  Gen.  xxxvi.  23. 

6  For  'QC'  some  mss.  have  IDC",  as  in  Gen.  xxxvi.  23.    So  in  ver.  36,  where  the  name  'BX  is  in  a  number  of  Mas. 
changed  into  1BV,  as  in  Gen.  xxxvi.  11. 

1  For  pftH  a  considerable  number  of  MS8.  have  pDIl,  as  in  Gen.  xxxvi.  26. 

8  For  the  Kethib  ni5J?  the  Ken  has  JV1J?,  as  in  Gen.  xxxvi.  35. 

9  For  nn  sotne  mss.  read  "Hi"!,  which  is  the  usual  reading  in  Gen.  xxxvi.  39,  while  there  also  several  mss.  present 
1*in.     Hadad's  city  ^B,  which,  in  the  same  parallel,  is  }yB,  some  good  codices  here  also  change  into  ^B. 

10  For  HvV  the  Keri  gives  HvV,  according  to  Gen.  xxxvi.  40. 


EXEGETICAL. 

Pkfliminary  Remap.k. — The  whole  of  these 
patriarchal  forefathers  of  the  house  of  David  down 
to  Israel  and  Edom,  sons  of  Isaac,  appear  to  be 
divided  into  two  nearly  equal  parts,  to  the  second 
of  which  ia  added  an  appendix  nn  the  descend- 
ants of  Edom  till  the  times  of  David.  The  first 
part,  vers.  1-23,  enumerates  the  10  antediluvian 
patriarchs  from  Adam  to  Noah,  the  3  sons  of 
Noah,  and  the  70  nations  descending  from  them 
(on  this  number  70,  see  the  Remark  under  ver. 
23).  In  the  second  part,  vers.  24-42,  are  given  the 
10  generations  from  Shem  to  Abraham,  the  sons  of 
Abraham  by  Hagar,  JKeturah,  and  Sarah,  and  the 


stocks  derived  from  them,  which  again  amount  to 
70  (see  under  ver.  42).  The  appendix,  vers.  43-54, 
mentions  the  kings  of  the  Edomites  before  David, 
that  are  also  given  in  Gen.  xxxvi.,  as  well  as  the 
11  there  named  dukes  of  Edoru.  In  all  these 
genealogical  and  ethnological  statements  the 
author  adheres  closely  to  the  matter,  and  where 
lie  does  not  merely  abbreviate,  as  several  times  in 
the  second  part,  and  partly  also  in  the  appendix, 
even  to  the  words  of  Genesis,  of  which  ch.  v. 
and  x.  (the  table  of  nations)  serve  him  till  ver. 
23,  and  ch.  ii. ,  xxv.,  xxxvi.  till  the  end  as 
sources  and  models.  He  reports  in  the  briefest 
manner  concerning  tin-  patriarchs  before  Noah, 
and  concerning  Noah  himself,  and  his  sons  (vers. 


UHAP.   I.   l-:'3. 


33 


1-4),  of  whom  he  merely  gives  the  names,  U>  in 
number,  without  even  remarking  that  the  first 
10  of  tliesc  names  denote  successive  generations 
and  the  last  3  brothers.  He  might  certainly 
presuppose  in  his  readers  sufficient  Knowledge  of 
the  relations  of  these  holy  and  venerable  names 
from  the  earl  est  foretime.  He  knew  that  to 
•.hem  as  well  as  to  himself  belonged  "  the 
faculty  to  perceive  in  all  these  names  the  indica- 
tions and  foundations  of  a  rich  ancient  history" 
(Berth.).  And  it  was  scarcely  otherwise  with 
the  names  of  the  following  series,  reaching  further 
into  the  more  known  history,  which  he  also  livings 
together  in  a  brief  and  bare  report.  Keen  where 
we  are  unable  to  perceive  the  historical  import- 
ance of  the  prominent  names,  and  the  grounds 
on  which  they  must  have  been  of  interest  to 
every  pious  Israelite,  the  fact  of  such  importance 
is  to  be  presumed  in  every  case,  and  for  every 
single  name.  Comp.  Ewald,  Qesch.  d.  Koikes 
Israel,  '2d  edit.  i.  479:  "These  dry  names  from 
i  hoary  antiquity,  when  we  know  how  to  awaken 
tht-m  from  their  sleep,  do  not  remain  so  dead  and 
stiff,  but  announce  and  revive  the  most  impor- 
tant traditions  of  the  ancient  nations  and  families, 
like  the  petrifactions  and  mountain  strata  of  the 
earth,  which,  rightly  questioned,  tell  the  history 
of  long  vanished  ages."' 


j  I.  The  Patriarchs  he/ore  Noah,  the  three  Sons 
of  Xoa h,  and  the  (70)  Nations  descending 
from  them  :  vers.  1-23. 

1.  From  Adam  to  Noah's  Sons:  vers.  1-4. — On 
the  stringing  together  of  the  bare  names,  wit  In  ml 
any  explanation,  see  Preliminary  Remark.  The 
uames  are  all  taken  from  Gen.  v.  :  the  rich  eon- 
tents  of  this  oldest  genealogy  of  primeval  history 
is  here  reduced  to  the  shortest  possible  form  of  an 
abstract.  For  the  conjectural  etymology  of  the 
several  names  (Adam  =  man  ;  Sheth  =  substi- 
tute; Enosh  =  weak,  frail  man;  Kenan— gain 
or  gainful,  etc.),  see  vol.  i.  p.  121  f.  of  the  Bibel- 
uvrk. — The  older  of  the  names  of  tile  three  sons 
of  Noah  is  Shem,  Ham,  anil  .Tapheth  ;  as  always 
in  Genesis  also,  though  Ham  (Gen.  ix.  24)  was  the 
youngest  of  the  three.  Comp.  our  Introductory 
Remarks  on  the  prophet  1  aniel  (Bibelwerk,  part 
xiii.  p.  lit.  where  it  is  made  probable  that  this 
order,  like  that  of  the  names  Noah,  Daniel,  and 
Joab  (in  Ezekiel),  depends  on  euphonic  principles 

so  Delitzsch,  Komm.  fiber  die  Gents.,  4th  edit. 
1872,  p.  233) 

2.  From  Noah's  Sons  to  Abralmm  ;  the  Table  of 
Nations:  vers.  5-23. — This  abstract  from  tin- 
Mosaic  table  of  nations  Gen.  x.  lias  abridged 
mis  larger  genealogical  ethnographic  account  to 
•  he  present  narrow  limits,  chiefly  by  omitting  the 
opening  and  closing  notes,  and  passing  over  the 
remarks  on  the  kingdom  of  Ninirod  at  Mabel,  and 
the  spread  of  the  Shemites  and  Hamitcs  in  their 
countries  (vers.  5,  9-12,  18-20).  Here,  again, 
there  is  that  abbreviating  and  condensing  process 
which  is  characteristic  of  the  author.  For  the 
ethnological    and    geographical    import    of    the 

1  Comp.  also  Wellhausen,  De  gentibus  ttfam.  Judxis,  etc., 
p.  4.  where,  with  respect  to  the  genealogical  lists  In  the 
beginning  of  Chronicles,  it  is  well  remarked-  Q">>  fit  ut 
Xemztcrii  quasi  ffpecieni  nobis  pixbeant  b:vc  capita  cipporum 
vleni:  futt  mtas,  eui  braes  suffecere  tituh  ad  resvscitandam 
sfj'uuor'im  memoriam;—intcr}ectis  wxu  u  nedum  millenniis, 
legvntur  titu/i,  sed  quo  referantur,  quid  tibi  re/in/,  nesi-tlur. 


several  names,  comp.  the  commentary  mi  Genesis 
by  the  editor  (vol.  i.  p.  171  of  the  Bibelwerk), 
and  the  monographs  on  the  table  of  nations  there 
cited. 

a.  The  Japheihitts:  vers.  5-7.— The  names  ..; 
tin-  descendants  of  Japheth,  14  in  number  (7  sons 
ami  7  grandsons),  open  the  series  in  Gen.  x.  o! 
stems  and  nations  to  be  enumerated,  perhaps 
because  they  represented  the  strongest  and  most 
widely-spread  body  (Japheth  =  "  enlarging,"  Gen. 
ix.  271,  scarcely  because  he  passed  I'm-  tin-  first- 
born of  Noah;  for  Shem,  who  is  always  placed 

before  Japheth,  even  when  only  the  twi named 

together,  is  to  be  regarded  as  such  ;  see  especially 
the  decisive  passages,  Gen.  ix.  23,  26  (against 
Starke,  Bertheau,  etc.).  [These  texts  arc  not 
decisive;  and  Shem  was  born  in  the  503d  year 
of  Noah,  Gen.  xi.  11,  ami  therefore  two  years  at 
hast  alter  Japheth,  Gen.  v.  32.-  .1.  G.  M.]— The 
view  recently  again  maintained  with  ingenuity 
and  learning  by  J.  G.  Mtiller  {Die  Semiten  in 
ihrem  Verhaltniss  zu  Chamiten  m,d  Japhetiten, 
Gotha  1872),  that  the  so-called  Shemites  are 
nothing  but  Japhethites  or  Indogermans  Hanii- 
tized  in  language,  is  in  any  case  at  variance  with 
the  Biblical  genealogy  of  the  sons  of  Noah, 
whether  Shem  or  Japheth  be  the  fust-born. — Ver. 
I).  Riphaih.  This  form,  rejected  by  the  Masoretes 
in  favour  of  the  probably  erroneous  (resting  on  an 
old  clerical  error)  T\r?r\,  has  not  only  the  weight 

of  so  old  witnesses  as  the  Sept.  and  Vulg.  for  it 
(see  the  Crit.  Note  on  ver.  6),  but  also  the  cir- 
cumstance that  plausible  ethnographic  explana- 
tions can  be  adduced  for  Riphath,  but  not  for 
Diphath;  comp.  the  narne'Pi^a™oo/=  naQXuyh* 
in  Joseph.  Anti/j.  i.  6,  and  the  hn  'Pi'srou*,  on  tl 
ground  of  which  Knobel  has  attempted  to  show 
in  Riphath  the  ancestor  of  the  Kelts  (against 
which  the  Jfaphlagonian  cities  Tibia  and  Tobata 
[Moehart,  Qeogr.  Sacra,  p.  198  seq.],  produced 
by  the  ancients  in  defence  of  the  reading  HD'"!, 

cannot,  from  their  smallness  and  insignificance, 
be  taken  into  account). — Ver.  7.  Tarshishali 
(nc;,^'"IIl),  a  later  form  for  r'C'in,  which  is 
usual  in  Gen.  (x.  4)  and  elsewhere  in  the  0.  T. 
(also  2  Chron.  ix.  21,  xx.  36),  the  ah  of  motion 
having  in  this  form  melted  into  one  word  with 
the  name  itself.  ""With  this  are  to  be  compared 
the  modern  Greek  names,  obta  ned  by  the  wearing 
away  of  the  proposition  si',-  and  the  article,  Stali- 
mene  =  Lemnos,  Stambul  =  (Konstantino)polis, 
Satines  =  Athens,  Stanko  =  Kos,"  etc.  (Berth.). 
—  Rodanim,  D'jlil;  many  transcribers  and  older 

editors  wish  to  change  this  into  the  D^-pl  of  Gen. 

x.  4,  although  even  there  some  old  authorities 
<  Sam. ,  Sept.,  Jerome,  Qucest.  in  '•'<  ».  I  read  D'Olll- 

The  decision  is  difficult,  because,  on  the  one  hand, 
Knobel's  reference  of  Dodanim  to  the  Dardani  is 
verbally  doubtful;  on  the  other  hand,  the  Rhodians 
(  =  Rodanim)  appear  too  unimportant  a  part  of 
the  Hellenic  race  to  be  put  on  the  same  footing 
with  /Eolians  ( =  Elishahl,  Etruscans  ( =  Tarshish  i, 
and  Cyprians  or  Karians  ( =  Kittim).  And  yet 
the  placing  of  Kittim  and  Rodanim  together,  and 
the  consideration  that  the  sea  trade  of  the  Rho- 
dians might  have  become  very  important  for 
such  oriental  nations  as  the  Phoenicians  and  the 
Hebrews,  appear  to  speak  more  for  the  rcwiir.g 
of  our  book  than  for  the  original  (comp.  Berth.). 


3-4 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


And  if  Dodanim  were  to  pass  for  the  original 
■orm,  ami  yet  the  application  to  the  Dardani  be 
untenable,  the  reference  to  Dodona  would  be 
internally  still  less  probable  than  that  to  the 
Miodians. 

b.  Tin:  1 1 amit  es  :  vers.  8-16. — Of  these  are 
named  4  sons,  24  grandsons,  and  2  great-grand- 
sous,  being  30  descendants  in  all  Nimrod,  ver. 
10,  does  not  count  among  the  grandsons,  as  he 
appears  only  as  a  famous  individual  (hero),  not 
as  a  head  or  founder  of  a  people  (patriarch).  His 
introduction,  therefore,  is  different  from  that  of 
those  previously  named,  not  by  >)D  (see  vers.  5-9; 

and  comp.  Gen.  x.  2-7),  but  by  -p\  as  Gen.  x.  8, 

which  verse  is  literally  transcribed  by  the  Chro- 
nist.  By  the  formula  :  "lie  began  to  be  a  hero  on 
the  earth,"  the  nature  and  import  of  Nimrod 
arc  briefly  and  pithily  expressed,  so  that  a  re- 
petition of  the  further  statements  of  Genesis  con- 
cerning him  (x.  9-12)  is  not  necessary.  Comp. 
as  a  parallel  from  the  New  Testament:  S;  to.)  t«/>s- 

Swk'v    avrav  (or    o    Kui    '?ra.pu$;v;    ubrov),   with    which 

the  evangelists  are  wont  to  characterize  Judas 
Iscariot. — On  D""W,  ver.  11,  see  Critical  Note. 

c.  The  Sht  mites,  particularly  the  non-Hebrews: 
vers.  17-23. — Of  them  are  named  in  all  23  mem- 
bers, namely  (as  the  parallel  passage  Gen.  x.  23 
more  exactly  shows),  5  sons,  5  grandsons,  and  16 
other  descendants.  That  in  ver.  17  the  names 
Uz,  Hnl,  Gether,  Meshech,  which  properly  denote 
grandsons  of  Shem  by  Aram,  are  appended  at 
once  to  the  5  sons  of  Shem  (so  that  they  appear 
to  be  his  sons,  and  thus  the  number  of  his  sons 
would  be  9,  and  that  of  his  grandsons  only  1), 
is  a  circumstance  sufficiently  explained,  as  the 
similar  case  in  ver.  4  of  Noah's  sons :  the  author 
presumed  the  relation  of  the  4  as  sons  to  Aran? 
to  be  sufficiently  known,  and  therefore  thought  it 
unnecessary  to  repeat  the  words  mx  "331  before 

HJ?  from  Gen.  x.  23.  Less  probable  is  the  sup- 
position that  the  words  in  question  fell  out  by 
a  mistake  of  the  copyist,  or  that  the  Chronist, 
deviating  from  the  Pentateuch,  really  took  the 
nations  tJz,  Hul,  Gether,  and  Meshech  to  he  sons, 
not  grandsons,  of  Shem  (as  Knobel,  VSUcertafel,  p. 
252). — Moreover,  almost  all  manuscripts  give  the 
last  name  in  ver.  17  TC'D;  onh'  a  few  conform  to 
the  reading  in  Genesis  (cis),  for  which  also  the 
Sept.  there  presents  m<rix  =  *p»'e ;  and  so  might 

the  Chronist  have  read  in  the  text  of  Genesis.  It  is 
also  in  favour  of  Meshech  being  the  original  name, 
that  Mash  as  a  national  name  is  quite  unknown, 
while  Meshech  occurs  as  the  name  of  a  Shemite  or 
Arabic  tribe   along  with  Kedar  in  Ps.  cxx.  5. — 

Ver.    22.    Ebal,    *pyy,    is  called  in   the   parallel 

G?n.  x.  28  rather  Obal,  ^Qij);  yet  the  Sept.  seems 

to  have  read  ^ZJiy,  for  it  gives  the  name  as  EiVa. 

Crimp,  the  similar  but  reverse  case  of  Homam 
(  =  Hemam)  under  ver.  39.— The  14  descendants 
of  Japheth,  30  of  Ham,  and  26  of  Shem,  amount, 
to  70  nations  descended  from  Noah.  This  num- 
ber the  author  intended  to  bring  out;  for  with 
him,  or  before  him,  other  Jewish  expositors 
might  have  discovered  the  symbolic  number  70 
in  the  Mosaic  table  of  nations  (it  may,  in  fact,  be 
gathered  from  it ;  comp.  J.  Fiirst,  Oesch,  der  bibl. 


Liter,  und  den  jihliscli-hellnischen  Schriftlhums. 
i.  p.  119);  and  this  number  of  the  nations  of  th( 
globe,  occasionally  enlarged  to  72,  plays  other- 
wise an  important  part  in  the  Jewish  circle  of 
thought.  This  is  shown  by  its  frequent  mention 
in  the  Talmud,  and  its  occurrence  in  the  Gnosti 
writings  and  the  Pseudo-Clementine  (Seeogn.  ii. 
42).  To  this  belong  also  such  biblical  passages 
as  Num.  xi.  16  and  Luke  x.  1  ft'.  ;  for  the  70 
elders  Appointed  by  Moses  in  the  wilderness  (with 
the  70  members  of  the  Jewish  Sanhe  irin  on  this 
model),  as  well  as  the  70  disciples  chosen  by 
Jesus,  appear  to  be  due  to  a  symbolic  reference 
to  the  70  nations  of  the  globe  (comp.  Godet, 
Commentaire  svr  I'ivamjik  de  Luc,  1870,  ii.  p. 
21).  And  there  is  actually  a  deeper  sense  in  the 
view,  that  the  total  number  of  the  nations  of  the 
earth  is  =  the  sacred  ideal  number  7n  (7  x  10,  the 
humanly  complete,  elevated  and  multiplied  by 
the  power  of  the  Divine  Spirit :  comj).  my  Theol. 
naturalis,  i.  p.  716).  And  why  should  we  not 
have  as  good  a  right,  in  the  popular  phraseology 
of  Hebrew  antiquity,  to  speak  of  the  "  70  nations 
of  the  world,"  as  of  the  4  winds,  the  4  quarters  of 
heaven,  the  12  signs  of  the  zodiac,  without  utter- 
ing anything  untrue  or  against  nature,  though 
such  expressions  may  have  no  exact  scientific 
basis  ?  There  seems  then  to  be  no  reason  to 
hesitate,  from  a  dogmatic-apologetic  point  of  view, 
to  acknowledge  that  the  number  70  was  intended 
by  the  author  to  apply  to  the  descendants  of 
Noah.  The  only  thing  that  can  be  said  against 
it  is,  the  absence  of  an  express  intimation,  such 
as  Matthew  gives  at  the  close  of  his  genealogy  of 
Jesus,  in  the  form  of  a  recapitulation  of  the  several 
groups  of  numbers  (i.  17).  Yet  the  pedigree  by 
Luke  (iii.  23-38)  wants  also  sueli  a  recapitula- 
tion, though  its  symbolic  construction  out  of 
77  =  7  x  11  members  is  no  less  certain  than  that 
of  Matthew.  If  Keil  objects  to  our  view,  which 
is  that  of  almost  all  recent  expositors,  that  tin- 
number  70  is  only  obtained  by  making,  "in  the 
sons  of  Shem,  the  personal  names  Arpakshad, 
Shelab,  Heber,  Peleg,  and  Joktan  to  be  names  of 
nations,  contrary  to  the  view  of  Genesis,  in  which 
the  five  names  denote  persons,  the  ancestors  of 
the  nations  descending  from  Heber  through  Peleg 
and  Joktan,"  this  refutes  nothing.  For  the  num- 
ber 70  is  obtained  throughout,  and  not  merely  in 
the  case  of  Arpakshad,  etc.,  by  the  addition  of  all 
names,  those  of  the  patriarchs,  wdio  only  became 
nations  in  their  sons,  as  well  as  these  sons  them- 
selves, and  their  descendants.  In  other  words,  it 
is  quite  reasonable,  and  corresponds  entirely  with 
the  spirit  and  method  of  the  genealogizing  ethno- 
graphy of  the  Hebrews,  to  regard  all  higher  or 
lower  members  of  old  pedigrees  as  in  abstracfo 
equivalent  factors  and  representatives  of  definite 
co-ordinate  races  in  the  subsequent  history, 
though  this  view  may  be  in  concreto  impractic- 
able. Comp.,  moreover,  the  evangelical  -  ethical 
principles  under  ch.  ix. 

§  II.  The  Patriarchs  from  Shem  to  Abraham, 
and  the  Descendants  of  the  latter  through 
Ishmael,  Keturah,  Edo'm  (70  ste7ns  in  all): 
vers.  24-42. 

1.  From  Shem  to  Abraham  :  vers.  24-27.— The 
10  members  of  this  line  are  exactly  coincident 
with  Gen.  xi.  10-32,  though  with  the  omis«ion  of 


CHAP.  I.  26-37 


all  historical  details.  And  the  Chronist  follows 
the  genealogical  account  of  the  Masoretic  text, 
which  represents  Abraham  himself  as  the  tenth 
of  the  line,  not  that  of  the  Sept.,  which  inserts  a 
Kenan  (KaiVSir)  between  Arpakshad  and  Shelah, 
thus  following  a  tradition  that  regarded  Terah, 
the  father  of  Abraham,  as  the  tenth  from  Shem. 
Bertheau  (in  the  annual  report  of  the  "Deutsche 
Morgenl.  Gesellschaft,"  1845-46)  lias  attempted 
in  make  it  probable  that  ihis  tradition  was  the 

older,  and  that  the  name  pip  stood  originally  in 

the  text  of  Genesis. — Ver.  27.  Abram,  perhaps 
for  the  sake  of  brevity,  and  to  avoid  all  needless 
accumulation  of  names,  afterwards  (from  Gen. 
xvii.  5)  Abraham,  in  which  the  author,  in  his 
brief  manner,  notices  the  change  of  name,  is 
alone  named  as  a  son  of  Terah,  Nahor  and  llaran 
and  their  posterity  being  omitted. 

2.  Abraham's  Sons  and  their  Descendants :  vers. 
28-34.— They  fall,  like  those  of  Noah  and  Terah, 
into  three  stocks  or  branches  under  [shmael, 
Keturah,  and  Isaac.  The  Chronist  places  the 
former  groups  first,  because,  like  the  genealogists 
in  the  primeval  history,  he  wished  first  to  enu- 
merate the  remote  stocks,  and  then  to  take  up 
the  people  of  God.  The  same  process  from  with- 
out to  within  placed  the  genealogy  of  the 
Japhethites  and  Hamites  befor?  the  Shemites, 
and  determines,  further,  that  of  Isaac's  posterity 
the  Edomite  branch  is  first  treated,  and  then  the 
Israelite. 

a.  Ishmaeland  his  Twelve. Sons :  vers.  29-31. — 
The  twelve  names  agree  exactly  with  the  list  in 
Gen.   xxv    12-16,   with  respect  to  the  order  as 

well  as  the  words.  And  the  introductory  n?X 
nn^in,  ver.  29,  the  predicate  1133,  "the  first- 
born" before  Ishmael  (comp.  Gen.  xxv.  13),  and 
the  closing  formula,  "These  are  the  sons  of  lsh- 
mael  "  (ver.  31;  comp.  Gen.  xxv.  10),  show  how 
closely  the  author  adheres  to  the  Mosaic  record. 
The  designation  of  Ishmael  as  the  "  first-born  " 
is  only  to  be  explained  by  this  faithful  adherence 
to  the  original,  not  by  the  wish  of  the  author  to 
justify  his  placing  the  Ishmaelites  before  the 
descendants  of  Israel  (as  Bertheau  seems  to 
think)  ;  for  this  position  needed  no  justification, 
because  it  necessarily  followed  from  the  genea- 
logical method  of  our  author  (see  on  ver.  28). 
[In  our  author's  version  of  ver.  29,  "the  first- 
born "  is  made  to  refer  to  Nebaioth,  and  not.  to 
Ishmael,  as  above.  This  seems  to  be  correct.  — 
J.  G.  M.] 

b.  The  Descendants  of  Keturah:  vers.  32,  33. — 
The  six  sons  and  seven  grandsons  of  Abraham  by 
Keturah  are  not  given  literally  as  in  Gen.  xxv. 
1-4.  On  the  contrary,  the  Chronist  has  left  out 
three  great-grandsons  there  named — Asshurim, 
Letushim,  and  Leummim,  descendants  of  Dedan 
— whether  intentionally,  on  account  of  the  plural 
form  of  the  names,  or  because  he  did  not  find 
them  in  his  copy  of  Genesis,  must  remain  un- 
determined. That  Medan  and  Midian,  ver.  32, 
are  only  different  pronunciations  of  the  same 
name  (comp.  Gen.  xxxvii.  28,  36),  the  number  of 
the  sons  of  Keturah  was  originally  and  properly 
five,  and  the  total  number  of  her  descendants 
only  twelve,  is  an  arbitrary  conjecture  of  Ber- 
theau, while  pushing  too  far  the  endeavour  to 
find  certain  symbolic  numbers  everywhere. 


c.  'Tin:  Two  Sons  "/  Isaac,  Usav,  and  Israt  I, 
urn/  tin  Descendants  of  the  former :  vers.  34-42. 
— And  Abraham  begat  Isaac.  This  notice,  I I- 

ing  back  to  the  statement  in  ver.  28,  appears 
occasioned    by    Gen.    xxv.    19,    where    the    same 

words  (only  with  T^in  lor  "Pi'l)  occur  imme- 
diately after  the  enumeration  of  the  sons  "f 
Keturah.  This  reference  to  Abraham  was  not  in 
itself  necessary  here;  but  eonip.  also  the  refer- 
ence to  Shem  above  in  ver.  24. — Ver.  25.  Esau's 
sons,  enumerated  exactly  alter  Gen.  xxxvi.  4,  i> 
(though  without  naming  their  mothers,  the 
three  wives  of  Esau),  n  in  general  the  author 
henceforth  reports  very  closely  from  Gen.  xxxvi., 
following  which  also  he  annexes  the  Sciriles  or 
aborigines  of  Idumsea  to  the  proper  Edoroites,  and 
treats  both  as  belonging  to  one  and  tie-  same 
family  of  nations. — Ver.  36.  Sons  of  Eliphaz. 
These,  five  in  number,  are  given  exactly  as  in 
Gen.  xxxvi.  11  ;  for  the  name  of  the  third,  Zephi, 
is  only  a  by-form  of  Zepho,  as  in  ver.  40  a 
Shephi  appears  in  place  of  the  Shepho,  Gen. 
xxxvi.  23  ;  comp.  the  Crit.  Remark.  But  if  the 
names  Timnah  and  Amalek  are  annexed,  ap- 
parently as  sons  of  Eliphaz,  this  is  piobablv  a 
similar  breviloquence  to  that  in  vers.  4  and  17  ; 
the  author  presumes  it  sufficiently  known  tc  his 
readers,  that  Timnah,  Amalek's  mother,  was  not 
a  son,  but  rather  a  concubine  of  Eliphaz  (another 
wife  besides  Adah,  the  mother  of  those  five  sons 
first  named) ;  comp.  Gen.  xxxvi.  12.  So  have  the 
Sept.  (in  the  cod.  Alex.)  and  numerous  older 
Jewish  and  Christian  expositors  solved  the  diffi- 
culty, and  of  the  moderns,  J.  11.  Michaelis, 
Starke,  Keil,  etc.;  whereas  Bertheau,  having  re- 
gard to  vers.  39  and  51,  where  actually  a  separate 
stem  and  then  a  stem-prince  Timnah  are  counted. 
prefers  to  assume  that  "the  Chronist,  interpreting 
the  genealogical  language,  and  perceiving  in  the 
family  names  the  stem-relations  that  lie  at  their 
root,  has  explained  the  statements  of  Genesis 
concerning  Timnah,  so  that  by  them  the  con- 
nection of  two  stems  Timnah  and  Amalek  with 
the  other  stems  of  Eliphaz  shall  be  indicated,  and 
they  are  accordingly  counted  in  the  same  line 
with  these  stems  as  sons  of  Eliphaz."  This 
assumption  seems  to  us  too  artificial,  ami  ascribes 
to  the  Chronist  a  higher  degree  of  bold  indepen- 
dence and  wilfulness  in  his  operations  than  is 
admissible  or  consistent  with  his  evident  piety 
and  conscientiousness  in  recording  the  facts  of 
primeval  history  that  were  handed  down  to  him. 
— Ver.  37.  Sims  of  Reael.  These  are  entered 
four  in  number,  exactly  as  in  Gen.  xxxvi.  13. 
There  are  thus  in  all  10  grandsons  (6  sons  of 
Eliphaz  and  4  cf  Reuel)  who  are  assigned  by  our 
author  to  Esau,  and  who.  with  the  three  sons  of 
Jeush,  Jalam,  and  Korah  (sons  of  Oholibamah), 
form  the  13  family  or  stem  chiefs  (fAxf^Ki,  Sept. 
Gen.  xxxvi.  15)  of  the  Edoniites.  Against  Ber- 
theau, who  would  here  make  out  a  12  from  the 
13  families,  by  reducing  Amalek,  ver.  36.  to  a 
secondary  place,  comp.  Keil,  p.  36:  "Neither 
Chronicles  nor  Genesis  knows  12  tribes  of  Edom, 
but  both  books  give  13  grandsons  (rather  de- 
scendants) of  Esau  ;  and  these  13  grandsons 
are,  by  the  report  of  Genesis,  the  13  phylarchs 
of  Edom  which  are  distributed  among  the  3 
wives  of  Esau,  so  that  the  13  families  may  In- 
reduced  to  3  stems.  And  in  Genesis.  Amalek  is 
not   placed   in  a  looser  connection  with  the  re- 


so 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


maining  tribes,  but  on  the  contrary,  is  not  only, 
ver.  12,  counted  with  the  sons  of  Adah,  perhaps 
because  Timnali  stood  to  Adah,  the  wife  of  Esau, 
in  the  some  relation  as  Hagar  to  Sarah,  but  also 
in  ver.  16  is  reckoned  to  the  dukes  of  the  sons  of 
Eliphax  Thus  Genesis  counts  not  5,  but  6  stems 
of  Eliphaz  ;  and  Chronicles  has  not  fully  effaced  the 
number  12,  as  Bertheau  further  asserts,  but  the 
13  sons  and  grandsons  of  Esau,  who  became 
phylarchs,    are    fully    entered,    and   only    their 

d  isignation   as  ifcy  133  'EBjJN  ic'ft  out.    because 

unnecessary  for  the  genealogy  of  the  descendants 
of  Esau. ''—Vers.  38-42.  The  7  sons  of  Seir  and 
their  descendants,  or  the  (mingled  since  Esau's 
invasion  with  his  descendants)  Seirite  or  Horite 
aborigines  of  Idumaea  according  to  their  tribes. 
These  aborigines  of  the  mountains  of  Edom, 
though  not  of  Abrahamic  descent,  yet,  from  their 
gradually  formed  connection  and  intermingling 
with  the  descendants  of  Esau,  are  so  reckoned  as 
if  they  belonged  to  the  Edomite  family  of  nations. 
And  this  occurs  not  only  here  in  Chronicles, 
where  they  are  introduced  as  ■VJ?E>  '33,  but  also 
in  Gen.  xxx.   20-30,  where  they  are  called  i-)n, 

'"dwellers  in  caves,  Troglodytes."  Comp.  also  on 
these  Horites,  our  exp.  of  the  book  of  Job,  vol. 
x.  of  the  Bibelw.  p.  238. — The  names  of  the  seven 
sons  }f  Seir,  that  is,  the  seven  Seirite  chiefs,  agree 
exactly  with  Genesis  ;  and  likewise  their  descen- 
dants, in  number  18  men  and  1  woman,  Timnah, 
ver.  39.  Only  Oholibamah,  a  second  Seiritess 
named  in  Gen.  xxxvi.  25,  lias  been  passed  over 
by  the  Chronist,  according  to  his  wont  in  general 
to  reckon  only  male  members  in  his  genealogical 
lists.  On  the  deviations  of  some  forms  from  the 
text  of  Genesis,  as  Homam,  ver.  39,  for  Heinam; 
Aljau,  ver.  40,  for  Alwan,  etc.,  see  Grit.  Note. — 
The  total  names  enumerated  from  Abraham 
amount  to  about  70,  whether  the  two  Timnahs, 
the  mother  of  Amalek,  ver.  36,  and  the  sister  of 
Lotan,  ver.  39,  or  the  Edomite  and  the  Seirite 
Timuah  be  included,  in  which  case  there  are 
exactly  70,  or  both  or  one  of  them  be  excluded 
from  the  number,  and  so  then  be  only  08  or  69.  Ber- 
theau (whom  Kaiuphausen,  in  Bunsen's  Bibelw., 
follows),  counting  in  the  former  way,  finds  12 
lescendants  of  Esau,  13  of  Keturah,  2  of  Isaac, 
16  of  Esau,  and  27  of  Seir,  and  so  obtains  the 
number  70  ;  Keil,  in  the  latter  way,  regards  the 
Seirite  Timnah  as  only  mentioned  by  the  way, 
and  therefore  excluded,  and  consequently  reckons 
only  26  descendants  of  Seir,  and  in  all,  only  69 
deacen  hints  of  Abraham.  Though  the  latter  be 
right  in  many  of  his  objections  to  Bertheau's 
mode  of  reckoning  (for  instance,  its  exclusion  of 
Ishmael,  and  inclusion  of  Esau  and  Israel),  yet 
he  certainly  goes  too  far  when  he  ctterly  denies 
the  design  of  the  Chronist  1 1  fo.iow  up  his  list  of 
70  descendants  of  Noah  wit  the  same  number  of 
those  of  Abraham.  This  design,  though  not 
carried  out  with  mathematical  exactness,  and 
therefore  not  expressly  mentioned  here  (any  more 
than  in  ver.  5  ff. ),  appears  in  fact  to  have  had  a  dis- 
tinct influence  on  the  selection  and  arrangement 
of  his  genealogical  lists.  The  incidental  agreement 
of  the  number  in  vers.  29-42  with  that  in  vers.  5- 
23  shows  this,  just  as  the  decade  of  the  patriarchs 
between  Noah  and  Abraham,  in  its  agreement  with 
that  of  the  patriarchs  before  Noah  (comp.  vers. 
24-27  with  vers.  1-4),  points  to  design. 


Appendix. — The  Edomite  Kings  and  Chiefs  till  the 
bet/inning  of  Kingdom  of  Israel :  vers.  43-54. 

1.  The  Kings:  vers.  43-ola. — A  nearly  literal 
repetition  from  Gen.  xxxvi.  31-39  ;  only  the  words 

D1N3  7f?p»l  (ver.  43)  before  ^3,  and  in  ver.  51 

after  pn  ?1'2>  the  words  ~li3DJT|2  are  left  out, 

which,  however,  many  mss.  here  also  supply.  On 
the  variants  in  Ajuth,  ver.  46,  and  in  Hadad  and 
Pai,  ver.  50,  see  Crit.  Notes. — Ver.  51.  And  Jin- 
dad  died.  This  statement  (Tin  fl?3sl)  is  want- 
ing in  the  parallel  texts  of  Genesis,  where,  after 
entering   Hadad   (or   rather   Hadar)   as  the  last 

king,  the  formula  niDC'  H^NI  serves  to  intro- 
duce the  then  following  list  of  the  phylarchs  and 
their  seats.  By  the  sentence  "  and  Hadad  died," 
along  with  the  following,  "and  there  were" 
(Vnal)>   this   list  of   phylarchs   is  here   brought 

into  a  far  closer  connection  with  the  foregoing 
register  of  kings  than  in  Genesis, — into  a  connec- 
tion, indeed,  which  at  first  sight  looks  as  if  the 
Chronist  intended  to  represent  the  dukes  as  suc- 
cessors of  the  kingdom  terminated  by  Hadad's 
death,  and  so  report  a  transition  from  the 
monarchic  to  the  aristocratic  form  of  government 
in  Edom.  This  supposition,  however,  which 
Bertheau,  Kamph.,  and  others  defend,  is  not 
absolutely  necessary  ;  the  1  consec.  in  Vil'l  "may 

express  merely  the  order  of  thought ;  that  is, 
may  connect  the  mention  of  the  dukes  only  in 
thought  with  the  enumeration  of  the  kings,  or 
intimate  that  besides  the  kings  there  were  also 
dukes,  who  could  govern  the  nation  and  country" 
(Keil).  The  latter  supposition  is  the  more  pro- 
bable, as  the  following  list  is  owing  to  a  statistical 
and  chronographic  rather  than  a  genealogical 
tendency,  as  will  presently  be  shown. 

2.  The  Dukes:  vers.  51-54. — This  list  agrees  in 
the  order  and  form  of  the  11  names  given  exactly 
fon  the  variant  Aljah  for  Alwah,  ver.  51,  see 
Crit.  Note)  with  Gen.  xxxvi.  40-43.  Yet  it  has 
received  from  the  Chronist  another  superscription 
and  subscription,  of  which  the  former  runs  thus : 
"and  there  were  the  dukes  of  Edom"  ('S^S 
D11N  instead   of  ijj'y   'x,  Gen.    xxxvi.    40,    the 

name  of  the  people  and  land  taking  the  place  of 
the  n.  propr.  of  the  patriarch),  and  the  latter: 
"these  are  the  dukes  of  Edom  "  (for  which  that  of 
Genesis  is  more  circumstantial  :  "These  are  the 
dukes  of  Edom  according  to  their  habitations  in 
the  land  of  their  possessions:  this  is  Esau,  the 
father  of  Edom").  And  the  list  treats  not  so 
much  of  the  enumeration  of  certain  persons  as  of 
that  of  the  seats  of  certain  (perhaps  hereditary) 
dukes  of  the  nation  or  phylarchs,  according  to 
which  they  are  briefly  named,  "  the  duke  of  Tim- 
nah," etc.  The  list  has  thus  a  geographical,  not 
a  genealogical  import;  it  is  a  list  of  neighbouring 
principalities  of  Edom,  not  of  Edomite  princes. 
The  number  eleven  of  these  principalities  forms 
an  approximative  parallel  with  the  number  twelve 
of  the  tribes  of  Israel:  it  agrees  also  nearly  with 
the  number  of  the  descendants  of  Esau  above 
named  (ver.  36  ff. ) :  but  it  could  only  by  violent 
means  and  arbitrary  hypotheses  be  made  to  agree 
with  this  number,  or  reduced  to  the  number  twelve 
(comp.  the  remarks  against  Berth,  on  ver.  37). 


CHAP.  II.  1-65. 


b.  The  Sons  ok  Israel,  and  the  Generations  of  Judah  down  to  David,  with  David's 
Descendants  to  Elioenai  and  his  Seven  Sons.— Ch.  ii.-iv.  23. 

i    The  Twelve  Sons  of  Israel  and  the  Descendants  of  Judah:  ch.  ii.  1-41  (with  an  Appendix 
relating  chiefly  to  the  Posterity  of  Caleb:  vers.  42-55). 

Oft.  ii.   1.  These  are  the  sons  of  Israel :  Reuben,  Simeon  (Shimon),  Levi,  and  Judah, 

2  Issachar,  and  Zebulun.      Dan,  Joseph  and  Benjamin,  Naphtali,   Gad,  and 

3  Assher.     The  sons  of  Judah:  Er,  and  Onan,  and  Shelah  ;  three  were  bora  to 
him  of  the  daughter  of  Shnah,  the  Canaanitess ;  but  Er,  the  first-born  of 

4-  Judah,  was  evil  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  and  He  slew  him.     And  Thamar  his 

daughter-in-law  hare  him  Perez  and  Zerah  :  all  the  sons  of  Judah  were  five. 

5,  G  The  sons  of  Perez  :  Hezron  and  Hamul.     And  the  sons  of  Zerah :  Zimri,  and 

7  Ethan,  and  Heman,  Calcol,  and  Dara :'  five  of  them  in  all.     And  the  sons 
of  Carmi  :  Achar,  the  troubler  of  Israel,  who  transgressed  in  the  accursed 

8  thing.     And  the  sons  of  Ethan  :  Azariah. 

9  And  the  sons  of  Hezron,  that  were  bom  to  him :  Jerahmeel,  and  Ram,  and 

10  Celubai.      And  Earn  begat  Amminadab ;   and  Amminadab  begat  Nalishon, 

1 1  prince  of  the  sons  of  Judah.     And  Nalishon  begat  Salma,  and  Salma  begat 
12,  13  Boaz.     And  Boaz  begat  Obed,  and  Obed  begat  Jesse.     And  Jesse  begat  his 

14  first-born  Eliab,  and  Abinadab  the  second,  and  Shima  the  third.     Nathanae) 

15.  16  the  fourth,  Kaddai  the  fifth.     Ozem  the  sixth,  David  the  seventh.     And  their 

sisters,  Zeruiah  and  Abigail :  and  the  sons  of  Zeruiah  :  Abishai,  and  Joab,  and 

1  7  Asahel.  three.     And  Abigail  bare  Amasa  ;  and  the  father  of  Amasa  was  Jether 

tin-  fshmaelite. 

18  And  Caleb,  son  of  Hezron,  begat  with  Azubah  his  wife,2  and  with  Jerioth  ; 

19  and  these  are  her  sons  :  Jesher,  and  Shobab,  and  Ardon.     And  Azubah  died  ; 

20  and  Caleb  took  to  him  Ephrath,  and  she  bare  him  Hur.     And  Hur  begat 
"21   Uri,  and  Uri  begat  Bezalel.     And  afterwards  Hezron  went  in  to  the  daughter 

of  Machir,  father  of  Gilead  ;  and  he  took  her  when  he  was  sixty  years  old, 

22  and  she  bare  him  Segub.      And  Segub  begat  Jair,  who  had  twenty  and  three 

23  cities  in  the  land  of  Gilead.     And  Geshur  and  Aram  took  the  towns  of  Jair 
from  them,  with  Kenath  and  her  daughters,  sixty  cities.     All  these  are  sons 

24  of  Jair,   the  father  of  Gilead.     And  after  the  death  of  Hezron,  in  Caleb- 
ephrathah,  Abiah,  Hezron's  wife,  bare  him  Ashur  (Ashchur),  father  of  Tekoah. 

25  And  the  sons  of  Jerahmeel,  the  first-born  of  Hezron,  were  Ram,  the  first- 

26  born,  and  Bunah,  and  Oren,  and  Azem  of  Ahijah.    And  Jarahmeel  bad  another 

27  wife,  and  her  name  was  Atarah  ;  she  was  the  mother  of  Onam.     And   the 
sons  or  Ran,  the  first-born  of  Jerahmeel,  were  Maaz,  and  Jamin,  and  Eker. 

28  And  the  sons  of  Onam  were  Shammai  and  Jada  ;  and  the  sons  of  Shammai  : 

29  Nadab  and  Abishur.      And  the  name  of  Abishur's  wife  was  Abihail,8  and  she 

30  bare  him  Ahban  and  Molid.     And  the  sons  of  Nadab  :  Seled  and  Appaim  ; 

31  and  Seled  died  childless.     And  the  sons  of  Appaim  :  Ishi  ;  and  the  sons  of 

32  Ishi  :  Sheshan  ;   and  the  sons  of  Sheshan  :   Ahlai.      And  the.  sons  of  Jada, 

33  brother  of  Shammai  :  Jether  and  Jonathan  ;  and  Jether  died  childless.     And 
the  sons  of  Jonathan  :  Peleth  and  Zaza.     These  were  the  sons  of  Jerahmeel. 

34  And  Sheshan  had  no  sons,  but  only  daughters.     And   Sheshan   had  an 

35  Egyptian  servant,  whose  name  was  Jarha.    And  Sheshan  gave  his  daughter  to 

36  Jarha  his  servant  to  wife  ;  and  she  bare  him  Attai.    And  Attai  begat  Nathan, 

37  and  Nathan  begat  Zabad.     And  Zabad  begat  Ephlal,  and  Ephlal  begat  Obed. 
38,  39  And  Obed  begat  Jehu,  and  Jehu  begat  Azariah.     And  Azariah  begat  Helez, 

40  and  Helez  begat  Elasah.     And  Elasah  begat  Sismai,  and  Sismai  begat  Shal- 

41  him.     And  Shallum  begat  Jekamiah,  and  Jekamiah  begat  Elishama. 

Appendix:   Time  Series  of  Descendants  of  Caleb:  vers.  42-55. 

42  And  the  sons  of  Caleb,  brother  of  Jerahmeel,  were  Mesha,  his  first-bom ; 
he  was  the  father  of  Ziph;  and  the  sons  of  Mareshah,  the  father  of  Hebron.4 


38 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


43,  44  And  the  sons  of  Hebron  :  Korah,  and  Tappuah,  and  Rekern,  and  Shema.    And 

45  Shema  begat  Raham,  father  of  Jorkeam  ;5  ami  Rekem  begat  Shammai.     And 

the  son  of  Shammai  was  Maon  ;  and  Maon  was  father  of  Bethzur. 

46  And  Ephah,  Caleb's  concubine,  bare  Hnran,  and  Moza,  and  Gazez  :  and 

47  Haran  begat  Gazez.    And  the  sous  of  Jehdai :  Regem,  and  Jotham,  and  Geshan, 

48  and  Pelet,  and  Ephah,  and  Shaaph.     Caleb's  concubine  Maacha  bare8  Sheber 

49  and  Tirhanah.  And  she  bare  Shaaph  the  father  of  Madmannah.  Sheva, 
father  of  Machbenah,  and  father  of  Gibeah  ;  and  Caleb's  daughter  was  Achsah. 

50  These  were  the  sons  of  Caleb  the  son7  of  Hur,  first-born  of  Ephrathah  : 

51  Shobal,  father  of  Kiriath-jearim.     Salma,  father  of  Bethlehem,  Hareph,  father 

52  of  Bethgader.      And   Shobal,  father  of  Kiriath-jearim,   had  sons:    Haroeh, 

53  and  the  half  of  Menuhoth."  And  the  families  of  Kiriath-jearim  were  the 
Ithrite,  and  the  Puthite,  and  the   Shumathite,  and  the  Mishraite.      From 

54  these  came  the  Zorathite  and  the  Eshtaolite.  The  sons  of  Salma:  Bethlehem, 
and  the  Netophathite,  Ataroth  of  the  house  of  Joab,  and  half  of  the  Mena- 

55  hathite,  the  Zorite.  And  the  families  of  the  scribes  dwelling  at  Jabez  were 
the  Tirathites,  Shimathites,  Suchathites :  these  are  the  Kenites  that  came 
from  Hammath,  father  of  the  house  of  Rechab. 

1  For  iTH  many  M;s.,  as  well  as  the  Syr.  and  the  Chald.,  give  JJTR,  as  in  1  Kings  v.  11. 

2  ilt^X  (for  which  ini"M  w«s  to  be  expected)  is  wanting  in  two  mss.,  according  to  de  Rossi,  Var.  Led. — The  Pesh. 
and  Vug  appeal-  to  have  read  flX  iPw'X  for  HX)   ilU'X- 

3  In  ten  J  of  ^)\-p3X    a  number  of  mss.  and  printed  editions  have  Tnntf.      The  same  vacillation  is  also  found  in 

2  Chron.  xi.  18.  hi  the  like-named  wife  of  Rehoboam. 

*  Instead  of  HuHD  might  possibly  (after  the  proposal  of  Keil)  be  lead  1't^O,  and  instead  of  |)"Qn  *2N    rathei 

the  iiom.  composit.  p^3n~*3X*      Comp.  the  Exeg.  Expl. 

s  For  DVpl1  the  Sept.  exhibits  'IexXev;  and  so  for  the  following  Dpi- 
8  Instead  of  the unexpected  masc.  "I,^,  some  Mss.  present  the  fern.  H1?V 

*  Instead  of  ""l^n~|3.  the  Sept.  appears  to  have  read  "l}!!"''^.  which  is  perhaps  the  original  form.   Comp.  Exeg.  Expl, 

*  On  the  probably  corrupt  words  mrUDil  ^Tl  mXIH,  sec  Exeg. 


EXEGETICAL. 

Preliminary  Remark. — The  author  here  be- 
gins to  enroll  his  detailed  genealogies  of  the  tribes 
of  Israel,  extending  to  the  end  of  ch.  viii.  After 
pn  raising  a  list  of  the  12  sons  of  Jacob  as  the 
general  basis  of  the  whole,  vers.  1,  2,  he  begins 
witli  the  enumeration  of  the  generations  and 
families  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  which  he  then  pur- 
sues in  ch.  iii.  and  iv.  1-23,  and  completes  in 
several  parts.  No  order,  regulated  by  definite 
historical,  geographical,  or  any  systematic  prin- 
ciples, lies  at  the  base  of  this  enumeration  ;  he 
seems  rather  to  have  combined  into  a  whole,  as 
far  as  possible,  the  more  or  less  fragmentary 
genealogies  of  certain  brarehes  and  families  of 
the  house  of  Judah  as  they  came  down  to  him 
from  antiquity;  but  this  whole  is  very  defective 
in  the  unity  and  homogeneity  of  its  several  parts. 
For  of  the  five  immediate  descendants  of  Judah, 
thai  founded  the  tribe  of  Judah  by  a  numerous 
posterity,  his  three  sons  Shelah,  Perez,  and  Zerah, 
and  his  two  grandsons  Hezron  an  1  Hamul,  only 
Zerah  (ii.  6-8),  Hezron  (ii.  9 -iii.),  and  Shelah 
(iv.  21-23)  have  their  genealogies  given  with  any 
fulness;  Hamul  is  entirely  passed  over,  and  Perez 
is  only  followed  out  in  the  line  of  Hezron.  This 
line  (under  which  the  Chronist  sums  up  all  that 
was  known  of  the  descendants  of  Caleb  and  of  the 
Jephunnite  Calebites)  is  treated  with  special  care 
and  fulness  :  to  it  belongs  the  whole  series  of  the 


descendants  of  David  till  the  times  after  the 
captivity  (ch.  iii.),  and  at  least  the  more  ton 
siderable  part  of  the  genealogical  fragments  in 
cli.  iv.  1-23,  which  serve  as  a  supplement  to  ch. 
ii.  9-55,  and  of  which  it  is  often  doubtful  which 
of  the  members  previously  named  they  continue 
or  supplement. 

1.  The  Twelvi  Sims  qf  Israel:  vers.  1,2. — These 
are  given  in  an  order  deviating  from  Gen.  xxxv. 
23  ft'.,  so  that  the  6  sons  of  Leah  stand  first,  then 
the  son  of  Rachel's  maid,  Dan  ;  after  that  the  2 
sons  of  Rachel,  Joseph  and  Benjamin  ;  ami  lastly, 
the  3  remaining  sons  of  the  maids  (Naphtali,  Bil- 
hah's  son ;  Gad  and  Asher,  Zilpah's  sons).  This 
separation  of  Dan  from  his  full  brother  Naphtali 
is  surprising,  and  can  hardly  be  satisfactorily  ex- 
plained. For  if  we  suppose  that  Rachel  (see  Gen. 
xxx.  3  ff.)  regarded  Dan,  born  of  her  maid  Bilhah, 
as  in  a  sense  her  own  son,  and  so  he  is  named 
before  Joseph  and  Benjamin,  yet  still  it  is  a 
question,  why  not  also  Naphtali,  who  was  likewise 
born  before  her  own  sons.  The  procedure  of  the 
Chronist  in  regard  to  Dan  is  in  several  respectsenig- 
matical :  comp.  on  ch.  vii.  12.  [It  is  probable  that 
Naphtali  was  born  about  the  same  time  with  Gad, 
and  is  therefore  classified  with  him. — J.  G    XI.] 

2.  The  Descendants  of  Judah  :  vers.  3  -  41. — - 
a.  The  5  sons  of  Judah,  the,  2  sons  of  Perez,  and 
the  descendants  of  Zerah  :  vers.  3-8. — Vers.  3,  4. 
The  sons  qf  Judah,  etc.  The  five  sons  of  Judah, 
three  legitimate,  born  of  the  daughter  of  Shuah 


CHAP.  IF.  3-8. 


SS 


the  Canaanite,  Er,  Onan,  and  Shelah,  and  two 
born  in  incest  of  Tamar,  his  daughter-in-law, 
Perez  and  Zerah,  are  given  in  accordance  with 
Gen.  xx.wiii..  and  in  the  same  order  (comp.  alBO 
Gen.  xlvi.  12).  The  author  recalls  this  his  souri  e 
by  taking  over  word  for  word  the  remark  on  Er 
in  Gen.  xxxviii.  7:  "But  Er  the  first-born  of 
Judah  Was  evil  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  and  He 
slew  him." — Ver.  5.  The  sons  of  Perez,  etc. 
(Hezron,  perhaps  the  "blooming,  fair;"  Hamul, 
the  "lorgiven,"  or  the  "tender,  weak;"  comp, 
Bilr''w.  i.  p.  432).  These  occur  in  two  registers 
of  :'ie  Pentateuch,  the  list  of  the  children  of 
lsnul  who  went  down  to  Egypt  with  Jacob, 
Gen.  xlvi.  12.  and  in  that  of  the  families  of 
Judah  in  the  Mosaic  age,  Num.  xxvi.  21. — Vers. 
6-8.  And  the  sons  of  Zerah.  Five  such  are 
named  :  Zimri.  Ethan,  Heman,  Calcol,  and  Dara. 
On  tlie  first  of  these  names,  which  might  possibly 
be  wrongly  written  ('"lot   f°r  ,"QT>  Josh.  vii.  1), 

see  under  ver.  7.  The  four  following  names, 
especially  if  we  read  for  the  last,  Darda,  with  a 
great  number  of  old  witnesses  (see  Crit.  Note), 
agree  surprisingly  with  the  four  men  compared 
with  Solomon  in  1  Kings  v.  11  :  Ethan  the  Ez- 
rahite,  and  Heman,  and  Calcol,  and  Darda,  the 
the  sons  of  Mahol.  The  assumption  of  an  iden- 
tity of  tl  ese  four  wise  men  with  the  four  younger 
sons  of  Zerah  is  very  natural;  it  has  been  already 

isserted  by  Grotius,  Clericus,  Lightfool  (Chronol. 

V.  T.  p.  241,  Hiller  (Onom.  Sacr.),  and  others, 
and  recently  by  Movers  (p.  237)  and  Bertheau, 
who  insisted  on  the  circumstance,  that  in  1 
Kings  v.  11  contemporaries  of  Solomon  were 
not  intended  (no  more  than  in  Ezra  xiv.  14, 
xviii.  20,  contemporaries  of  Daniel);  further,  on 
the  probable  identity  of  Zerah  with  Ezrah  the 
father  of  Ethan  mentioned  in  1  Kings  v.  11 
(rnt  =  mfX) ;  and  lastly,  on  the  statement  of  the 

Rabbinical  book  Seder  Olam,  which  says  (p.  52, 
ed.  Meyer)  of  the  sons  of  Zerah  named  in  our 
passage;  "These  were  prophets  who  prophesied 
in  Egypt,"  and  thus  appears  to  confirm  expressly 
their  being  of  the  class  of  Hakamim.  But  the 
argument  raised  of  late,  especially  by  Hengsten- 
berg  (Beitrage  zur  EM.  ii.  61  1'.,  and  on  l's. 
lxxxviii.),  Keil  (Apol.  Vers.  p.  164  ff.  ;  comp. 
Comment,  p.  3°  ff.  |,  as  well  as  Bahr  (on  1  Kings 
v.  1],  Bibelw.  vii.  p.  301,  against  the  identity  of 
these  persons,  seems  to  be  more  weighty  and  de- 
cisive. For,  1.  The  variant  "Darda"  for  "Darn" 
in  our  passage,  however  old,  appears  clearly  to 
have  arisen  from  the  endeavour  to  harmonize ; 
2.  To  this  endeavour  the  notice  in  the  Seder 
Olam  owes  its  origin  ;  3.  That  at  least  near 
contemporaries  of  Solomon  are  named  in  1  Kings 
v.  follows  from  the  manifest  and  undeniable 
identity  of  Ethan  the  Ezrahite  with  the  so-named 
composer  of  Ps.  lxxxix.,  and  from  the  very  pro- 
bable identity  of  Heman  with  "  Heman  the 
Ezrahite,"  the  composer  of  Ps.  lxxxviii  ;  4.  If 
the  Ethan  and  Heman  of  1  Kings  v.  11  be  iden- 
tical with  the  composers  of  these  Psalms,  they 
are  also  probably  to  lie  regarded  as  Levites  of  the 
family  of  the  sons  of  Korah  (see  the  supcrscr.  of 
these  Psalms  i.  who  are  in  1  Chron.  XV.,  xvii  ,  ami 
xix.  called  masters  of  song,  and  belong  not  to 
the  family  of  Judah,  and  might  at  the  most  have 
found  admission  into  it  as  adoptive  sons  of  Zerah 
(Hengstenberg,  Beitrage  zur  Einl.  ins  A.  T.  ii. 
71), — an  assumption,  however,  which  is  too  arti- 


ficial;  5.  The  express  designation  of  Calcol     n<! 

Darda  in  Kings  as  '-suns  of  Mahol"  makes  it 
difficult  to  assume  their  identity  with  the  sons  ol 
Zerah,  as  tie'  latter  musl  be  regarded  not  as  im- 
mediate  sons,   hut   lati  i   descendants   of   Zerah  ; 

6.  Of  the   pre-eminent   wisd f   the    sons   of 

Zerah,  neither  iln-  canonical  Old  Testament  nor 
the  apocryphal  literature  has  anyth  ng  ti>  reporl  : 
even  such  passages  asjer.  xlix.  7,  Baruch  iii.  22  If. 
are  silent  on  the  subject.  The  assumption  of  the 
identity  of  these  with  the  names  in  l  Kii 
can  only  be  maintained  on  the  presupposition 
that  '331  in  our  passage  means  noi   strictly  SOUS, 

but  later  descendants  of  Zerah  (so  recently  Keil, 
in  Comment,  p.  41).  But  this  expedient  has  its 
difficulty,  and  by  no  means  suffices  to  destroy  the 
force  of  most  of  the  arguments  here  adduced 
against  the  identity.  We  must  therefore  take 
the  surprising  coincidence  of  the  names  to  be 
accidental,  or  assume  with  Movers  (Chron.  p. 
2371  that  we  have  in  the  present  passage  the 
peculiar  genealogical  combination  of  a  laterauthor. 
For  the  conjecture  of  Ewald,  that  Heman  and 
Ethan,  "the  two  great  singers  of  the  tribe  of 
Judah,  were  taken  by  the  Levitical  music  schools 
into  their  company  and  family,  and  therefore 
were  afterwards  (in  the'  superscriptions  of  Ps. 
lxxxviii.  and  lxxxix. )  reckoned  to  the  tribe  of 
Levi"  (Oesck.  d.  I".  Ixr.  iii.  1,  p.  84),  is  no  less 
artificial  than  that  of  Hengstenberg.  [But  of 
these  considerations,  Nos.  1  and  2  contain  a  mere 
subjective  assumption.  No.  3  assumes,  without 
necessity,  that  the  Ethan  of  1  Kings  v.  and  the 
composer  of  Ps.  lxxxix.  are  one,  since  two  Ethans 
may  descend  from  the  one  patriarch.  No.  4 
assumes  that  the  composers  of  Ps.  lxxxviii.  and 
Lxxxix.  were  Levites,  whereas  the  epithet  Ezrahite 
appears  to  be  added  expressly  to  distinguish  them 
from  the  Levites  of  those  names.  No.  5  assumes 
that  Mahol  is  a  proper  name,  which  remains  to 
be  proved.  No.  6  assumes  that  the  wisdom  of 
Zerah's  sons  is  not  probable,  because  it  is  not 
elsew:here  mentioned.  This  argument  of  itself 
has  little  if  any  weight.  On  the  other  hand,  one 
motive  to  insert  these  sons  of  Zerah  in  the  list 
was  probably  their  occurrence  in  1  Kings  v.,  and 
the  Chronist,  according  to  his  wont,  is  silent  on 
their  wisdom,  for  the  sake  of  brevity,  as  it  was 
elsewhere  recorded. — J.  G.  M.] — Ver.  7.  And 
the  sons  of  Oarmi:  Achar;  that  is,  Achar  was 
descended  from  Carmi.  Comp.  the  oft-recurring 
use  of  the  plural  133,  where  only  one  desci  ndant 

is  named  (vers.  8,  30,  31,  42,  and  Gen.  xlvi.  23). 
By  Achar,  as  the  addition,  "  the  troubler  of 
Israel"  (~oy,  properly  "the  troubled"),  shows, 
is  meant  the  Achan  of  the  hook  of  Joshua 
(vii.  1  ff.,  xxii  20;,  whose  name  must  have  been 
known  to  the  author  of  this  book  in  the  by-form 
Achar,  as  he  puts  the  valley  of  Aehor  in  etymo- 
logical connection  with  it  (vii.  26,  xv.  7).  The 
link  that  connects  Carmi,  the  father  or  anci  stor 
of  this  Achar,  with  Zerah  is  wanting;  but  from 
Josh.  vii.  1,  where  he  is  called  a  son  of  Zabdi,  the 
son  of  Zerah,  it  is  highly  probable  that  he  springs 
from  Zimri,  the  first  named  of  the  sons  of  Zerah, 
whether  Zimri  in  our  passage  be  an  error  of  the 
pen  for  Zabdi,  or  the  reverse,  or  Zabdi  be  a  son 
of  Zimri,  and  thus  several  links  of  the  series  from 
Zerah  to  Achar  have  been  omitted.  On  Carmi, 
comp.  also  eh.  iv.  1  and  Num.  xxvi  6,  where  a 
family  of  Reuben  bears  the  name  —Ver.  S     And 


10 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


the  sons  of  Ethan  .•  Azariah.  This  Etlianite 
Azariah  is  not  otherwise  known  :  no  probable 
reason  can  be  assumed  why  he  only  of  the  sons 
of  Ethan  is  mentioned. 

b.   The  Descendants  of  Hezron ■■:  vers.  9-41. — a. 
His  three  sons,  ver.  9. — And  the  sons  of  Hezron 

that  were  born  to  him.     The  passive  1713  stands 

"  for  the  indefinite  active,  so  that  the  following 
accusatives  with  j-|X  depend  on  the  virtual  notion 

of  the  active   'one  bare  him;'   comp.    Gen.   iv. 

18,   xxi.    5,   xlvi.    20,  and    the    sing.   17^3   in  a 

similar  position,  1  Chron.  iii.  4,  xxvi.  6"  (Berth.). 
The  name  Kam  is,  in  the  New  Testament  genea- 
logies of  Jesus,  Matt.  i.  3,  4,  Luke  iii.  33,  Aram  ; 
comp.  Qi,  Job  xxxii.  2,  with  Q1X>  Gen.  xxii.  21. 

The  name  13173  is  undoubtedly  a  by-form  of  373. 

ver.  IS,  or,  as  this  name  is  written  in  iv.  11,   of 

3173  :   it  is  an  adject,  gentil.,  that  stands  to  its 

atem  3573,  as  131V.  1  Chron.   vi.   11,  to  cpv>  vi. 

20  (Ewald,  Lehrb.  §  164,  c),  or  as  in  Greek 
Msn^a?!,-  (the  n.  pr.  of  the  well-known  Persian 
Bectary)  to  Man;.  Accordingly,  the  celebrated 
forelather  of  Bezaleel  had  of  old  three  names — 
Caleb,  Celub,  the  Celuban.  Comp.  underneath 
on  ver.  IS  ft',  and  on  ver.  40.  The  three  here 
named,  Jerahmeel,  Ram,  and  Celubai,  appear  to 
have  been  actual  sons  or  immediate  descendants 
of  Hezron,  whereas  the  sons  of  Hezron  afterwards 
appended, — Segub,  ver.  21,  and  Ashur,  ver.  24, — 
as  they  are  co-ordinated  with  his  later  descen- 
dants, may  possibly  be  sons  in  a  wider  sense. 
At  all  events,  they  did  not  belong  to  the  aforesaid 
founders  of  the  three  celebrated  lines  id'  Hezron- 
ites,  which  are  analyzed  in  the  following  passage, 
though  in  an  order  different  from  the  present 
enumeration,  the  family  of  Ram  being  placed 
first,  and  that  of  Jerahmeel  transferred  to  the 
end  (comp.  on  ver.  IS). 

£.  The  family  of  Ram,  as  first  of  the  three 
Hezrouite  lines.  His  precedence  is  explained  by 
the  circumstance  that  the  house  of  David  sprang 
from  him.  The  posterity  of  Ram  is  therefore 
carried  down  to  David  in  seven  members.  The 
six  members  to  Jesse,  the  father  of  David,  are 
found  also  in  the  book  of  Ruth  iv.  19-21 ;  comp. 
the  genealogies  in  Matt.  i.  and  Luke  iii. — Ver. 
10.  Nahshon,  prince  of  the  sons  of  Judah.  Tins 
distinguishing  epithet,  which  is  wanting  in  Ruth, 
points  to  Num.  i.  7,  ii.  3,  vii.  12,  where  Nahshon 
is  named  as  the  prince  of  Judah  at  the  exodus. 
As  this  date,  according  to  the  most  probable  in- 
terpretation of  the  number  430,  Exod.  xii.  40,  is 
to  be  plaeed  fully  four  centuries  alter  the  time  of 
Judah,  several  members  must  have  fallen  out 
between  Hezron,  the  grandson  of  Judah,  and 
Nahshon,  as  well  as  between  Nahshon  and  Jesse, 
as  the  series  Salma,  Boaz,  Obed,  and  Jesse  is  not 
sufficient  to  fill  up  the  interval  of  400  years  be- 
tween Moses  and  David.  [If  the  430  years  count 
from  the  call  of  Abraham,  which  has  not  yet  been 
disproved,  the  exodus  was  only  210  years  after 
the  descent  of  Judah  into  Egypt,  instead  of  four 
centuries. — J.  G.  M.] — Ver.  11.  Salma.     Instead 

'f  KD?&>  the  book  of  Ruth  has,  iv.  20,    nobb', 

but    in    the   following    verse   p07C'i    which   has 


passed  into  the  New  Testament  (Luke  iii.  32, 
^aiuuv,  and  so  Matt.  i.  4,  5,  where  Luther  has 
Salma). — Vers.  13-15.  The  seven  sons  of  Jesse. 
According  to  1  Sam.  xvii.  12  (comp.  eh.  xvi.  6  ff.), 
Jesse  had  8  sons, — a  difference  which  is  most 
easily  explained  by  the  supposition  that  one  of 
the  eight  died  without  posterity,  and  therefore 
was  not  included  by  later  genealogists.  —  His 
first-born  Eliab.  So  is  the  eldest  called  in  the 
books  of  Samuel ;  on  the  contrary,  in  1  Chron. 
xxvii.  18  the  form  Elihu  appears  to  have  come 
into  the  place  of  Eliab.  The  Peshito  has  in  our 
passage  S  instead  of  7  sons  of  Jesse,  of  whom  it 
calls  the  seventh  Elihu,  the  eighth  David  ;  the 
first  6  agree  with  the  Masoretic  text. — And  Shima 
tht   third.     The  name  KJ,0"'.  occurring  thus  iii 

1  Chron.  xx.  7,  is  in  2  Sam.  xiii.  3  and  xxi.  22 
in  the  Keri  njJDi."  ;  on  the  contrary,  in  the 
Rethib  of  the  latter  passage  ijJJX"',  a"<I  in  Samuel 
(xvi.  6,  xvii.  13)  twice  ns^1.  The  latter  is 
merely   an    abbreviated    form    of    n]10'C'-  —  The 

names  of  the  next  three  brothers  occur  nowhere 
else. — Vers,  lb',  17.  And  their  sisters,  Zerniah 
anil  A  bigatt.  Both  sisters  obtained  great  celebrity 
through  their  heroic  sons, — Zerniah,  as  the  mother 
of  Abishai,   Joab,  and  Asahel  (1    Sam.   xxvi.  0', 

2  Sam.  ii.  IS,  iii.  39,  vi.  16,  etc.),  who  are  always 
named  alter  their  mother,  never  after  their  less 
celebrated  father;  Abigail,  as  mother  of  the  com- 
mander Aniasa,  who  was  involved  in  Absalom's 
rebellion  (2  Sam.  xvii.  25,  xix.  14,  xx.  10),  whom 
she  bare  to  Jether  the  Ishmaelite.  This  in<  is 
called  2  Sam.  xvii.  25  jon\  with  the  epithet 
'7>T-*'51,  lor  which,  according  at  least  to  our 
passage,  the  correct  form  is  i")J(B5jkn '  ior  the 
Israelitish  descent  of  the  man  would  have  needed 
no  distinct  notice.  Abigail  herself  appears,  be- 
sides, according  to  2  Sam.  xvii.  25,  as  a  daughter 
of  Xaliash  and  sister  of  Zerniah,  and  therefore 
not  a  full,  but  only  a  half  sister  of  David. 

y.  Thefamily  of  Caleb,  as  second  of  the  three 
Hezronite  lines:  vers.  18-24.—  The  question,  how 
this  first  list  of  his  descendants  is  related  to  the 
second  in  vers.  42-49,  Wellhausen  (p.  13  seq. ) 
has  endeavoured  to  answer  by  regarding  the 
Caleb  in  ver.  42  as  corresponding  to  the  Celubai 
in  ver.  9,  designating  the  order  in  which  the 
special  genealogies  of  the  three  Heziointe  lines 
occurred,  by  the  names  Ram  (ver.  10  ft".),  Jerah- 
meel (ver.  25  ff.),  and  Caleb  (ver.  42  If.  1,  and  con- 
sidering the  genealogy  of  Caleb  (vers.  18-24)  as 
a  later  insertion,  whereby  the  Chronist  has  dis- 
figured the  original  and  norma]  development  of 
his  genealogy  of  the  Hezronites.  He  holds  that, 
indeed,  this  insertion  itself  is  again  a  conglo- 
merate of  genealogical  fragments  of  various  origin, 
as  appears  most  clearly  from  the  reference  of  vers. 
21-23  to  Hezron  himself,  the  father  of  Caleb. ' 
Indeed,  even  vers.  10-17  are  prohably  an  inter- 
polation, whereby  the  Chronist  has  endeavoured 
to  extend  the  pedigree  of  the  Hezronites  originally 
beginning  with  Jerahmeel  ("  the  first-born  of  Hez- 

1  •■.  .  .  Qux  ver.  18  sqq.  hgunlur.  e.r  variis  jonhbtis 
haiata  <i  Chronicogropho  tltmum  ei  Charonteorum  catalogo 
inifrposiin  sun/,  qui  quasifundamtntum  at  t>>/i"s  tfwtura 
hujus  genealogtie"  (f.c  p.  18). — Comp.  p    IG:  ".  .  .  far-ajc 

sunt  omnia  (vers.  18-24),  e*  meris  coi,(je>Ut  friujn, emit." 


CHAP.  II.  18-24. 


41 


roll,"  ver.  25),  on  the  basis  of  the  book  of  Ruth, 
the  Ram  of  which  (Ruth  iv.  19)  appears  to  him 
as  a  sou  of  Hezvon  and  a  brother  of  Jerahmeel 

and  Caleb,  whereas  he  is  in  truth,  according  to 
rer.  25,  a  son  of  Jerahmeel  and  grandson  of  Hezron. 
Accordingly,  the  old  genealogical  table  before  the 
Chronist  had  only  two  Hues  of  Hezronites  (Jerah- 
meelites  and  Calebites),  and  his  supplementing 
action  had  extended  this  register,  so  that  lie  first 
added  a  Ram  sun  of  Hezron,  with  his  posterity 
(vers.  10-17),  different  from  Ram  son  of  Jerahmeel, 
and  then  a  second  Caleb  (vers.  18-24),  witli  many 
other  descendants  than  those  of  the  younger 
brother  Jerahmeel,  ver.  42  If.  It  cannot  be  denied 
that  many  reasons  appear  to  recommend  this  bold 
hypothesis.  It  explains  in  a  satisfactory  way  the 
circumstance  that  the  first-born  Jerahmeel,  whose 
genealogy  we  should  expect  first,  appears  after 
those  of  his  two  younger  brothers,  and  also  the 
surprising  duplication  of  the  names  Ram  and 
Caleb.  But  the  hypothesis  comes  short  of  abso- 
lute certainty  in  many  points  which  require  to  be 
adduced  for  confirmation.  And  especially  it  still 
remains  doubtful  which  of  the  different  old  tradi- 
tions concerning  the  descendants  of  the  old  prince 
of  Judah,  Caleb  the  companion  of  Joshua,  whether 
that  in  ver.  IS  ff.,  or  that  in  ver.  42  If.,  or  that 
in  iv.  11,  15  ff. ,  is  to  be  pronounced  the  oldest 
and  most  trustworthy,  and  whether  we  are  en- 
titled to  reject  for  one  of  them  all  the  others  at 
once  as  totally  untrustworthy,  and  containing  no 
element  of  historical  truth.  If  it  were  to  be 
assumed  that  originally  there  were  two  persons 
of  this  name,  a  Caleb  son  of  Hezron  (ii.,  iv.  11  ff. ) 
and  a  Caleb  sou  of  Jephunneh  (iv.  15  ft'.),  this 
duplication  would  warn  us  to  be  so  much  the 
more  cautious  in  the  reception  or  rejection  of  this 
or  that  one  of  the  various  traditions  that  are 
attached  to  these  honourable  names:  the  still 
greater  complexity  of  the  collective  genealogies 
of  Caleb  would  all  the  more  favour  the  conjecture 
that  each  of  the  series  referred  to  him  must  be 
accounted  in  the  on"  or  the  other  way  as  authentic, 
as  containing  in  itself  elements  of  the  genuine 
posterity  of  Caleb. — Ver.  18.  Begat  with  Azubalt 

his  wife.  ]-|N  T^in,  either  "  begat  witli "  (as  else- 
where p  Tvin.  ch.  viii.  S,  9)  or  "caused  to  bring 
forth"  (comp.  Isa.  lxvi.  9).  The  following  words, 
niyT'TINI    H'l'X.  appear  to   be  corrupt.      If  we 

translate  (with  D.  Kimchi,  Piscat.,  Osiand.,  and 
others),  "  with  Azubah,  a  wife,  and  with  Jerioth," 
two  things  are  strange  :  the  indefinite  designa- 
tion  of  Azubah  as  a  wife,   nt?N   ('or  which  we 

should  expect  "his  wife,"  int'Nb  an(l  the  cir- 
cumstance that  of  the  second  wife  no  son  is  named. 
If  we  regard  (with  Hiller,  J.   D.  Mich.)  nsi  as 

explicative,  with  Azubah  a  wife,  that  is,  Jerioth, 
we  establish  a  mode  of  expression  which  is  without 
a  parallel  in  our  book.  It  is  impossible  to  render 
"And  Caleb  begat  Azubah  and  Jerioth"  (B. 
Striegel).     We  must  either  hold  HU'S>  which  is, 

moreover,  wanting  in  two  mss.  (see  Crit.  Note', 
with  Berth,  and  Kamph.,  as  a  marginal  note  that 
lias  crept  into  the  text,  designed  to  prevent  the 
translation  '"begat  Azubah,"  or  adopt  the  reading 
of  the  1'esh.    and   the   Vulg.,   flN  intTN,    which 

irives   the  sense,    "begat  with  Azubah  his  wife 


Jerioth,  and  these  are  her  (Jerioth's)  sons."  The 
latter  appears  the  most  satisfactory  (comp.  Keil). 
The  names  of  her  three  sons  occur  nowhere  else 
in  the  Old  Testament.— Ver.  19.  And  Azubah 
died,  and  Caleb  took-  to  him  Ephraih,  namely,  to 
wife.  To  this  second  wife  of  Caleb,  whose  name 
in  ver.  50  (comp.  iv.  4)  is  Ephrathah,  belongs 
Hur,  who  is  also  mentioned  Exod.  xxxi.  2  as  tht 
grandfather  of  Bezalel.  By  this  we  are  scarcely 
to  understand  that  Ephrathah  was  properly  * 
bi.al  name  equivalent  to  Bethlehem  (lien,  xxxvi. 
16,  19  ;  Micah  v.  1),  so  that  Hur  would  bo  desig 
nated  a  descendant  of  Caleb,  born  at  Bethlehem, 
or  originating  thence  (an  assumption  to  win.] 
liertlieau  seems  inclined). — On  ver.  20,  comp. 
Exod.  xxxi,  2,  xxxv.  30. — Ver.  21.  Afterward) 
Hezron  went  in  to  the  daughter  of  Machir. 
"Afterwards,"  inxi>   that  is,   after  the   birth   ot 

those  three  sons  mentioned  ver.  9,  whose  mother 
is  not  named.  The  whole  notice,  extending  to 
ver.  24,  of  Hezron's  descendants,  born  in  his  old 
age  of  the  daughter  of  Machir  the  Gileadite,  and 
of  a  son  Ashur,  born  after  his  death  of  a  third 
wife  Abiah  (ver.  24),  is  undoubtedly  surprising, 
and  unsuitable  to  the  present  place  :  the  series  of 
Hezron's  sons  and  their  descendants  is  thereby 
violently  interrupted,  and  the  above-mentioned 
interpolation  theory  of  Wellhausen  has  in  this 
case  a  very  strong  support.  If  we  hold  the  pre- 
sent order  to  be  original,  we  must  assume,  with 
Keil,  that  the  here  mentioned  descendants  of 
Hezron  "were  somehow  more  closely  connected 
with  the  family  of  Caleb  than  with  that  of  either 
Ram  or  Jerahmeel."  On  Machir  the  first-born  of 
Manasseh,  to  whom  Hoses  gave  the  land  of  Gilead, 
comp.  Gen.  1.  23  ;  Num.  xxxii.  40  ;  Deut.  iii.  15. 
As  he  is  here  and  ver.  23  called  "  father  of  Gilead,' 
so  is  it  said  Num.  xxvi.  29  that  he  begat  Gilead 
'  omp.  Num.  xxvii.  1,  from  which  it  follows  that, 
by  this  paternal  relation  of  Machir  to  Gilead,  more 
must  be  meant  than  the  bore  notion  of  a  descent 
of  the  lsraelitish  population  of  Gilead  from  Ma- 
chir, and  that  there  must  have  been  a  definite 
person,  Gilead,  son  of  Machir  and  grandfather  of 
Zelophehad.  By  the  designation  father  of  Gilead, 
the  present  Machir  is  distinguished  from  later 
persons  of  the  same  name  ;  comp.  2  Sam.  ix.  4, 
xvii.  27.  —  Ver.  22.  And  Segub  begat  Jair.  This 
Jair,  the  grandson  of  Hezron  through  Segub,  be- 
longed on  the  mother's  side  to  the  tribe  of  Ma- 
nasseh, and  occurs  therefore  elsewhere,  as  Num. 
xxxii-  41,  Deut.  iii.  14.  as  a  Manassite.  His 
family,  after  the  conquest  of  Og  king  of  Bashan 
under  Moses,  received  the  territory  of  Argob,  and 
gave  to  the  conquered  cities  which  Moses  handed 
over  to  him  the  name  Havvoth-Jair  ("piO  nin), 

"tent-villages  of  Jair,"  or  "life  of  Jair"  (comp. 
Num.  xxxii.  41;  Deut.  iii.  14;  Josh.  xiii.  30; 
1  Kings  iv.  13),  with  which  designation  the 
name  "Judah  on  Jordan,"  Josh.  xix.  34  (that 
is,  the  colony  of  Jews  in  Gilead  east  of  the 
Jordan),  is  most  probably  identical  ;  comp.  v. 
Raunier,  Palcest.  4th  edit.  p.  233  ;  Hengsteiib. 
Ge.tch.  des  Seichi  Gottes  im  A.  T.  ii.  p.  258  : 
Hoffm.  Blicke  in  die  frtihestt  GescJi.  des  gelobien 
Landes,  i.  (1870)  p.  114.— Ver.  23.  And  Oethur 
and  Aram,  the  Geshurites  and  Aramaeans,  which 
is  scarcely  a  hendiadys  for  "the  Aramaeans  of 
Geshur,"  but  rather  points  to  an  alliance  of  the 
Geshurites  with  the  neighbouring  Aramasaus. 
For  Geshur  (2  Sam.  iii.  3,  xiii.  37,  xv.  S)  was  a 


12 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


region  in  Aram  or  Syria,  lying  on  the  north-west 
horder  of  Bashan  near  Hermon  and  the  eastern 
bank  of  the  Jordan,  that  in  David's  time  (eomp. 
on  < ■  1 1 .  iii.  2)  had  a  king  of  its  own,  and  formed 
at  that  time  an  independent  kingdom,  not  sub- 
ject to  Israel, — in  the  opinion  of  Hitzig (Geech.  :l. 
Voiles  Israel,  i.  p.  2S  ft'.),  an  Amorite  kingdom  of 
Ai'ian(')  origin,  though  Moses  in  the  distribution 
of  the  country  had  assigned  it  to  Manasseh  (Josh, 
xiii.   13;  comp.   xii.   5). —  With  Kenath  and  her 

daughters,  sixty  cities.    So  should  the  "i;n  J"l3p~nx 

he  most  probably  taken,  as  a  farther  district, 
besides  the  villages  of  Jair,  which  the  Geshurites 
and  Aramaeans  took,  and  not  as  an  explanatory 
apposition  to  these  (comp.  Berth.).  For  the 
preceding  statement,  that  the  villages  of  Jair 
amounted  to  twenty-three  (ver.  22),  is  much  too 
definite  to  allow  it  to  be  supposed  that  the  now 
named  sixty  daughter  towns  of  Kenath  form  an 
inexact  repetition  of  the  same  designation.  Much 
rather  the  difference  of  the  two  districts:  "the 
villages  of  Jair  "  and  the  "daughters  of  Kenath," 
appears  in  the  clearest  manner  from  Num.  xxxii. 
41,  42,  according  to  which,  of  the  two  Manassites 
Jair  and  Nobah,  the  former  conquered  the  "  Hav- 
voth  Jair,"  the  latter  the  "  Benoth  Kenath." 
Only  in  their  sura  total  were  these  places  sixty  in 
number,  and  only  to  this  sum  total  does  the  pre- 
sent -|<y  Q'E't?  apply.     Whether,   therefore,  the 

group  of  towns  designated  by  "Kenath"  (now 
Kanwat,  on  the  western  slope  of  Jebel  Hainan) 
and  her  daughters  numbered  exactly  thirty-seven 
towns  (as  Keil  thinks),  remains  uncertain  ;  and 
the  number  sixty  may  very  probably  be  a  round 
number  (comp.  also  Deut.  iii.  12-14  ;  Josh.  xiii. 
30).  On  the  time  when  the  Geshurites  and  Ara- 
maeans took  the  sixty  towns,  nothing  can  be  ascer- 
tained from  our  passage.  Certain  it  is  that  the 
later  Judge  of  Israel,  Jair  (Judg.  x.  4),  possessed 
again  at  least  thirty  of  these  towns  under  the 
name  of  Havvoth-Jair,  which  must  have  survived 
to  still  later  times.  AH  these  are  sons  of  Jair, 
not  the  sixty  towns,  but  the  afore-mentioned 
Segub  and  Jair  and  their  descendants  and  corre- 
latives. It  may  be  conjectured  that  the  genea- 
logical source  used  by  the  Chronist  was  originally 

more  full,  so  that  rfj)H  ^3  referred  not  merely  to 

these  two  names. — Ver.  24.  And  after  the  death 
of  Hezron  in  Caleb-epArathah.  This  place,  which 
does  not  elsewhere  occur,  might  possibly  be  the 
same  as  Ephrathah  or  Bethlehem-ephrathah  (sec 
on  ver.  19)  ;  the  name  of  Caleb's  second  wife 
Ephrath  might  be  somehow  connected  with  this 
her  place  of  abode  and  death.  "  In  1  Sam.  xxx. 
14  a  part  of  the  south  of  Judah  is  called  '  Negeb 
Caleb,'  because  it  belonged  to  the  family  of  Caleb ; 
in  analogy  with  which  the  town  or  place,  in  which 
Caleb  and  his  wife  Ephrath  dwelt,  might  be  called 
'Caleb  of  Ephrathah,'  if  Ephrath  had  brought  it 
as  a  dowry  to  him,  as  in  Josh.  xv.  18  f.  "  (Keil). 
Or  from  the  Negeb  Caleb,  as  the  southern  part  of 
Caleb's  territory,  1  Sam.  xxx.  14,  "possibly  the 
northern  part  might  be  distinguished  by  the  more 
lelinite  name  'Caleb  of  Ephrathah,'  that  is,  of 
Bethlehem"  (Berth.).  None  of  these  interpreta- 
tions of  this  obscure  phrase  is  perfectly  satisfac- 
tory ;  ami  there  is  therefore  much  plausibility  in 
the  emendation  of  Wellhausen,  founded  on  a 
various    reading    presented    by   the   Sept.    (i*.h 


Xaxi/3  :,',-  'E^a^  =  nri"iES  3^3  X3),  "And  aftei 
Hezron's  death  Caleb  went  to  Ephrath,  the  wife 
of  his  father  Hezron."     Here  for  3  is  read  X3  ; 

for  nc'XI.  D'."X  :  and  for  D'3X.  V3X— *  change 
which  is  certainly  somewhat  radical  ;  but  the 
resulting  sense  is  not  improbable  (comp.  Gen. 
xxxv.  22).  As  the  text  stands,  here  is  a  third 
wife  of  Hezron,  called  Abiah  (comp.  vers.  9  and 
21),  who  bears  to  him  "Ashur,  father  of  Tekoa" 
(comp.  iv.  5-7),  as  a  fl.  postumus  after  his  death. 
This  Ashur  (whom  Wellhausen  is  disposed  to 
change  into  an  mrr'^N.   ;<nd  to  identify   wit'i 

Hur,  Caleb's  son  by  Ephrath,  ver.  19)  is  called 
father  of  Tekoa,  as  lord  and  chieftain  of  the 
town  Tekoa,  the  home  of  the  prophet  Amos, 
two  hours  south  of  Bethlehem  (comp.  Josh.  xv. 
59),  where  this  place  still  exists  under  the  name 
Tekua  (comp.  Robinson's  Pal.  ii.  p.  4C6). 

3.  The  family  of  Jerahmeel,  the  third  line  of 
Hezron  :  vers.  25-41. — Of  Jerahmeel  (he  whom 
God  pities,  whom  He  loves  =  0iopiX«)  the  first- 
born of  Hezron :  ver.  9.  As  there  was  a  negeb 
Caleb  (ver.  24)  and  a  negeb  of  the  Kenites,  so 
there  was  a  negeb  of  the  Jerahmeelites,  1  Sam. 
xxvii.  10;  comp.  xxx.  29.  This  is  a  proof  of  the 
strength  and  power  of  this  line  springing  from 
the  oldest  Hezronites. — Bam  the  first-born. 
Wellhausen,  perhaps  without  ground,  takes  this 
Ram  to  be  originally  identical  with  the  Ram  of 
ver.  10,  the  founder  of  the  Ramite  family,  from 
which  David  sprang  ;  comp.  on  iv.  21. — And 
Bunah,  and  Oren,  and  Ozem  of  Ahijah.  The 
last  of  these  names,  DTIK.  should  not  apparently 

designate  a  fifth  son  of  Jerahmeel,  because  in  that 
case  the  1  should  not  be  wanting.  It  appears 
rather  to  be  the  name  of  the  mother  of  the  four 
sons,  and  a   o    before    DTIX    appears    to    have 

fallen  out  before  the   Q   of  the  foregoing  Di'Nl 

(comp.  viii.  9).  This  conjecture,  thrown  out  by 
Jun.,  Tremell. ,  Clericus,  J.  H.  Mich.,  J.  Lauge, 
and  approved  by  all  the  moderns,  appears  the 
more  probable,  as  in  the  following  verse  mention 
is  made  of  a  second  wife  of  Jerahmeel,  and  the 
Syr.  and  the  Sept.  in  our  vei-se  have  reckoned 
only   four   sons,    the   latter   rendering  nsnx   by 

iStXtpls  xutcu. — Ver.  26.  Atarah  ;  she  iras  the 
mother  of  Onam,  whose  family  is  traced  out 
vers.  2S-33.     The  name  moy  appears  to  signify 

"crown,"  a  name  not  unsuitable  for  a  female, 
Prov.  xxxi.  10.  Yet  it  might  signify  "wall, 
fort,"  as  the  sing,  of  ni^oy,  the  city  (comp.  Num. 

xxxii.  3,  34  f. ;  Josh.  xvi.  5,  7,  xviii.  13 ;  and  Well- 
hausen, p.  25). — Vers.  28-30.  Onam's  family 
continues  itself  in  pairs  of  sons  to  Abishur  and 
Nadab,  his  grandsons,  and  to  their  sons.  On  the 
name  "Abihail,"  comp.  Crit.  Note. — Ver.  31. 
And  the  sons  of  Sheshan  (descendants  ;  see  on  ver. 
7),  Ahlai.  This  Ahlai  must  have  been  a  daughter, 
not  a  son,  of  Sheshan,  great-grandson  of  Nadab, 
ver.  29  ;  for  (ver.  34)  Sheshan  had  no  sons,  but 
only  daughters  :  Ahlai  was  therefore  his  heiress  ; 
but  whether  the  same  daughter  who  (ver.  35) 
married  the  Egyptian  Jarha  must  remain  uncer- 
tain. The  remark  of  Hiller  (Onom.  S.  p.  786), 
therefore,  on  Sheshan  :  Quicquid  habuit  Hoerorum, 
s.  nepotuin,  sustulit  ex  unico.  filia  AcIUai,  is  not 


CHAP.  II.  42-45. 


43 


quite  correct. — Ver.  33.  These  were  the  sons  of 
./.  rahmi  1 1.  This  subscription  (going  back  to  ver. 
25)  includes  23  descendants  of  Jerahineel.  It  de- 
serves notice,  that  23  descendants  of  Jerahn I, 

with  the  preceding  descendants  of  Judah  (from 
ver.  3),  make  up  the  sum  of  70  members  of  the 
house  of  Judah,  namely,  sons  of  Judah,  S  ;  of 
Perez,  2  ;  of  Zerah,  S  ;  Carmi,  Achar,  and 
Azariah,  3  :  Ram  and  his  descendants  (including 
the  2  daughters  of  Jesse,  and  Jether  father  of 
Amnsa),  21  ;  Caleb  and  his  descendants,  10  j  and 
Jerahmcel  and  his  descendants,  24.  This  new 
number  70  of  the  ancestors  of  the  Jews,  made 
out  by  Bertheau,  loses  weight  ami  certainty,  be- 
cause it  includes  several  females,  against  all 
genealogical  rule  reckons  the  father  and  mother 
of  Amasa  as  two  members,  anil  excludes  the  13 
descendants  of  Sheshan,  which  sprang  from  the 
Egyptian  servant  Jarha  (vers.  34-41),  treating 
them  as  a  mere  offshoot  (comp.  Keil,  p.  46).  And 
would  not  the  Chronist,  if  he  had  actually 
wished  to  represent  the  posterity  of  Judah,  after 
the  manner  of  that  of  his  father  Israel,  Gen. 
xlvi.  26  f.,  as  70  souls,  have  overturned  this 
reckoning  again  by  his  later  additions,  and 
especially  tin-  supplements  given  in  iv.  1-23,  and 
altogether  effaced  the  impression  made  thereby  ! 
Welihausen's  interpolation  theory,  even  if  only 
approximately  tine,  by  no  means  agrees  with  tins 
assumption  of  a  tendency  in  the  writer  to  sym- 
bolic numbers  in  bis  enumerations  in  vers.  3-33. 
— Vers.  34-41.  The  family  of  Jarha,  the  Egyptian 
servant.  This  Jarha  occurs  nowhere  else  ;  he 
may  have  served  Sheshan  during  the  sojourn  of 
Israel  in  Egypt ;  for  the  latter  branched  off  from 
Judah  in  the  ninth  generation,  and  belonged  thus 
to  the  time  before  Moses.  Most  of  the  old  ex- 
positors, perhaps  rightly, presume  that  Jarha,  only 
after  he  was  made  a  free  man  and  a  proselyte  by 
Sheshan  (comp.  Ex.  xxii.  20,  xxiii.  9),  married  his 
daughter;  comp.  the  law  concerning  intermar- 
riage between  Israelites  and  Egyptians,  Deut. 
xxiii.  S  ;  also  David's  Egyptian  servant,  1  Sam. 
xxx.  13  ft.  Of  the  13  here  named  descendants  of 
Jarha.  none  occur  elsewhere  in  the  history  of  the 
Old  Testament.  Their  names,  indeed,  recur 
several  times,  some  of  them,  for  example,  in  ch. 
iii. ,  among  the  descendants  of  David  ;  but  it  is 
not  in  the  remotest  degree  probable  that  any  of 
these  belong  to  the  list  of  the  descendants  of 
Jarha. 


.1/7"  in  I'u  to  tin  Genealogy  of  the  House  of  Judah  : 
Three  Series  of  Descendants  of  Caleb,  with 
Names  elm  fly  of  Geographical  Import:  vers. 
42-55. 

<r.  The  first  series:  Mesha's  posterity:  vers. 
42-45. — And  the  mns  of  Caleb,  brother  ofJi  rah- 
meel.  This  introduction  leaves  no  doubt  that  the 
same  Caleb  is  meant  as  in  ver.  18,  and  that  tins 
is  an  appendix  to  his  gsnealogy  already  communi- 
cated Mesha  his  first-born  :  In-  was  tin  fattier 
lit  Ziph.  Though  almost  all  the  following  names  : 
Ziph,  Mareshah,  Hebron,  appear  to  be  local 
names,  yet  Mesha  (j,'t:;vC^  sounds  decidedly  like 

a  personal  name  ;  comp.  the  filoabitish  king  of 
this  name,  who  has  recently  become  celebrated  by 
bis  monument  of  victory  (2  Kings  iii.  4).  As,  on 
the  other  hand,  Ziph  (em)  appears  to  be  the  town 

adjacent  to   Hebron   which    is    mentioned  Josh. 


xv.  55,  the  same  I  hat  gave  its  name  to  the  wilder- 
ness "i  Zip],  known  to  us  from  the  history  of 
David,  1  Sam.  xxiii.  14  If.,  xxv.  2,  and  which 
Robinson  has  recognised  (ii.  417  if.)  in  certain 
ruins  on  a  hill   south-east  of  Hebron,  nothing  if 

in natural  than  to  perceive  in  Mesha  the  fathei 

of  Ziph  a  lord  or  chieftain,  or  even  the  foundi  r, 
of  the  town  of  Ziph  (comp.  on  ver.  24),  By  Ziph 
might  also  be  meant  the  place  mentioned  Josh. 
xv.  24,  pretty  far  from  Hebron  in  the  plain 
(Shephelah)  situated  not  tar  from  Alarash,  the 
ancient  Mareshah  (so  thinks  Keil  against  Ber- 
theau).— And  the  sons  of  Mareshah  tin  fath*  r  o) 
Hebron.  Mareshah  is  scarcely  tin-  name  of  that 
town  mentioned  Josh.  xv.  44  and  2  Chron.  xi.  8 
along  with  Ziph,  which  occurs  in  the  times  of  the 
Maccabees  and  the  Romans  under  the  name  oi 
Marissa,  and  is  preserved  m  the  ruins  of  Marash 
in  the  Shephelah,  half  an  hour  south  of  Beit- 
jibrin  (v.  Rauni.  Pakest.  3d  edit.  p.  192  ;  Robin- 
son, ii.  693  ;  Tobler,  Dritte  Wanderung,  pp.  129, 
142).  The  expression  "father  of  Hebron" 
makes  the  reference  to  this  town  very  im- 
probable ;  for  at  no  time  is  any  dependence  of 
the  ancient  Hebron  (Num.  xiii.  23)  on  that  very 
remote  Mareshah  recorded.  We  must  rather,  as 
the  reading  of  the  Masoretic  text  now  runs,  re- 
gard Mareshah  as  tie*  proper  uame  of  some  old 
tribe  chief,  and  hold  the  Hebron  signalized  among 
his  sons  as  most  probably  a  person  or  tribe  dis- 
tinct from  the  well-known  city  Hebron  (comp.  v. 

28  and    Ex.    vi.    18,   where   |iian  's  likewise  a 

personal  name).  So,  justly  perhaps,  Wellhausen 
and  Keil,  who  is,  moreover,  disposed  to  ci 
the  text  corrupt,  and  proposes  the  following 
emendation  (see  Crit.  Note):  "and  the  sons  of 
Mesha  were  Abi- Hebron. "  This  conjecture  is 
supported  by  the  analogy  of  such  compounds  as 
Abidan,  Abiezer,  Abinadab;  the  simple  Hebron 
in  v.t.  43  might  very  well  be  an  abbreviated  form 
of  Abihebron  (comp.  En-tappuah,  Josh.  xvii.  7, 
with  the  shorter  Tappuah,  Josh.  xvi.  8).  [It  is 
simpler  and  easier  to  regard  Hebron  as  a  person, 
named,  if  you  will,  alter  a  former  Hebron. — J. 
G.  M.] — Ver.  43.  And  the  sons  of  Hebron: 
Korah,  and  Tappuah,  and  Sehem,  and  Shema. 
These  four  names  also  must  rather  be  names  of 
persons  or  tribes  than  of  towns.  Eor  Korah  and 
Shema  occur  only  as  personal  names  ;  Reketp. 
once  indeed  as  the  name  of  a  city,  Josh,  xviii.  27, 
but  belonging  to  Benjamin,  and"  several  times  as 
a  personal  name  :  in  Num.  xxxi.  8  as  the  name 
of  a  Midianite  prince  ;  and  1  Chron.  vii.  18  as 
the  name  of  a  descendant  of  Manasseh.  Only 
Tappuah  ( "  apple  ")  recurs  merely  as  the  name  of 
a  city  (Josh.  xii.  17,  xv.  34,  xvi.  8;  comp.  xvii. 
7),  which,  however,  proves  nothing  for  tin-  case 
in  point,  and  by  no  means  establishes  a  reference 
to  this  or  that  so-called  city. — Ver.  44.  And 
Shema  beyat  Raltain,  talker  of  Jurkeam.  For 
□j)pT>,    which   occurs   nowhere   else,    the    Sept. 

exhibits  'I-x/.av  ;  whence  Bertheau  concludes  that 
it  was  originally  Ejnp,)  as  in  Josh.  xv.  56.    But 

thU  name  "Jokdcam'  the  Sept.  renders  by 
'lixluuft,  and  here  it  reads  twice  in  succession 
'ltxXxii.      It  exhibits  the  same  also  for  Dpi,  and 

thereby  obscures  the  original  relation  of  the 
genealogical  data  in  our  passage  ;  some  of  the  four 
sons  of  Hebron   (ver.   43),  first  Shema  and  then 


J4 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


the  penultimate  Rekem,  have  their  genealogy 
traced.  With  Shammai  the  son  of  this  Rekem 
comp.  the  so  named  persons  aliove  ver.  28  and 
below  iv.  17,  and  also  the  celebrated  leader  of 
the  Pharisees  of  this  name,  the  antagonist  of 
Hillel  in  the  time  of  Jesus  (Joseph.  Anliq.  xiv. 
9.  4). — Ver.  45.  And  Maon  was  father  of  Belli- 
Zur.  Both  Maon  and  Bethznr  are  cities  in  the 
hill  country  of  Judea  ;  comp.  for  the  former, 
which  is  now  called  Main,  and  is  pointed  out  as 
a  castle  in  ruins,  with  cisterns,  etc.,  on  a  hill  in 
Carmel  south  of  Hebron,  Josh.  xv.  55  ;  1  Sam. 
xxiii.  24  f.,  xxv.  2  ;  Robinson,  ii.  421  ;  for  the 
latter,  the  site  of  which  is  to  be  sought  north  of 
Hebron  on  the  road  to  Jerusalem,  Josh.  xv.  58  ;  2 
Chron.  xi.  7  ;  v.  Raumer,  Pal.  p.  163.  'there 
is  no  decisive  reason  for  excluding  a  reference  to 
these  places.  Maon  the  son  of  Shammai  may 
be  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the  city  so  called 
(comp.  Judg.  x.  12,  where  Maon  is  the  name  of  a 
non-lsraelitish  tribe,  along  with  Amalek  and  the 
Zidonians)  ;  Bethzur  may  then  have  been  founded 
as  a  colony  from  Maon,  a  genetic  relation,  which 
is  here  expressed  in  a  manner  not  quite  usual  by 
"father  of  Bethzur"  (for  above  in  vers.  24,  42, 
and  below  in  vers.  60,  51,  it  is  not  descent  of  a 
colony  from  its  mother  city,  but  government  of 
cities  by  their  princes  or  lords,  that  is  designated 
in  this  manner). 

6.  The  second  series:  posterity  of  Ephah  and 
Maachah,  the  two  concubines  of  Caleb :  vers. 
46-49. — And  Ephah,    Caleb's   concubine.      The 

name  nB^i  occurring  elsewhere  (ver.   47  and  i. 

83)  as  a  man's  name,  seems  here,  where  it  desig- 
nates a  secondary  wife  of  Caleb,  to  point  to  a 
aon-Israelitish  origin  of  its  possessor,  whether 
she  be  regarded  as  a  person  or  a  race.  Of  the 
latter  opinion  is  Wellhausen,  p.  12,  who  takes 
this  non-lsraelitish  yens  mingling  witli  the  C'aleb- 
ites  to  belong  to  Midian  ;  and  on  the  contrary,  the 
second  concubine  of  Caleb,  designated  as  Maachah, 
ver.  48,  to  be  a  gens  belonging  to  Canaan.  ■  Of  the 
three  sons  of  Ephah,  Haran  and  Gazez  are  not 
otherwise  known.  The  middle  name  Moza  occurs 
Josh,  xviii.  26  as  the  name  of  a  city  of  Benjamin ; 
but  this  can  scarcely  be  connected  with  the  son  of 
Caleb  and  Ephah.  That  Gazez  (Sept.  rfgwi)  is 
first  named  as  a  third  son,  and  then  as  a  grand- 
son of  Caleb,  may  be  explained  in  two  ways, — 
either  so  that  the  statement :  "and  Haran  begat 
Gazez"  (which  is  omitted  in  the  Sept. ),  be  taken 
as  a  more  exact  addition  to  the  foregoing  mention 
of  Gazez,  or  that  there  were  really  two  descen- 
dants of  Caleb  of  the  same  name,  a  son  and  a 
grandson  (uncle  and  nephew;  comp.  ch.  iii.  10). 
The  former  is  the  more  probable  assumption. 
-Ver.  47.  And  the  sons  of  Jehdai.  It  is  not 
clear   how   this   Jehdai   (''nn'')   is   genealogically 

connected  with  the  foregoing.  Hiller  in  the 
Onom.  S.  conjectures  without  ground  that  he 
was  one  and  the  same  person  with  Moza,  ver.  46 ; 
Jehdai  might  as  well  be  a  second  concubine  of 
Caleb.  Of  the  six  sons  of  Jehdai  also,  of  whose 
names  only  some  (Jotham ;  comp.  Shaaph,  ver. 
49)  occur  elsewhere,  we  know  nothing  more. — 
Ver.  48.  And  Caleb's  concubine  Maachah  bare 
Sheber  and  Tirlianah.  Though  this  name  nsyo 
occurs  often  (comp.  iii.  2,  vii.  16,  viii.  29,  xi.  43; 
also  the  nom.  gentilic.  irOj?Qn>  2  Kings  xxv.  23 ; 


1  Chron.  iv.  19),  yet  nothing  certain  can  be  era- 
jectured  concerning  its  present  bearer ;  that  she 
was  a  Canaanitess  is  a  mere  conjecture  of  Well- 
hausen.    The  two  sons  of  Maachah  occur  nowhere 

else.     The  masc.  -\~>>  (for  which  some  mss.  have 

m?' ;  see  Crit.  Note)  m:iy  arise  from  the  writer 

thinking  of  the  father,  whom  he  does  not  name. 
— Ver.  49.  And  she  bare  (besides  the  two  already 
mentioned)  Shaaph,  the  father  of  Madinannah. 
This  city  of  Judah,  mentioned  Josh.  xv.  31,  maj 
be  preserved  in  the  present  Miniay  or  Miniah 
south  of  Gaza.  Its  "father"  Shaaph,  clearly 
different  from  him  who  is  so  named  ver.  47,  may 
be  regarded  as  its  prince  or  founder  (comp.  on 
ver.  42):  even  so  Sheva  (on  which   name  comp. 

2  Sam.  xx.  25,  Keri)  in  reference  to  Machbenah, 
and  the  unnamed  father  in  reference  to  Gibeah. 
Machbenah,  belonging  no  doubt  to  Judah,  is  no 
further  known.  Joshua  also,  xv.  57,  names  a 
Gibeah  in  the  mountains  of  Judah,  whether  the 
same  with  the  village  Jeba  mentioned  by  Robin- 
son and  Tobler,  on  a  hill  in  Wady  Mussur,  re- 
mains a  question;  comp.  Keil  on  Josh.  xv. — And 
Caleb's  daughter  was  Achsa.  This  closing  notice 
puts  it  beyond  doubt  that  the  Caleb  hitherto 
(from  ver.  46)  spoken  of  is  the  same  as  Caleb  the 
son  of  Jephunneh  and  father  of  Achsa  (whom  he 
promised  and  gave  to  the  conqueror  of  Debir  as  a 
reward,  Josh.  xv.  16  If.  ;  Judg.  i.  12).  This  is 
Caleb  son  of  Jephunneh.  the  contemporary  of 
Moses  and  Joshua;  and  therefore  it  seems  difficult 
to  identify  him  at  once  with  the  brother  of  Jerah- 
meel  and  son  of  Hezrou  mentioned  in  vers.  18  and 
42  (comp.  on  ver.  18).  For  this  Hezronite,  a  great- 
grandson  of  Judah  through  Perez,  appears  to  have 
been  older  than  Moses  and  Joshua;  but  our  pas- 
sage, as  also  ch.  iv.  15,  refers  clearly  to  that  con- 
temporary of  Joshua  who  is  mentioned  in  the 
books  of  Joshua  and  Judges.  That  this  younger 
Caleb  is  a  descendant  of  the  Hezronite  is  highly 
probable,  because  in  the  descendants  of  one  and 
the  same  stock  it  is  easy  for  the  collateral  genea- 
logies to  intermingle,  as  they  have  done  here 
and  in  iv.  15  ff.  (comp.  besides,  the  remarks  on 
ch.  iv.  11,  13,  15).  If  we  assume  accordingly  two 
Calebs,  an  older,  the  Hezronite,  of  whom  we  read 
vers.  9  (under  the  name  Celubai),  18,  42-45,  and 
then  again  vers.  50-55,  and  a  younger,  whose 
genealogy  is  given  in  our  verses  (46-49)  and  in 
ch.  iv.  15  ff.,  we  do  not  go  so  far  as  some  older 
expositors  (even  Starke),  who  assume  with  a 
double  Caleb  a  double  Achsa,  a  daughter  of  the 
Hezronite  Caleb  (supposed  to  be  here  mentioned*, 
and  a  daughter  of  the  Jephunnite  Caleb  (Josh.  xv. ; 
Judg.  i. ).  As  little  do  we  approve  of  Movers' 
conjecture  (Chron.  p.  S3),  that  the  words,  "and 
Caleb's  daughter  was  Achsa,"  are  a  spurious  in- 
terpolation of  a  later  hand.  But  Keil's  conjecture, 
also,  that  the  expression  "daughter"  denotes  here 
"grand- daughter,  descendant,"  that  it  is  the 
Achsah  of  Josh.  xv.  16  that  is  here  spoken  of,  but 
as  a  later  descendant  of  the  old  Hezronite  Caleb, 
and  not  a  daughter  of  the  Jephunnite,  we  cannot 
accept,  as  it  obviously  does  violence  to  the  term 
"daughter."  Finally,  we  reject  also  Bertheau's 
attempt  to  admit  only  one  Caleb,  and  to  refer  the 
diversity  in  the  accounts  of  him  here  and  before 
to  the  inexact  manner  of  the  genealogical  terms 
that  express  also  geographical  relations ;  as  well 
as  Ewald's  opinion,  that  Caleb  in  vers.  42-49  is 


CHAP.  II.  50-55. 


4S 


the  Caleb  of  the  book  of  Joshua;  the  Caleb  in 
vers.  9,  18-20.  ami  50-55,  on  the  contrary,  is  a 
quite  different  person,  whose  real  name  was 
Celubai.  (On  the  somewhat  different,  and  at  all 
events  more  probable  hypothesis  of  Wellhausen, 
s  e  .ilmvi'  <>n  ver.   Is.  ) 

c.  The  third  series:  posterity  of  Hur,  son  of 
Caleb:  ver"  50-55.  —  As  Hur  is  doubtless  thi 
grandfath>!i  of  Bezale.d  mentioned  ver.  19,  we 
have  here  again  a  line  going  back  to  Caleb  the 
rlezronite.  —Thest  were  t/ie  sons  of  Caleb.  This 
introductory  sentence,  the  generality  of  which 
does  not  suit  the  following  statement,  giving  a 
genealogy  of  only  one  son  of  Caleb,  appears  to 
indicate  that  tin-  whole  section  is  taken  from  an 
origin  illy  different  connection. —  1'he  son  of  Hur, 
first-born  of  Ephratliah  (romp.  ver.  19) :  Shobal. 
As  after  Shobal  in  the  following  verse,  Salma  anil 
Hareph  are  also  named  as  sons  of  Hur,  it  appears 
more  correct  to  read  for  "Virrp,  with  the  Sept., 

the  plur.   "flrr \33-     In   the   Masoretic   pointing, 

indeed,  the  names  Salma  ami  Hareph  follow 
Shobal,  father  of  Kiriath-jearim,  without  close 
connection   by  i;    and  Tirr|3   appears   in   some 

measure  as  a  superscription.  Whether  Shobal  be 
the  same  with  the  brother  of  Hur  and  son  of 
Judah  mentioned  ch.  iv.  1,  must  remain  doubt- 
ful. The  town  of  Kiriath-jearim,  of  which  he  is 
here  called  the  father,  that  is,  founder  or  chief,  is 
that  old  Giheonite  town  which  is  otherwise  called 
Kiriath-baal  or  Baalah  (comp.  Josh.  ix.  17,  xv. 
9,  60),  and  lay  in  the  north-west  corner  of  Judah, 
on  the  border  of  Benjamin,  probably  the  present 
Kureyet  el  Enab  (wine  town),  on  the  road  from 
Jerusalem  to  Jaffa  (Robinson,  ii.  588  ff.  ;  Keil  on 
Josh.  ix.  17). — Ver.  51.  Salma,  father  of  Beth - 
I'litm.  The  coincidence  of  name  with  the  Beth- 
lehemite  ancestor  of  David  of  the  house  of  Ram 
mentioned  ver.  17  is  perhaps  only  accidental; 
comp.  on  ver.  54. — Hareph,  father  of  Beth- 
gader,  of  the  same  place,  which  in  Josh.  xii.  13 
is  Geder,  and  in  Josh.  xv.  3<3  Gederah;  comp. 
ch.  xii.  4.  xxrii.  28.  Ivei'  thinks  rather  of 
Gedor  ("lilj),  Josh.  xv.  5S,   x  Chron.   iv.   4,  xii. 

7,  but  with  less  ground.  The  name  Hareph  does 
not  occur  elsewhere,  though  P|i"in>  Neh.  vii.   24, 

x.  20  (comp.  'annn,  l  Chron.  xii.  51,  may  be  only 

a  variation  of  the  same  name. — Ver.  52.  Haroeh 
and  the  half  of  Menultoth.  These  words,  un- 
intelligible to   the  old    translators :  'vn    nshn 

nirOQIt,  tor  which  the  Sept.  gives  three  proper 

names:  'A^ai  *«)  AjVj  ««<  'A^unwl,  and  the  Vulg. 
the  unmeaning  words :  ani  uidebat  dimidium  re- 
qitietiomon,  are  obviously  corrupt.  Let  us  read 
after  ch.  iv.  2,  where  a  Reaiah  son  of  Shobal 
occurs,  for  nx'"P   "'XT  (for  to  regard  the  former 

/is  a  mere  by-form  of  rVX"l>  as  many  old  expositors 
do,  is  inadmissible),  and  for  rririjisn  'VH  accord- 
ing to   ver.   54:   nn;Bn  \¥m  or  Timor;  lyni- 

The  text  thus  amended  (according  to  Bertheau's 
conjecture)  gives  Reaiah  and  Hazi-hammanahath, 

that  is,  half  of  the  Manahathite,  as  sons  of  Shobal, 
two  Jewish  families,  of  which  the  latter  may  be 
part  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  Manahath, 
eh.  viii.  6.  The  situation  of  this  place  is  deter- 
mined by  ver.  54,  where  Zorah  is  mentioned  as  a 


neighbouring  town,  to  be  near  the  border  o! 
Judah,  towards  Dan.  Reaiah  seems  from  ch. 
iv.  2  not  to  have  continued  as  a  local  name,  but 
to  have  been  the  ancestor  of  I  lie  citizens  of  Zora  ; 
so  that  his  former  seat  is  also  to  be  sought  in  the 
north-west  of  Judah.  —  Ver.  58.  And  the  families 
<>/  Kiriatli -jearim  were  the  I/hrite,  etc.  These 
families  of  Kiriath-jearim  are  annexed  to  the 
already  named  sons  of  Shobal  as  other  sons, 
descendants  of  the  same  ancestor.  The  four 
families  are  adduced  in  the  fundamental  text  as 
singulars:  the  Ithrite,  the  Puthite,  etc.  The 
tlnv,  hist  named  occur  nowhere  else;  on  the  con- 
trary, to  the  family  of  the  lthrites,  ch.  xi.  40 
(2  Sam.  xxiii.  38),  belonged  ha  and  Gareb,  two 
of  David's  heroes. — From  these  came  the  Zorathite 
mol  the  Eshtaolite.  Zorah,  the  home  of  Samson 
(Judg.  xiii.  2,  xvi.  31),  now  Sura,  between  Jeru- 
salem and  Jabneh  ;  Esbtaol,  a  town  on  the  border 
of  Judah  and  Dan,  near  Zorah  (comp.  Judg.  xvi. 
31,  xviii.  11),  probably  the  present  Urn  Eshteijeh. 
—  Ver.  54.  The  sons  of  Salma:  Bethlehem  (the 
family  of  Bethlehem ;  comp.  ver.  51)  and  the  Xeto- 
phathile.  The  town  Netopbah  must,  as  follows 
from  the  reference  of  its  inhabitants  to  Salma,  be 
sought  close  by  Bethlehem;  comp.  ch.  ix.  16; 
2  Sain,  xxiii.  28  f. ;  2  Kings  xxv.  23;  Ezra  ii.  22; 
Neh.  vii.  26,  whence  appears  the  comparative 
celebrity  of  this  town,  whose  site  has  not  yet  been 
discovered. — Ataroth  of  the  house  ofJoab.  This 
is  certainly  the  name  of  a  town,  which  is  to  be 
interpreted,  not  "crowns,"  but  rather  "walls, 
forts,"  of  the  house  of  Joab;  comp.  on  ver.  26. 
The  site  is  as  uncertain  as  that  of  the  following 
Hazi-hammanahath  (half  Manahath);  comp.  ch. 
viii.   6.      On  the   contrary,  'jpjjn   at   the   close 

points  certainly  to  the  known  border  city  Zorah 
mentioned  in  the   foregoing  verse ;   for  'jnv   *3 

only  formally  different  from  Tli'li",  being  derived 

from  the  masc.  of  njnx,  which  may  have  been 

used  along  with  the  feminine  as  the  name  of  tne 
town,  although  this  cannot  be  proved.  The 
Zorites  of  our  verse  must  have  formed  a  second 
element  of  the  inhabitants  of  Zorah,  along  with 
the  Zorathites  of  the  previous  verse  descended 
from  Shobal.  —  Ver.  55.  And  the  families  of  tlie 
scribes  dwelling  at  Jabez.  This  Jewish  town  of 
Jabez  (yzV),  whose  name  recurs  ch.  iv.  9  f .  as 

that  of  a  descendant  of  Judah,  is  quite  unknown 
in  site,  but  must  apparently  be  sought,  like  all 
the  places  mentioned  from  ver.  53,  in  the  north  of 
Judah,  on  the  borders  of  Benjamin  or  Dan.  Of 
tin-  families  of  scribes  in  Jabez,  however,  three 
are  mentioned  :  the  Tiiathites,  Shimathites,  and 
Suchathites.  These  three  names  the  Vulg.  has 
applied  appellatively  to  the  functions  of  these 
three  classes  of  learned  men,  translating:  canentes 
et  resonantes  et  in  tabernaculis  commorantes.  It 
is  possible  that  the  Jewish  doctors  consulted  by 
Jerome  in  the  translation  of  our  book  (perhaps 
the  rabbi  from  Tiberias,  witli  whom  he  collated 
the  text  from  beginning  to  end  ;  comp.  Introd. 
§  6,  Rem.)  had  presented  an  etymological  basis 
for  this  interpretation,  in  seeking  to  refer— 1. 
DTIjnn  to  njrij.,  "jubilee  song,  trumpet  sound;" 

2.  DTlVD!;'  to  nj?Dt>;,  "  report,  echo"  (or  perhaps 

to  nyeC',  Aram.  xnyDC*,  tradiUo   leyis ;   comp. 


4f> 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


Wellhausen,   p  30) ;   3.  DYD1K>  to  miE'  =  H3D, 

"hut,  booth:"  comp.  Lev.  xxiii.  34  ff.  If  the 
etymology  here  were  correct,  and  it  commends 
itself  at  all  events  more  than  the  partly  deviating 
one  which  Bertheau  (by  reference  of  the  first 
term  to  the  Chald,  jnn,  door,  and  thus  making 

D'DJT.n  a  synonym  of  D,_IJ?b',  porters)  has  at- 
tempted, the  functions  assigned  to  the  three 
classes  of  Sopherim,  and  giving  origin  to  their 
names,  would  belong  to  divine  worship,  and  re- 
semble those  of  the  Levites.  And  this  seems  to 
agree  very  well  with  the  closing  remark :  these 
are  the  Kenites,  that  came  from  Hammath,  father 
of  the  house  of  Rechab,  as  a  certain  connection  or 
spiritual  relationship  may  be  shown,  as  well  of 
the  Kenites  as  of  the.  Rechabites,  with  the  Levites, 
if  we  think  on  the  one  hand  of  Jethro,  father-in- 
law  of  Moses,  the  priest  of  the  Midian-Kenitcs 
in  the  region  of  Sinai  (Ex.  ii.  15,  iii.  1;  comp. 
Judg.  i.  16,  iv.  11,  17),  and  of  bis  influence  on 
the  legislative  and  religious  activity  of  Moses 
(Ex.  xviii.);  on  the  other  hand,  of  the  priestly 
fidelity  of  the  family  of  the  Rechabites,  as  Jer. 
xxxv.  (comp.  2  Kings  x.  15)  describes  them,  of 
their  constant  "standing  before  the  Lord,"  and, 
moreover,  of  the  ancient  tradition  still  surviving 
among  the  nominal  descendants  of  the  Rechabites 
in  Yemen,  that  the  house  of  Rechab  descended 
from  Hnbab  or  Keni  (Judg.  i.  16),  the  father-in- 
law  of  Moses  (comp.  A.  Murray,  Comment.  </■ 
Kinaiis,  Hamb.  1718;  Nagelsbach  on  Jer.  xxxv., 
vol.  xv.  p.  254  of  Bibelwerk).  On  a  fair  ex- 
amination of  these  circumstances,  it  appears 
highly  probable  that  the  certainly  foreign  (1  .Sam. 
xv.  6)  yet  highly  honoured  Kenites,  in  like 
manner  as  the  Gibeonites,  ministered  of  old  in 
the  sanctuary  of  Israel,  and  that  the  Rechabites 
of  the  times  of  the  Kings  and  a  ter  the  exile 
(Neh.  iii.  14)  were  descendants  of  these  old  Kenite 
temple  ministers,  who,  by  adherence  to  one  part 
of  their  ancient  wont  and  use,  kept  themselves 
distinct  from  the  great  mass  of  the  people.  The 
naming  of  Hammath  also,  as  "  father  of  the 
house  of  Rechab,"  agrees  very  well  with  this 
hypothesis  ;  for  if  Jonathan  the  Rechabite  that 
met  with  Jehu  king  of  Israel,  and  was  honoured 
by  him  (2  Kings  x.  15,  23),  was  a  son  of  Rechab, 
so  may  Hammath  have  been  father  or  forefather  of 
this  Rechab,  and  so  ancestor  of  the  whole  family. 
Though  all  this  rises  little  above  the  range  of  the 
hypothetical,  and  though  in  particular  the  ques- 
tion remains  dark  and  unanswerable,  why  this 
Kenite  family  of  Sopherim  from  Jabez  is  directly 
attached  to  Salma  the  father  of  Bethlehem,  and 
through  him  to  Hur  the  son  of  Caleb  (whether 
on  account  of  some  intermarriage  having  taken 
place  between  a  Kenite  and  an  heiress  of  the 
house  of  Salma  ?),  yet  it  is  on  the  whole  probable 
that  those  three  names  are  really  designations  of 
three  classes  of  ministers  in  the  sanctuary,  and  not 
proper  names  of  families,  as  the  Sept.  (' ApyxSttip, 
2afjcBci>t!tp.,  ^uxttinifi)  held,  and  a  majority  of  recent 
expositors  still  hold.  Besides,  Wellhausen 's  at- 
tempt to  refer  that  which  is  stated,  both  in  our 
verse  concerning  the  Kenites  or  Rechabites  of 
Jabez,  and  generally  from  ver.  50  on  concerning 
the  posterity  of  Hur  and  their  settlements  in  the 
north  of  Judah  to  the  time  after  the  exile,  and  SO 
ascribe  these  statements  to  bias  and  fancy,  and  to 
admit  only  the  foregoing  genealogy,  vers.  42-49, 


which  assigns  to  the  Calebites  settlements  in  the 
south  of  Judah  around  Hebron,  as  historically 
reliable,  that  is,  referring  to  the  time  before  the 
exile, — this  whole  attempt  (pp.  29-33)  falls  short 
of  satisfactory  proof.  There  is  no  ground  for 
holding  that  which  is  reported  of  the  Calebites 
as  inhabitants  of  Kiriath-jearirn,  Bethlehem, 
Nctophah,  Zorah,  etc.,  to  be  a  collection  of  later 
traditions  than  the  foregoing  accounts  of  Calebite 
families  in  Tappuah,  Maon,  Bethzur,  etc.  Neither 
do  we  know  the  geographical  position  of  the 
several  places  mentioned  iu  the  two  sections  (vers. 
42-49  and  50-55)  so  well,  as  to  be  able  to  assert 
that  the  former  refers  only  to  the  south,  the 
latter  only  to  the  north,  of  Judah.  Respecting 
Jabez,  for  example,  the  seat  of  the  Kenites,  it  is 
by  no  means  determined  that  it  is  to  be  sought 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Bethlehem  and  Kiriath- 
jearirn  (comp.  above).  In  short,  it  is  advisable  to 
avoid  such  violent  attempts  to  solve  the  problem 
here  presented  as  the  assumption  of  a  genealogy 
of  Calebites  before  and  after  the  exile,  and  to 
approve  the  more  cautious  remark  of  Bertheau  : 
"  \Ve  can  easily  imagine  the  motive  which  led  the 
Chronist  to  communicate  this  verse,  though  we 
are  unable  completely  to  perceive  its  contents." 

[The  term  '31P3,  ver.  9,  seems  to  be,  if  not  a 

patronymic,  at  least  a  virtual  plural,  and  may 
well  indicate  more  than  one  Caleb.  The  name 
was  famous  and  frequent  in  the  tribe  of  Judah. 
The  first  of  the  name  appears  in  vers.  18-24.  He 
is  designated  "the  son  of  Hezron,"  though  Ram 
is  not,  evidently  to  distinguish  him  from  others 
of  the  name.  He  may  have  been  born  50  or  58 
years  after  Jacob  came  down  to  Egypt,  as  his 
lather  was  born  shortly  before  that  event.  He 
has  by  his  wife  Azubah  three  sons,  or  perhaps 
grandsons  ;  and  after  her  death  he  marries 
Ephrath,  and  by  her  has  a  well-known  son  Hur, 
who  was  the  contemporary  of  Moses,  Ex.  xvii. 
10.  The  episode  about  his  father  Hezron  marry- 
ing again  when  sixty  years  old,  is  brought  in 
partly  from  the  concurrence  in  the  foregoing 
paragraph  of  the  two  names  Caleb  and  Ephrath. 
which  are  combined  in  the  name  of  the  place 
where  he  died,  and  partly  from  the  high  anti- 
quarian interest  which  it  possesses.  Hezron  was 
born  before  Jacob  went  down  to  Egypt,  and  there- 
fore most  probably  died  within  110  years  from 
that  date.  He  died,  not  in  Egypt,  but  in  Caleb- 
Ephrathah.  This  implies  the  presence  and  power 
of  Caleb  in  the  region  of  Hebion  as  a  sheik 
giving  name  to  a  place  in  his  estate.  In  this 
quarter  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  had  resided 
and  acquired  some  property  in  land,  Gen.  xxiii. 
Caleb  of  the  line  of  Judah  held  possession  of 
this  estate  during  the  early  period  of  Israel's 
residence  in  Egypt,  when  they  were  still  a  free 
ami  honoured  people.  And  there  his  father  died 
in  a  town  called  after  the  united  names  of  himself 
and  his  wife.  After  the  Israelites,  however,  were 
reduced  to  slavery  by  the  Pharaoh  that  knew  not 
Joseph,  the  occupation  of  this  region  by  the 
descendants  of  Judah  was  rendered  precarious  or 
entirely  interrupted.  In  this  paragraph,  then,  we 
have  a  most  unexpected  and  interesting  glimpse 
of  wdiat  was  taking  place  in  the  time  of  the  first 
Caleb  ;  and  in  this  view  of  the  passage  we  see 
that  it  occupies  its  right  place. 

A  second  Caleb  is  presented  to  us  in  vers.  42- 
49.     He  is  distinct  from  the  former  in  everything 


CHAP.  in. 


47 


hut  the  name  :  1.  In  the  mode  in  which  ho  is  in- 
troduced, namely,  in  an  appendix  alter  the  three 
sons  of  Hezron  have  been  brought  forward  in 
order  :  2.  In  his  s.ins  and  wives,  which  are  a]] 
quite  different  from  those  of  h  s  namesake  ;  •" 
In  his  time,  as  lie  is  the  lather  of  Achsah,  and 
therefore  lived  in  and  after  the  to  years  of  the 
wilderness,  two  or  three  generations  later  than 
the  former  Caleb  ;  4.  In  his  place,  as  a  careful 
examination  of  the  two  paragraphs  will  show  ;  5, 
In  his  designation  as  "the  brother  of  Jerahnieel," 
while  the  former  is  called  "the  son  of  Hezron  ;"  for 
this  phrase  cannot  mean  tie'  son  of  theJerahmeel 
already  mentioned,  as  this  would  he  a  superfluous 
a  Idition,  and  would  not  square  with  the  time  of 
this  Caleb.  Some  will  conceive  that  the  term 
"  brother  "  is  here  used  in  a  wide  sense  to  denote 
a  kinsman  of  Jerahnieel,  a  member  of  the  family. 
But  it  is  more  simple  to  consider  Jerahnieel  here 
to  be  a  deseeudant  of  the  former  Jerahnieel,  not 


otherwise  mentioned,  ju.-t  as  Celubincli.  iv.  11 
is  said  to  In- a  brother  of  Slmah,  who  is  not  pre- 
viously mentioned.  This  appendix  is  thus  in  its 
light  place,  as  it  signalizes  an  important  member 
oi  the  Jerahmeelite  clan,  1  Sam.  xxvii.  10,  Calel 
thr  Mm  nt  Jephunneh. 

A  third  Caleb  comes  before  lis  in  a  second 
appendix  :  vers.  50-5§.  He  is  clearly  different 
from  each  of  the  others,  as  he  is  "  tie'  son  of  Hut, 
th.'  first-born  of  Ephrathah,"  ami  therefore  m.t  a 
Jerahmeelite  like  the  seCond,  hut  the  grandson 
of  tin-  first. 

There  is  nothing  to  hinder  us  taking  this  view 
of  the  whole  passage,  and  it  might  be  supported 
at  much  greater  length.  It  deals  fairly  with  the 
author,  as  it  presumes  him  to  observe  order,  and 
endeavours  not  to  import  confusion  into  Lis 
narrative  by  a  preconceived  theory.  We  sub- 
mit  it  to  the  judgment  of  the  reader. — J.  G. 
M.] 


2.   The  Descendants  of  David  in  Elioenai  ami  his  Seven  Sons:  eh.  iii. 

Ch.  ill.   1.   And  these  were  the  sons  of  David,  that  were  born  to  him  in  Hebron  : 
the  first-born  Amnon,  of  Ahinoam  the  Jezreelitess  ;    the  second  Daniel,  of 

2  Abigail  the  Carmelitess.     The  third  Absalom,1  the  son  of  Maachah,  daughter 

3  of  talmai  king  of  Geshur  ;  the  fourth  Adonijah,  son  of  Haggith.     The  fifth 

4  Shephatiah  of  Abital ;  the  sixth  Ithream,  by  Eglah  his  wife.    Six  were  born 
unto  him  in  Hebron,  and  he  reigned  there  seven  years  and  six  months  ;  and 

5  he  reigned  thirty  and  three  years  in  Jerusalem.    And  these  were  born  to  him 
in  Jerusalem  :  Shima,  and  Shobab,  and  Nathan,  and  Solomon,  four,  of  Bath- 

6,  7  shua  daughter  of  Ammiel.     And  Ibhar,  and  Elishama,2  and  Eliphelet.     And 

8  Nogah. and  Nepheg,  and  Japhia.   And  Elishama,  and  Eliada, and  Eliphelet,  nine. 

9  Alfthe  sons  of  David,  except  the  sons  of  the  concubines,  and  Tamar  their  sister. 
10         And  the  son  of  Solomon  :  Eehoboam,  Abiah  his  son,  Asa  his  son,  Jehosha- 

11,12  phat  his  son.  Joram  his  son,  Ahaziah  his  son,  Joash  his  son.  Amaziah  his 
13  son,   Azariah   his  son,  Jotham  his  son.     Ahaz-  his  son,   Hezekiah   his  son. 

14,  15  Manasseh  his  son.  Amon  his  son,  Josiah  his  son.  And  the  sons  of  Josiali  : 
the  first-born  Johanan,  the  second  Jehoiakim,  the  third  Zedekiah,  the  fourth 
16  Shailum.     And  the  sons  of  Jehoiakim  :  Jechoniah  his  son,  Zedekiah  his  son. 

17,  18         And  the  sons  of  Jechoniah  the  captive:  Shealtiel  his  son.    And  Malchiram. 

1 9  and  Pedaiah,  and  Shenazzar,  Jecamiah,  Hoshama,  and  Nedabiah.     And  the 
sons  of   Pedaiah  :    Zerubbabel  and   Shimei  ;   and  the  son 3  of    Zerubbabel  : 

20  Meshullam  and  Hananiah,  and  Shelomith  their  sister.     And  Hashubah,  and 

21  Ohel,   and  Berechiah,  and    Hasadiah,  Jushabhesed,  five.     And  the  son4  of 
Hananiah  :  Pelatiah  and  Jesaiah  ;  the  sons  5  of  Rephaiah,  the  sons  of  Arnan, 

22  the  sons  of  Obadiah,  the  sons  of  Shechaniah.     And  the  sons  of  Shechaniah  : 
Shemaiah  ;  and  the  sons  of  Shemaiah  :  Hattush,  and  Igal,  and  Bariah,  and 

23  Neariah.  and  Shaphat,  six.    And  the  son  of  Neariah  :  Elioenai,  and  Hezekiah, 

24  and  Azrikam,  three.     And  the  sons  of  Elioenai:  Hodaiah,8  and  Eliashib,  and 
Pelaiah.  and  Akkub,  and  Johanan,  and  Delaiah,  and  Anani,  seven. 

1  For  DV"'3S^  mar.}  uss.  ami  most  old  prints  read  Di?"'2N'     Comp.  Exec  Expl. 

-  VE^' vN  1  in  this  first  place  is  perhaps  an  error  of  the  transcriber  for  J^CvN  V  which  appears  not  only  In  the  two 
parallel  passages  xiv.  5  and  2  Sam.  Y.  15  (after  "trQ^),  hut  also  in  cod.  Vat.  of  the  Sept.,  as  it  gives  'Ekiri. 

1  For  p}  before  ?2B*tT  some  MSs',  as  well  as  the  old  translators,  read  ''l^S,  an  unnecessary  amendment  {comp 
Exeg.  Remark  on  ii.  7). 

*  The  same  variation  as  in  vcr  19  (see  Note  2). 

5  For  ^33,  "  sons  of,"  the  Sept.  reads  from  this  to  the  end  of  the  verse  133,  "his  son."  so  that  from  Hanaman  tt 

Shechaniah   it  yields  a  series  of  seven   successive  generations.     Sc  also  R.   Benjamin  in   R.  Azariah  de   Rossi   in   Mecr 
Afvnnm.  (comp.  Zunz.  Gotttsdienst  tche  Vortrdge  der  Jwlen,  p.  31). 

'AVn;  WTITn  (for  which,  according  to  the  Hebrew  law  of  sounds,  we  should  expect  "iTtnnl).     The   Kttkd 

'•TVnin  cannot  be  so  pronnun:ed.  and  appears  to  arise  from  a  confusion  of  the  forms  Bo4nu$ahu  and  fforfyafcu 


43 


L  CHRONICLES. 


EXEGETICAL. 

Preliminary  Remark. — After  the  family  of 
Sam,  the  middle  son  of  Hezron  was  carried 
down,  ii.  10-17,  only  to  Jesse  the  father  of 
David,  and  the  genealogies  of  Caleb  and  Jerah- 
meel  were  interposed,  ii.  18-55,  the  line  of  Ram- 
ites,  starting  from  David,  is  resumed  and  traced 
from  David  to  the  time  after  the  captivity.  This 
is  given  in  three  paragraphs,  of  which  the  first 
•agisters  all  the  sons  of  David  except  those  bom 
ot  concubines,  vers.  1-9;  the  second,  the  series 
of  kings  of  the  house  of  David  from  Solomon  to 
Jechoniah  and  Zedekiah.  vers.  10-16  :  and  the 
third,  the  descendants  of  Jechoniah  to  the  seven 
sons  of  Elioenai,  vers.  17-24.  The  names  in  the 
second  of  these  paragraphs  mostly  rec  ir,  those  in 
the  third,  at  least  partly,  in  the  genealogy  of  Jesus 
in  Matthew  (whereas  Luke  iii.  23  tf.  presents  a 
totally  different  series  of  names  from  David  to 
Shealtiel,  and  again  from  Zerubbabel  to  Joseph). 

1.  The  Sons  of  David :  vers.  1-9.  a.  The  six 
sons  born  in  Hebron  :  vers.  1-4. — These  six  senior 
sons  of  David  are,- with  one  exception,  enumerated 
literally  as  in  2  Sam.  iii.  2-5. — The  first-born 
Amman,  of  Ahinoam  the.  Jezreelitess  ;    literally, 

"  to  Ahinoam."  The  \>  before  Djjynx  designates 
the  wife  to  whom  the  son  belonged.  Comp.  on  this 
Ahinoam,  1  Sam.  xxv.  43,  xxvii.  3,  and  on  Amnon, 
who  is  also  called  Aminon  (2  Sam.  xiii.  20),  2  Sam. 
xiii. —  ThesecondDaniel,of Abigail  theCarmelitess. 
Instead  of  »j{jj,  properly  "a  second,"  stands  in 
the  parallel  2  Sam.  iii.  3  irOTD,  "his  second," 
with  which  nptr'an,  1  Chron.  v.  12,  is  to  be  com- 
pared. A  more  important  difference  from  2  Sam. 
iii.  3  is  3X73,  quite  another  name,  which  stands 
there  for  ^X'jq.     This  other  designation  of  the 

second  son  of  David  may  be  explained  by  the 
supposition  of  a  real  double  name,  as  in  Uzziah 
Azariah  (comp.  on  2  Chron.  xxvi.  1),  Jehoiakim 
Eliakim.  Mattaniah  Zedekiah  (comp.  also  on  ver. 

15).  Tlie  variant  ii^Xsi/Za  (perhaps  =  n'^l)  pre- 
sented by  the  Sept.  in  2  Sam.  iii.  3  may  be  an 
error  of  transcription  for  Jini;.  (or  inversely 
"  Daniel,"  a  later  variation  for  the  original  De- 
laiah )  ;  but  the  name  Cilab  is  still  unexplained. 
On  Abigail,  the  widow  of  Xabal  the  Carmelite 
(not  to  be  confounded  with  Abigail  the  sister  of 
David,  ii.  16),  comp.  1  Sam.  xxv.  3  If. — Ver.  2. 

The  third  Absalom.  For  Di'PCOX  is  also  found 
Dife"3S,    1     Kings   xv.    2,    10.     The   ^    before 

3V"'3X  might.   in  another  connection,  serve  to 

lay  emphasis  on  the  name  ("  the  well-known  Ab- 
salom ;  "  comp.  Isa.  xxxii.  1).  Here,  however, 
in  a  mere  list  of  names,  it  scarcely  has  this  im- 
port, but  seems  rather  to  have  come  into  the  text 
through  an  oversight,  in  consequence  of  the  fore- 
going ax^  in  bT2xb-  Other  attempts  to  ex- 
plain this  p  (which  is  wanting  in  some  copies  ; 

see  Note)  are  quite  worthless,  and  deserve  to  be 
noted  only  as  curiosa  ;  for  example,  Kimchi's  pro- 
posal to  take  ~>  for  {<?.  thereby  designating  him 


as  properly  not  an  Absalom,  a  father's  peace,  but 
a  rebel,  or  Hillei's  supposition  {Onom.  S.  p.  733) 

that  3i7L"3X^  is  a  fuller  form  fir  the  simpler  and 

more  usual  Di?'j;3K>  etc.    On  Geshur,  comp.  above 

ii.  20  ;  on  AJonijah,  son  of  Haggith,  comp.  1 
Kings   i.    and  ii. — Ver.   3.    By  Eylah    lot    wife, 

in'J'N  n?K?  '•  quite  similar  to  2  Sam.  iii.  5, 
TH  iYJ'X   i"6jl6.     This  addition  "  his  wife,"  oi 

"wife  of  David,"  appears  to  be  inserted  merely 
to  make  a  full-toned  conclusion  of  the  series,  anil 
scarcely  to  distinguish  Eglah  as  the  most  eminent 
wife  of  David,  as  some  Rabbis  and  recently 
Thenius  on  2  Sam.  iii.  5  think,  who  take  Eglan 
only  for  another  name  of  Michal,   1  Sam.   xviii. 

20,  or  even  substitute  73*0  as  the  original  read- 
ing for  n?JJJ    (so    Thenius). — Ver.    4.     For   the 

historical  notices  in  this  verse  comp.  2  Sam.  ii. 
11,  v.  5.  The  statement  in  2  Sam.  ii.  10  (from 
which  Ishbosheth  appears  to  have  reigned  only 
two  years  in  Mahanaim)  conflicts  only  apparently 
with  the  seven  years  of  the  residence  of  David  in 
Hebron  ;  on  which  see  Hengstenb.  Gesch.  d. 
Retches  Gotten unter  dem  A.  B.  ii.  2,  p.  114  f. 

Ik  The  thirteen  sons  of  David  born  in  Jeru- 
salem :  vers.  5-9.  These  sons  of  David  (of  whom 
four  are  by  Bathsheba)  are  again  mentioned  xiv. 
7-11,  in  the  history  of  David.  Less  complete  is 
the  list  in  the  parallel  passage  2  Sam.  v.  14-lfS, 
by  the  omission  of  the  last  two. — Ver.  5.  The  foui 
sons  of  Bathsheba,  or,  as  she  is  here  called, 
Bathshua.  The  two  names,  occurring  beside  one 
another,  receive  their  explanation  from  the  inter 
vening  form  JTC'TQ :  as  this,  however,  is  ob 
viously  weakened  from  J'3£'TI3  (as  JRBrTIS 
again  is  a  weakening  of  Jflt;;-n3\  the  latter  form 

appears  to  be  the  oldest  and  most  original.  Two 
other  peculiarities  of  the  names  contained  in  our 
verse  are — 1.  X"Du'  as  tne  name  of  the  first  oi 
Bathsheha's  four  sons,  for  which  stands  in  xiv.  4 
and  2  Sam.  v.  14  JOBtji  ;  2.  Ainmiel  (PX'QJ?)  M 
the  name  of  the  father  of  Bathsheba,  for  which 
in   2  Sam.  xi.  3  is  the  form  Eliam  (DJI'pxJ.con- 

taining  the  two  elements  of  the  name  transposed. 
It  is  uncertain  which  of  these  two  forms  is  correct 
and  original.  — Vers.  6-S.  Here  follow  the  nine 
sons  born  at  Jerusalem  of  other  wives.  And  lh- 
hnr,  and  Elisliama,  and  Elvpheht.  As  the  two 
parallel  passages  xiv.  5  and  2  Sam.  v.  1 5  agree  in  pre 

senting  after  Ibhar  an  Elishua,  JJVC"?X>  Elishamp 

in  our  passage  appears  clearly  an  error  of  transcrip- 
tion, especially  as  this  name  occurs  again  in  ver.  8. 

The  following  name  Eliphelet  (OT'S'px)  is  found 
also  in  xiv.  5,  although  in  the  somewhat  abbre- 
viated form  OP37X  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  wanting 

in  2  Sam.  v.  15,  where  only  one  Eliphelet,  the  last  of 

the  series,  is  mentioned.  It  is  uncertain  whether 
this  want  be  original,  and  the  double  position  is 
the  result  of  some  error  of  the  Chronist  or  his 
voucher  (as  Berth,  thinks).  That  David  should 
have  repeated  the  same  name  in  the  sons  of  his 


CHAP.  III.  10-10. 


4i> 


different  wives  is  of  itself  not  incredible. — Ver.  7. 
And  Sot/ah,  andNepheg,  andJapkia.  The  name 
jsijj),  omitted  by  an  oversight  in  2  Sam.  v.  15,  is 

certainly  original,  though  nothing  be  known  con- 
cerning this  Wiu'ili,  perhaps  because  he  died 
early  and  childless.  "  The  view  of  Movers,  p. 
•229,  that  this  name  was  not  originally  in  the  text, 
and  came  in  by  a  false  writing  of  the  following 
333,  has  arisen  from  an  undue  preference  for  the 
text  of  the  books  of  Samuel  "  (Berth.). — Ver.  8. 
And  Elishama  (comp.   on  ver.   6),  and  Etiada, 

and  Eliphelet,   nine.     For  JJT^X  appears   xiv.   7 

JHvi'2>  scarcely  correct  ;  for  the  other  parallel 

2  Sam.  v.  16  and  the  Sept.  and  Syr.  versions  in 

xiv.  7  have  j;T?t{   (Sept.  cod.  Vat.  'EXiaU— cod. 

.1 A  .c,  indeed,  Bsf/.XiaSi). — Ver.  9.  All  the  sons  of 
David,  except  the  sons  of  the  concubines.  These 
sons  of  David  by  concubines  or  slaves  are  also 
unnamed  elsewhere  ;  but  their  existence  appears 
from  2  Sam.  v.  13,  xii.  11,  xv.  16,  xvi.  22.— And 
Vamar  their  sister,  not  the  only  one.  but  the 
sister  known  from  the  history  (2  Sam.  xiii.  1  If. ). 
2.  The  Kings  of  the  Jfmise  of  David  from 
Solomon  to  the  Exile:  vers.  10-16. — As  far  as 
losiah,  they  are  enumerated,  without  naming  any 
non-reigning  descendants,  as  a  simple  line  Df 
sovereigns,  embracing  in  it  fifteen  members  (with 
the  omission  of  the  usurper  Athaliah  as  an  idolati  i 
and  a  foreigner)  by  the  addition  of  a  132,  "his 

son,"  to  each.  At  variance  with  this  course,  four 
sons  of  Josiah  are  then  named,  not  perhaps  in 
him,  the  great  reformer,  "  to  introduce  a  pause  in 
the  long  line  of  David's  descendants"  (Berth.), 
but  "  because  with  Josiah  the  regular  succession 
ceased"  (Keil). —  The  first -born  Johanan,  the 
second  Jehoiakim,  the  third  Zedekiah,  the  fourth 
Shallum.  To  Josiah  succeeded,  2  Kings  xxiii.  30, 
2  Chron.  xxxvi.  1,  his  son  Jehoahaz  as  king. 
This  Jehoahaz  is  called  in  Jer.  xxii.  11  properly 
Shallum  ;  he  was  thus,  as  the  present  list  shows, 
the  youngest,  or  at  all  events  one  of  the  youngest, 
among  them :  not  to  be  identified  with  the 
first-born  Johanan,  as  many  older  writers  (Seb. 
Schmidt,  Starke,  etc.),  and  of  the.  moderns,  for 
example,  Hitzig  (Begriffder  Kritik,  etc,  p.  182ff., 
and  Gesch.  d.  folks  Isr.  p.  246 1,  do.  For,  1. 
The  statement  of  Jeremiah,  that  Shallum  became 
king  in  his  father's  stead,  is  quite  positive  and 
unhesitating.  2.  From  comparing  2  Kings  xxiii. 
31,  36,  with  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  2,  5,  it  appears  that 
Jehoahaz  was  two  years  younger  than  Jehoiakim, 
and  therefore  not  the  first-born.  3.  The  preferring 
of  a  younger  sou  before  an  older  to  the  throne  is 
not  surprising,  if  we  consider  the  analogous  case 
if  Solomon,  who,  though  one  of  the  youngest  of 
the  sons  of  David  (the  youngest  of  the  four  sons 
of  Bathshebal,  succeeded  to  the  throne.  4.  The 
double  name  Jehoahaz  Shallum  is  not  more  sur- 
prising than  Jehoahaz  Johanan  would  be;  the 
mutually  exchanging  names  are  in  both  cases,  if 
not  quite  alike  in  meaning,  yet  expressive  of 
similar  ideas  (jntfiiV,  "whom  Jehovah   holds," 

and  £!|->j£  "who  is  requited  (of  God),"  and  so 

"HilT):    comp.    the   numerous   cases   of    double 

raming,  of  which  some  examples  are  quoted  on 
ver.   1,   also   Simonis   Onom.    p.    20.     The   only 


inaccuracy  that  can  be  imputed  to  the  Chronist 
in  the  present  statements  is,  that  he  names 
Shallum  in  the  last  place,  and  so  appears  to 
favour  the  opinion  that  he  was  the  youngest  of 
the  four  brothers,  whereas  Zedekiah  was  much 
younger  than  lie;  indeed,  as  a  comparison  of 
■>  Kings  xxiii.  31  with  xxiv.  1*  shows,  at  least 
13  or  14  years  younger  (for  Shallum  u;is  -j;;  \v.us 
old  when  he  ascended  the  throne,  while  Zedekiah, 
who  ascended  the  throne  11  years  later,  was  then 
only  21  years  of  age).  How  this  inaccuracy  in 
the  order  is  to  be  explained,  Keil  shows  very  well, 
p.  55  1'.:  "In  our  genealogy  Zedekiah  is  placed 
after  Jehoiakim  and  before  Shallum,  because,  on 
the  one  hand,  Jehoiakim  and  Zedekiah  held  the 
throne  a  longer  time,  each  for  eleven  years;  on  the 
other  hand,  Zedekiah  and  Shallum  were  the  sons 
of  Hamutal  (2  Kings  xxiii.  31,  xxiv.  IS),  Jehoia- 
kim the  son  of  Zebidah  (2  Kings  xxiii.  36). 
With  respect  to  age,  they  should  have  succeeded 
thus :  Johanan,  Jehoiakim,  Shallum,  and  Zede- 
kiah; and  in  regard  to  their  reign,  Shallum  should 
have  stood  before  Jehoiakim.  But  in  both  cases 
those  born  of  the  same  mother  Hamutal  would 
have  been  separated.  To  avoid  this,  Shallum 
appears  to  have  been  reckoned  beside  his  brother 
Zedekiah  in  the  fourth  place."  Regarded  thus,  the 
passage  loses  its  obscurity,  which  Nagelsbach  has 
still  imputed  to  it  (on  Jer.  xxii.  11),  without 
going  unite  so  tar  as  Hitzig,  who  here  lays  a 
whole  s  ries  of  errors  to  the  charge  of  the  Chro- 
nist.  Comp.  against  the  imputations  of  the 
latter,  Movers,  p.  157  f . :  "The  two  names 
(Johanan  ami  Jehoahaz)  are  to  be  distinguished 
exactly  as  Jehoiakim  and  Jehoiachin ;  l.ad  the 
Chronist  named  Jehoahaz  along  with  Shallum,  or, 
as  Hitzig  thinks  right,  called  h  m  the  first-born, 
the  error  would  certainly  have  been  undeniable. 
Further  misled  by  the  passage  of  Jeremiah,  he  has 
taken  Shallum  for  another  son  of  Josiah,  the 
fourth,  and  different  from  Jehoahaz.  Shallum 
Jehoahaz  is  certainly  named  the  fourth  in  ver.  15, 
incorrectly  indeed,  for  he  was  the  third ;  but  the 
Chronist  could  not  mistake  the  passage  of  Jere- 
miah, for  it  clearly  says:  'who  (Shallum)  reigned 
instead  of  Josiah  his  father.'  How  should  an 
error  in  the  Jewish  line  of  kings  occur  in  a  Jewish 
historian!" — Ver.  16.  And  the  sons  of  Jehoia- 
kim: Jechoniah  his  son,  Zedekiah  his  ton.  In- 
stead of  r^W  =  VP  \\2*  (whom  God  establishes), 

t:  t  :  t    '      t 

the  son  of  Jehoiakim  in  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  9,  as  in 
2  Kings  xxiv.  8  ff.,  bears  the  equivalent  name 
Jehoiachin  (j'3'irP ;  comp.  paty,  Ezirk.  i.  2),  where- 
as he  is  called,  Jer.  xxiv.  1,  xxvii.  20,  xxviii.  4,  and 
Esth.  ii.  6,  jVH'i  quite  as  here  and  Jer.  xxii.  24, 

28,  xxxvii.  1,  Conjahu  (W33,  an  abbreviation  of 

WW,  rPjaO-     The  Zedekiah  here  named  can 

only  be  regarded  as  a  son  of  Jechoniah,  and  so  a 
grandson  of  Jehoiakim  and  great-grandson  of 
Josiah;  for  the  133  added  to  his  name  uniformly 

designates  in  the  previous  genealogical  line  the 
son  of  the  aforesaid:  and  the  circumstance,  that 
this  son  of  Jechoniah  is  named  here  apart  from 
his  other  sons,  may  find  its  explanation  in  this, 
that  this  Zedekiah,  perhaps  the  first-born,  did 
not  go  into  captivity  with  his  father  and  brethren, 
but  died  beforehand  as  a  royal  prince  in  Jerusalem. 
He  is  therefore  not  to  be  confounded  with  the 
Zedekiah   who   was   mentioned  in   the   foregoing 

D 


60 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


Terse  as  a  third  son  of  Josiah,  and,  2  Kings  xxiv. 
17  ft..  2  Chum,  xxxvi.  11,  became  successor  of 
Jechoniah  on  the  throne;  he  is  a  grand-nephew 
of  king  Zedekiah,  who  before  his  accession  was 
called  Mattaniah,  and  whose  subsequent  name,  as 
well  in  Chronicles  (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  10)  as  in  Kings 
ii  Bongs  xxiv.  17  S.  i,  is  uniformly  written  in'ptV 

(not,  as  here,  nsp"ti'>-     This  last  variety  of  name 

is  merely  graphical,  though  in  tin-  present  ease, 
where  the  double  name  (Mattaniah  Zedekiah) 
9  ■;  ires  as  a  mark  of  the  king,  it  may  have  a  further 
import.  Against  the  assumption  of  some  ancients 
i  even  of  Starke),  that  the  Zedekiah  of  our  verse  is 
the  same  as  king  Zedekiah,  who  is  quoted  (ver.  15) 
as  a  son  of  Jehoiaehin,  because  lie  was  his  suc- 
cessor on  the  throne,  comp.  the  just  remarks  of 
r.iluv.  in  the  Bihlia  iUustrata.  With  respect  to 
2  rhron.  xxxvi.  10,  where  Zedekiah  the  successor 
ol  Jehoiaehin  appears  to  be  erroneously  termed 
;:is  brother,  which  in  reality  is  only  inexactness, 
or  a  wider  sense  of  the  word  ns  (=  relative  in 

general),  see  on  the  passage. 

3.  The  Descendants  of  Jechoniah  to  tint  Si  <••  // 
Sons  of  Elioenai :  vers.  17-24. — And  (hi  sons  if 
Jechoniah  the  captive.  It  is  certainly  possible 
to  translate  the  words  ibx   n-JD"  \ni  with  the 

Sept.,  Vulg. ,  Kimchi,  Jim.,  etc.,  and  even  Keil : 
"And  the  sons  of  Jechoniah  were  Assir. "  But 
the  appellative  meaning  of  ~|QX>  "the  captive," 

adopted  by  Luther,  Starke,  Berth.,  Kamph.,  is 
decidedly  preferable.  For,  1.  As  one  of  the  sons 
of  Jechoniah,  the  early  deceased  Zedekiah,  has, 
been  already  named,  we  expect  here  a  remark  of 
Jechoniah  indicating  that  he  as  captive  or  in 
captivity  begat  the  sons  now  to  be  named.  2.  An 
Lssir,  as  connecting  link  between  Jechoniah  and 
Shealtiel,  nowhere  occurs,  neither  in  Matt.  i.  12 
nor  in  the  Seder  Olam  Sutta  (comp.  Herzfeld, 
fiesch.  it.    V.  Israel,  i.  379).     3.  The  absence  of 

133  after  -|QN,  while  it  stands  after  ■>x,r6x;.". 

makes  it  impossible  to  see  in  Assir  a  link  between 
Jechoniah  and  Shealtiel.  4.  Neither  can  Assir  be 
regarded  as  a  brother  of  Shealtiel,  because  the 
copula  could  not  then  be  wanting  between  the 
two  names,   and  because  the  singular  jjg  after 

^STli'X'J'  is  inexplicable,  if  two  sons  of  Jechoniah 

were  named.  5.  The  combination  proposed  by 
Kcil  (p.  57),  that  Assir,  the  only  son  of  Jechoniah 
besides  the  early  deceased  Zedekiah,  left  only  a 
daughter,  by  whom  he  became  the  father  in-law 
of  N'eri,  a  descendant  of  David  of  the  line  of 
Nathan,  and  by  this  son-in-law,  again  (Luke  iii. 
27),  the  lather,  or  strictly  the  grandfather,  of 
Shealtiel,  of  Malchiram,  Pedaiah.  and  the  other 
sons  named  ver.  IS,  fails  through  its  excessive 
artificiality,  and  through  this,  that  it  takes  133  at 

the  close  of  our  verse,  notwithstanding  the  con- 
stant use  of  the  Chronist  in  the  foregoing  genea- 
logy, in  the  sense  of  his  grandson.  6.  The  single 
objection  that  can  be  made  to  the  appellative 
meaning  of  10X,  that  it  wants  the  article,  loses 

much  of  its  force  from  the  abrupt  and  merely 
allusive  tnaunei  of  our  genealogist.  7.  The  Maso- 
retic  accentuation  points  out  iqx  as  an  appella- 
tive j.ddition  to  rPJ3\   a  circumstance  not  to  be 


overlooked  in  the  present  case,  as  it  proves  our  in- 
terpretation to  be  supported  by  no  less  respectable 
and  ancient  authorities  than  the  opposite  one. — 
Ver.lS.  And  Malchiram,  and  Pedaiali,  etc.  These 
six  other  sons  of  the  captive  Jechoniah,  Kimchi, 
Tremell.,  Piscat,  Hiller,  Burmann,  and  recently 
Hitzig  on  Hag.  i.  1,  12,  regard  not  as  brothers, 
but  as  sons  of  Shealtiel,  because  Zerubbabel  else- 
where appears  (Hag.  i.  1;  Ezra  iii.  2,  v.  2;  Mitt, 
i.  12)  as  son,  ->r  at  all  events  direct  successoi, 
perhaps  grandson,  of  Shealtiel,  whereas  here  he 
would  appear  to  be  his  nephew,  if  his  father 
Pedaiah  (ver.  19)  had  actually  to  pass  for  a 
brother  ol  Shealtiel.     Against  this  hypothesis  is 

— 1.  The  copula  before  QT370,    which  makes  it 

impossible  to  regard  the  six  named  in  our  verse 
otherwise  than  as  brothers  of  Shealtiel.  2.  The 
paternal  relation  of  Pedaiah  to  Zcrubbabel,  as 
attested  ver.  19,  may  be  easily  reeonciled  with 
the  elsewhere  attested  filial  relation  of  Zerubbabfil 
to  Shealtiel,  by  the  assumption  of  intermarriage 
or  adoption  ;  in  other  words,  the  Chronist's 
making  Zerubbabel  to  be  son  of  Pedaiah  and 
nephew  of  Shealtiel  may  well  be  taken  for  a 
more  exact  statement  than  that  of  the  other 
reporters  (Hag.,  Ezra,  and  Matt).  Besides,  the 
five  sons  of  Jechoniah  named  along  with  Shealtiel 
and  Pedaiah  are  otherwise  unknown.  Only  of 
Pedaiah  are  further  descendants  known  in  the 
following  verses. — Ver.  19.  And  the  sons  of 
Pedaiali:  Zerubbabel  and  Shimei.  The  latter  is 
not  elsewhere  named :  concerning  the  former,  of 
wdiose  identity  with  the  celebrated  prince  and 
leader  of  the  first  band  of  returning  captives,  536 
B.C.,  there  can  be  no  well-founded  doubt  (although 
Hottinger,  S.  J.  Baumgartcn.  Starke,  and  the 
ancients  incline  to  assume  two  or  even  three 
different  Zerubbabels),  comp.  on  the  previous 
verse. — And  the  son  of  Zerubbabel:  MeshuUam 
and  Hananiah.  On  the  somewhat  surprising 
sing-  pi,  on  account  of  the  plural  number  of 
sons,  and  the  variant  <;35,  see  Crit.   Note.     Ber- 

theau,  moreover,  justly  remarks:  "In  the  nauies 
of  the  sons  of  Zerubbabel  appear  to  be  reflected 
the  hopes  of  the  Israelites  at  the  time  of  the 
return  from  Babylon,  in  MeshuUam  (friend  of 
God),  comp.  Isa.'  xlii.  19,  Hananiah  (grace  of 
God),  Berechiah,  Hasadiah,  Jushab-Chesed (mercy 
will  return)." — And  Bhelomith  thin-  sister.  She 
is  perhaps  named  after  the  first  two  sons,  because 
she  sprang  from  the  same  mother.  Her  name 
divides  the  collective  family  of  Zerubbabel  into  two 
groups,  the  former  of  two,  the  latter  of  five  sons. 
Possiblv  the  second  group  contains  exclusively  or 
chiefly  younger  sons  of  Zerubbabel  born  after  the 
return  from  the  exile. — Ver.  21.  And  the  son  of 
Hananiah:  Pelatiah  am!  Jeshmah.  The  two 
grandsons  of  Zerubbabel  are  otherwise  unknown, 
but  must  have  belonged  to  the  contemporaries  of 
Ezra,  about  450  B.C. — The  suns  of  Rephaiah,  the 
sons  of  Arnan,  the  sons  of  UbaJiah,  the  sons 
of  Shechaniah.  In  what*  relation  these  four 
families  stand  to  Pelatiah  and  Jeshaiah,  the  sons 
of  Hananiah,  is  not  clear,  as  the  express  state- 
ment that  their  heads,  Rephaiah,  etc.,  were  sons  of 
Hananiah,  and  brothers  of  those  two,  is  wanting; 
and  the  various  readings  of  the  old  translators 
(Sept..  Vulg.,  Syr.),  that  give,  instead  of  the  plur. 
«J3,  always  the  sing,  with  the  suit".  133,  thereby 


CHAP.  III.  22-24. 


51 


originating  a  continuous  line  of  descent,  with 
seven  members  from  Hananiah  to  Shechaniali, 
have  little  claim  to  credibility.  For,  1.  The  line 
of  David's  descent  would,  if  ver.  21  actually 
reckoned  seen  successive  generations,  SCem  to  be 
continued  far  into  the  3d  century  b.c.  (for  in 
vers.  22-24  four  generations  more  are  added), — 
much  further  than  a  rational  estimate  of  the  age 
of  our  author,  who  must  have  lived  at  the  latest 
about  330  B.C.,  will  admit  (comp.  Einl.  p.  3). 
2.  The  assumption  of  an  addition  to  the  series, 
arising  from  a  younger  writer  than  the  Ohronist, 
is  extremely  doubtful.  3.  The  Hattush  of  ver. 
22  appears  to  be  the  same  with  the  descendant  of 
David  bearing  the  same  name  mentioned  Ezra 
viii.  2,  a  younger  contemporary  of  Ezra.,  which  is 
quite  possible,  and  even  probable,  if  this  Hattush 
be  the  fourth  in  descent  from  Zerubbabel,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  impossible  if  he  he  the  ninth.  4. 
The  brief  mode  of  enumerating  with  the  mere 
(32,  appending  the  son  only  to  the  father  without 

mention  of  other  descendants,  does  not  agree  with 
the  verses  around  from  ver.  18,  in  which  a  more 
copious  enumeration,  almost  in  every  number 
giving  a  plurality  of  children,  is  presented.  It  it 
appear,  on  the  whole,  most  probable  that  the  sons 
of  Rcphaiah,  etc.,  are  designations  of  contem- 
porary families  of  the  house  of  David,  not  succes- 
sive generations,  it  still  remains  doubtful  how 
these  families  are  connected  with  the  last-named 
descendant  of  Zerubbabel.  On  this  there  are,  in 
tlie  main,  two  opinions  among  recent  expositors: 
a.  Ew.,  Berth.,  Kamph.,  etc.,  take  Rephaiah, 
Arnan,  Obadiah,  and  Shechaniali,  as  well  as  the 
two  before  named,  Pelatiah  and  Jeshaiah,  to  be 
sons  of  Hananiah,  and  assume  that,  on  account  of 
the  great  celebrity  and  wide  extension  of  their 
families,  these  last  four  sons  are  named,  "not  as 
individuals,  but  as  families"  (for  which  cases  like 
ch.  i.  41,  ii.  42,  iv.  15,  xxiv.  26,  etc.,  afford 
examples). 

6.  Movers,  Herzfeld,  Haverniek,  Keil  see  in  these 
four  families,  generations  "whose  descent  the 
Chronist  could  not  or  would  not  more  precisely 
define,  and  therefore  merely  enumerates  one  after 
another"  (Herzf.),  and  are  inclined  to  regard  the 

whole  series  from    ITDT  "33   to  the  end   of  the 

chapter  as  "a  genealogical  fragment,  perhaps 
inserted  afterwards  into  the  text  of  Chronicles" 
(Keil),  and  accept  where  possible  the  assumption 
defined  by  the  ancients,  as  Heidegger,  Vitringa, 
Carpzov,   etc.,   of  a   corruption   of    the    present 

Masoretic  text,   perhaps  a  gap  before   rpS"1   "3 

(so  likewise  Keil).  We  may  reserve  the  choice 
between  these  two  views;  for  while  the  assump- 
tion of  a  corruption  of  the  text  seems  to  be 
natural  enough,  and  to  be  rendered  even  probable 
by  the  change  of  <}3   into  133  in  the  Sept.,  yet, 

on  the  other  hand,  we  scruple  to  ascribe  t"  the 
Chronist  an  uncertain  or  defective  knowledge 
concerning  the  families  of  the  house  of  David 
alter  Zerubbabel,  as  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  he 
would  be  especially  well  informed  on  matters  so 
near  his  own  time.  —  Ver.  22.  And  the  aom  of 
Shechaniah:  Shemaiah.     The  plur.  '33,  as  in  i. 

41,  ii.  42,  etc.  (hi  Hattush  son  of  Shemaiah,  then 
named  in  the  first  place,  see  on  previous  verse, 
and   Introd.  §3,  Rem.     The  closing  notice,  that 


six  sons  of  Shemaiah  are  named  in  all.  is  strange, 
because  only  five  of  them  are  named;  and  it  is 
quite  unfeasible,  with  .1.  H.  Mich.,  Starke,  and 
others  (as  in  Gen.  xlvi.  15),  to  assume  that  the 
father  is  included.  We  can  scarcely  escape  lie' 
assumpti  >n,  that  one  of  the  six  names  has  fcl'en 
out  of  the  text  by  an  old  error  of  transcription  . 
but  we  can  hardly  regard  the  sixth  name  Si  9a 
\Srs>:n\  presented  by  the  Vnlg.  in  the  EtIU.  Sixi 
of  1590,  as  anything  else  than  a  poor  emeudatior 
arising  from  the  number  ntS'tfi  since  no  other  text 

presents  this  name. — Ver.  23.  And  the  eon  of 
Xeariah:  Eiioe.nai.    With  the  latter  name,  which 

is  here  written  without  n  Oj'yivN ),  but  elsewhere 

in  full  ,j"j;irT,7S  (my  eyes  unto  Jehovah),  comp. 

Ezra  viii.  4,  and,  with  respect  to  the  sentence 
which  contains  its  etymology,  Ps.  xxv.  15. — Ver. 
24.    And  the  sons  of  Elioenai:  Hodaiah,  etc. 

With  the  name  :irpnin  (or  perhaps  iHTflin. 
"praise  Jehovah,  praise  God")  compare  the 
shorter  form  rvilin,  v-  24,  ix.  7,  Ezra  ii.  40,  and 
nVlirii  Neh.  vii.  43  ;  see  also  Crit.  Note. 

The  seven  sons  of  Elioenai  here  named,  if  we  are 
to  suppose  a  direct  genealogical  connection  of  the 
families  enumerated  from  ver.  216  with  the  before- 
named  descendants  of  Zerubbabel  (if,  consequently, 
the  assumption  of  Movers,  Herzfeld,  and  Keil, 
that  vers.  216-24  form  an  unconnected  iuterpo 
lation,  is  to  be  rejected),  would  be  the  seventh 
generation  inclusive  from  Zerubbabel,  and,  if  the 
length  of  a  generation  be  fixed  at  30  years,  would 
have  to  be  placed  near  the  middle  of  the  4th 
century  B.C.,  as,  for  example,  Bertheau  (p.  35) 
reckons  the  vears  386-356  B.C.,  Ewald  {Gesch.  d. 
V.  Isr.  2d  edit.  i.  229)  the  time  after  350,  as  the 
period  of  the  existence  of  the  seven  sons  of  Elioe- 
nai, who  are  supposed  to  be  contemporary  with  the 
author  of  Chronicles.  The  assumption  that  we 
are  here  dealing  with  direct  descendants  of  Zerub- 
babel is  liable  to  serious  doubt.  For,  besides  the 
loose  connection  of  ITDI  'JS   and  the  following 

families  in  ver.  21,  it  appears  to  favour  the 
fragment  hypothesis,  that  "in  the  genealogy  of 
Jesus,  Matt,  i.,  not  a  single  name  of  the  descen- 
dants of  Zerubbabel  agrees  with  the  names  in  this 
register,"  and  that  at  least  seven  members  must 
be  supposed  to  be  overleaped  at  once  by  Matthew 
it  his  genealogical  voucher  (so  Clericus,  and 
recently  Keil).  In  rep'.y  to  this,  it  may  be  assumed 
certainly,  that  those  descendants  of  Zerubbabel 
whose  pedigree  is  traced  by  the  Chronist  to  1  is 
own  time  need  not  necessarily  have  been  the 
direct  ancestors  of  Joseph  (or  Mary),  but  that  the 
line  of  Abiud,  Eliakim,  etc.,  leading  to  Jesus  in 
Matthew,  might  have  s]  rung  from  another  of  the 
seven  sons  of  Zerubbabel  Besides,  Matthew  must 
have  made  very  great  omissions  in  the  interval 
of  500  years  between  Zerubbabel  and  Joseph,  as 
he  reckons  only  twelve  members  for  this  period 
(comp.  the  edit,  of  the  Bibelw.  on  Matt  p.  - 
an  omission  of  six  or  seven  successive  membi  rs 
would  be  nothing  inconceivable  in  his  mode  of  pp  1- 
ceeding.  And  if  the  genealogy  of  Hananiah,  coiu- 
municatedat  lengtr  by  the  Chronist,  in  particular 
the  family  of  Elioenai  with  his  seven  sons,  were 
deemed  worthy  of  special  notice  on  account  of 
their    celebrity,    high    reputation,    and    eminent 


£2  I.  CHRONICLES. 


services  on  behalf  of  the  theocracy,  this  would  j  logists,  that  the  third  line  from  the  exile  to 
not  prove  that  the  New  Testament  pedigree  of  I  Joseph  and  Mary  should  include  in  it  chiefly 
.Tesus  must  necessarily  have  mentioned  these  ,  undistinguished  names,  and  thus  form  a  descend- 
famous  descendants  of  Zerubbabel  as  belonging  i  ing  line  which  ends  in  the  carpenter  Jos-.-ph  (see 
to  the  ancestors  of  our  Lord.  For  lowliness  and  Lange,  p.  6).  Nothing  decisive  can  thus  be 
obscurity,  not  splendour  and  fame,  should  be  the  >  inferred  from  a  comparison  of  the  New  Testament 
characteristic  of  the  pedigree  of  Jesus  after  the 
exile.  If  the  line  of  the  ancestors  of  Jesus,  reach- 
ing from  David  to  the  exile,  according  to  Mat- 
thew's arrangement,  contains  crowned  heads,  and 


genealogies  of  the  Messiah  with  our  passage  for 
the  relation  of  the  names  therein  contained  to 
the  posterity  of  Zerubbabel,  or  for  the  question 
whether  those  named  in  vers.   216-24  are  to  be 

thus  forms    a   lofty  range    of    royal    names,    it  j  regarded  as  descendants  or  a.s  remoter  sonceetions 

corresponds  to  the  plan  of  the  apostolic  genea-  I  of  this  prince. 

.'5.  Supplements  to  the  Genealogy  of  the  House  of  Judah  (leading  to  the  Genealogical  Survey  of 
the  Twelve  Tribes  of  Israel):  ch.  iv.  1-23. 

Ch.  rv.  1.  The  sons  of  Judah  :  Perez,  Hezron,  and  Carmi,  and  Hur,  and  Shobal. 

2  And  Reaiah  son  of  Shobal  begat  Jahath  ;  and  Jahath  begat  Ahumai  and 
Labad  :  these  are  the  families  of  the  Zorathite. 

3  And  these  were1  of  the  father  of  Etam:  Jezreel,  and  Ishma,  and  Idbash; 

4  and  the  name  of  their  sister  was  Hazelelponi.  And  Penuel  the  father  of  Gedor, 
and  Ezer  the  father  of  Hushah  :  these  are  the  sons  of  Hur  the  first-born  of 
Ephrathah,  the  father  of  Bethlehem. 

5,  6         And  Ashur  the  father  of  Tekrih  had  two  wives,  Helah  and  Naarata.     And 
Naarah   bare  him  Ahuzzam,   and  Ilepher,  and   Temeni,   and  the  Ahashtari : 

7  these  were  the  sons  of  Naarah.  And  the  sous  of  Helah :  Zereth,  Izhar,2  and 
Ethnan. 

8  .      And  Koz  begat  Anub  and  Zobebah,  <tiul  the  families  of  Aharhel  the  son 

9  of  Harum.     And  Jabez  was  honoured  above  his  brethren  ;   and  his  mother 

10  called  his  name  Jabez,  saying,  Because  I  bare  him  with  sorrow.  And  Jabez 
called  on  the  God  of  Israel,  saying,  If  thou  wilt  bless  me  indeed,  and  enlarge 
my  border,  and  thy  hand  be  with  me,  and  thou  deal  without  evil,  that  it 
grieve  me  not !     And  God  brought  that  which  he  had  asked. 

1 1  And  Celub  the  brother  of  Shuhah  begat  Mehir  ;  he  was  the  father  of  Esh- 

12  ton.  And  Eshton  begat  Beth-rapha,  and  Paseah,  and  Tehinnah  the  father  of 
the  city  Nahash  :  these  are  the  men  of  Piechah. 

13  And  the  sons  of  Kenaz :  Othniel  and  Seraiah ;  and  the  sons  of  Othniel : 

14  Hathath.  And  Meonothai  begat  Ophrah  :  and  Seraiah  begat  Joab  father  of 
the  valley  of  the  carpenters  ;  for  they  were  carpenters. 

15  And  the  sons  of  Caleb  son  of  Jephunneh  :  Iru,  Elah,  and  Naam ;  and  the 
sons  of  Elah  and  Kenaz. 

16  And  the  sons  of  Jehalelel :  Ziph  and  Ziphah,  Tiria  and  Asarel. 

1 7  And  the  son  3  of  Ezrah  :  Jether,  and  Mered,  and  Epher,  and  Jalon  ;  and  she 
conceived  [and  bare]*  Miriam,  and  Schammai,  and  Ishbah  father  of  Eshtemoa. 

18  And  his  wife,  the  Jewess,  bare  Jered  the  father  of  Gedor,  and  Heber  the  father 
of  Socho,  and  Jekuthiel  the  father  of  Zanoah  :  and  these  are  the  sons  of  Bithiah 
daughter  of  Pharaoh,  whom  Mered  took.5 

19  And  the  sons  of  the  wife  of  Hodiah,  the  sister  of  Naham  :  the  father  of 
Keilah  the  Garmite,  and  Eshtemoa6  the  Maachathite. 

20  And  the  sons  of  Shimon  :  Amnon  and  Kinnah,  Benhanan  and  Tulon  ;7  and 
the  sons  of  Ishi  :  Zoheth  and  Benzoheth.8 

21  The  sons  of  Shelah  son  of  Judah  :  Er  the  father  of  Lechah,  and  Ladah  the 
.  father  of  Mareshah  ;  and  the  families  of  the  house  of  byssus  work,  of  the  house 

22  of  Ashbea.     And  Jokim,  and  the  men  of  Cozeba,  and  Joash,  and  Saraph,  who 

23  ruled  over  Moab,  and  Jashubi-lehem9  :  and  these  are  ancient  things.  These  are 
the  potters  and  the  dwellers  in  Netaim  and  Gederah ;  with  the  king,  in  his 
service,  they  dwelt  there. 

1  For  DtS'V  ^N   i"l?Nl,   which  gives  no  tolerable  sense,  read  with  some  M8S.  Dti'V  '3X   y22  >"I9RV  oi  wltl 
the  Sept,  Vulg.,  and  some  other  mss.  DC]}  'J3  HpSV 


CHAP.  IV.  1. 


68 


'  So    (inV)    in  the  Kcthib      The  Keri    "inSI    is  designed  to  gain  a  name  better  kn 


<>mp.  Gen.  xxlii.  8, 


ilvi.  10). 

*  For  pi  some  mss.  Iiave  ''jai,  which  is  perhaps  to  be  preferred,  as  in  vers-  13.  16,  19,  20. 

«  For  inni,  "and  she  conceived,"  the  Sept.,  following  pel-hups  another  reading,  give  xott  tyumna  'U9ip  (Vulg  : 
fmuitgwMariam).   For  D^ID  they  exhibit  >!  ■ o«v  (cod.  Vat.  Ma?**). 

4  This  closing  sentence  T1D  .  .  .  MpXl  Stands  here  probably  in  the  wrong  place,  and  is  t(  be  placed  after 
p7'l,  ver.  17;   see  Exeg.  Expos. 

a  Before  ybHlw'X  (which  the  Sept.  here  renders  by  'UffOvfAxii,  whereas  in  ver.  17  it  has  'E*0i,**'  {c<jd.  V<tt.  *E# 
6«i^i»])  '3X1  seems  to  have  fallen  out,  as  the  parallel   fv'l'p  'as   indicates. 

:  A',  ihib:  ]i?in ;  Keri:  ji?*B. 

8  Uefore  r)rTiT~|3,  which  (not  a-,  for  example,  pn~ja  Immediately  before)  is  not  a  nom.  propr  ,  but  denotes  "son 
cf  Zobelli,"  the  name  of  tliis  son  seems  to  have  fallen  our 

9  Jerome  (perhaps  on  the  ground  of  a  somewhat  different  text,  but  more  probably  only  following  the  arbitrary  inter- 
pretation of  an  old  Jewish  Midrash)  renders  the  words  from  D^pVl  ■  et  qui  stare  /ecit  solem,  virique  mevdaeii  et  tecum 
et  ineendenSj  qui  primipes  fuerunt  in  ifoab,  et  qui  reuersi  sunt  in  Lachem. 


EXEGETICAL. 

Preliminary  Remark. — This  section,  un- 
usually rich  in  obscurities  and  difficulties,  is 
characterized  on  the  one  hand  us  a  supplement 
to  the  pedigree  of  Judah  already  communicated, 
embracing  numerous  fragments  of  old  genealogies; 
on  the  oilier  hand,  as  a  transition  and  introduc- 
tion to  the  genealogical  and  chorographica]  survey 
of  the  twelve  tribes  except  Judah,  contained  in 
iv.  24-vii.  In  common  with  the  latter  group  of 
genealogies,  it  makes  frequent  reference  to  the 
places  in  the  territory  of  each  tribe,  and  inserts 
brief  historical  or  archaeological  notices,  which 
are  of  considerable  value  on  account  "I  the  anti- 
quity of  the  events  recorded  (vers.  9,  10,  11, 
21-23).  We  are  reminded  of  the  former  notices 
of  the  families  of  Judah  in  ch.  ii. ,  not  only  by 
the  superscription  connecting  the  introductory 
terse  of  this  chapter,  with  its  enumeration  of 
some  of  the  most  eminent  descendants  of  Judah 
(ver.  1),  but  also  by  the  abundance  of  the  details 
lommunicated  concerning  many  more  or  less  cele- 
brated Jewish  families  (at  all  events  a  proof  thai 
tile  tribe  of  Judah  passed  with  the  author  for  tile 
i.mst  important  of  all,  and  that  the  most  special 
notices  concerning  it  lay  before  him);  as  well  as 
by  the  loose  order  of  the  several  fragments,  in 
which  a  similar  neglect  of  the  formation  of  longer 
lines  of  generations  standing  in  direct  succession 
to  one  another  betrays  itself,  as  in  those  supple- 
mentary reports  concerning  various  descendants 
of  Cvieb  at  the  close  of  ch.  ii.,  and  perhaps  in  the 
closing  verses  of  ch.  iii.  Nowhere  is  this  frag- 
mentary character  of  the  genealogical  notes  of 
our  author  so  striking  as  in  the  present  section, 
which  presents  no  less  than  ten  or  twelve  isolated 
fragments  ol  lines  or  genealogical  notices,  having 
no  visible  connection  with  that  which  precedes  or 
follows.  The  whole,  in  fact,  looks  almost  like  a 
gathering  of  genealogical  pebbles,  rolled  together 
from  various  quarters,  and  consisting  of  older 
and  younger  parts,  that  are  kept  together  only 
by  their  common  connection  with  the  tribe 
of  Judah.  That  anything  here  communicated 
refers  to  the  state  of  things  after  the  exile,  is 
alumni  by  Bertheau  (p.  36),  perhaps  without 
sufficient  ground.  Yet  it  cannot  !»■  positively 
asserted  that  the  author  (who  in  ch.  iii.  traced 
the  bouse  of  David  down  to  his  own  late  times) 


here  describes  only  ancient  relations,  and  pur- 
posely has  not  overstepped  the  limits  of  the 
exile. 

1.  The  Superscription:  ver.  1.  —  The  $07is  of 
Judah:  Perez,  Hezron,  and  Carmi,  and  llur,  and 
Shobal.  These  live  are  called  "  sons"  of  Judah, 
as  appears  from  ii.  3  ff.,  only  in  a  wider  sense  ; 
for  Perez  only  was  an  actual  sou  of  Judah  (ii.  5) ; 
Hezron  was  his  grandson  ;  Carmi,  as  the  probable 
grandson  of  Zerah  (ii.  7),  was  his  great-grandson  . 
llur  the  son  of  Caleb,  son  of  Hezron,  was  his 
great-great-grandson  (ii.  18,  19);  and  Shobal  son 
of  Hur  was  his  grandson's  great-grandson  (ii.  50). 
The  putting  together  of  these  five  descendants  is 
highly  peculiar,  and  cannot  be  satisfactorily  ex- 
plained in  its  historical  grounds.  Several  of  the 
families  founded  by  them  certainly  became  chiel 
families  in  the  tribe  of  Judah,  but  not  all;  ii 
particular,  the  prominence  of  Carmi  between 
names  so  celebrated  as  Hezron  and  Hur  is  so 
truly  strange,  as  to  justify  the  suspicion  that  this 
name  is  not  genuine,  and  to  favour  the  hypothesis 
of  Vellhausen  (p.  20),  that  for  <D13  is  to  be  read 

'a^S,  Celubai=Caleb  (see  ii.  9).  If  this  were  the 
original  reading,  we  should  obtain  a  series  of 
directly  succeeding  descendants  of  Judah  (comp. 
ii.  3,  9,  18  f.,  50),  and  so  far  as  our  verse  is  a 
superscription  for  the  following,  it  would  merely 
indicate  descendants  of  Hezron,  who  is  also 
named  in  ch.  ii.  as  the  ancestor  of  a  widely-spread 
stock  of  Jewish  families.  This  indication,  how- 
ever, would  by  no  means  correspond  with  the 
following  verses.  For  only  by  uncertain  con- 
jecture do  we  think  to  find  in  vers.  5-7  descend- 
ants of  Hur,  in  vers.  11-15  descendants  of  Caleb, 
in  vers.  16-23  other  Hezronites  of  different  lines 
(conip.  on  the  respective  passages).  On  the 
whole,  the  several  groups  of  our  section  are 
strung  together  without  much  connection ;  ami 
that  they  form  no  continuous  line  of  descent  (by 
which  the  line  started  in  ver.  1,  if  the  proposed 
emendation  be  accepted,  would  be  carried  for- 
ward) is  at  all  events  clear  and  beyond  a  doubt. 
'Die  matter,  therefore,  must  rest  with  the  remark 
of  Bertheau:  "  Why  in  our  passage  precisely 
these  five  'sons'  of  Judah  are  enumerated,  while 
in  Gen.  xlvi.  1  and  1  Chron.  ii.  other  name? 
occur  in  a  different  order,  is  a  question  we  should 
only  be  able  to  answer  if  we  could  state  tiie  point 


54 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


of  time  in  the  history  and  development  of  the 
tribe  of  Judah  to  which  our  series  refers,  and 
nere  iu  a  position  to  trace  further  from  other 
sources  the  relations  of  the  families  of  Judah  here 
exhibited.  As  matters  stand,  we  must  be  con- 
tented with  the  gen  ra'.  remark,  that  the  families 
designated  by  our  rive  names  were  without  doubt 
the  prominent  families  in  the  time  of  the  author 
of  our  series,  and  are  therefore  enumerated  as 
sons  of  Judah.  It  is  surprising,  certainly,  that 
ii.  the  following  pedigree,  vers.  "2-20,  this  arrange- 
rnsnt  almost  entirely  disappears,  and  that  in  vers. 
21-23  Shelah,  sixth  '  son'  ot  Judah,  is  intro- 
duced by  way  of  appendix." 

2.  77m  ZorathUes,  a  line  of  descent  from  Sho- 
bal :  ver.  2. — And  Reaiak  son  of  Shobal  (the 
cot]  who  is  probably  latent  under  nXIH.  ii.  52,  on 
which  see)  begat  Jahath.  fllT  is  no  further  men- 
tioned as  a  descendant  of  Judah  through  Shobal, 
but  occurs  often  as  a  Levite  name  ;  conip.  vi.  5, 
28,  xxiii.  10  If,  xxiv.  22.  2  Chron.  xxxiv.  12.— 
His  sons  also,  Ahumai  and  Lahad,  occur  nowhere 
else.  On  the  contrary,  the  closing  notice,  "these 
are  the  families  of  the  Zorathite,"  refers  us  to 
well-known  ground,  in  so  far  as  a  descent  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Zorah  from  Shobal  (the  ancestor 
of  Kiriath-.jearim,  the  mother  city  of  Zorah  and 
Eshtaol)  is  manifest  from  ii.  50-53.  The  pre- 
sent  verse  therefore  stands  plainly  in  the  relation 
of  a  supplement  to  that  passage. 

3.  A  Line  of  Descent  from  Hur  :  vers.  3,  4. — 
And  these  icert  of  the  father  of  Etam.  So  is  it 
to  be  amended  instead  of  the  unmeaning  "and 
these  were  Abi  Etam  "  of  the  Masoretie  text,  or 
with  the  Sept.  and  Vulg.  :  "  And  these  were  the 
children  of  Etam."  au'JJ,  whether  it  be  an  ele- 
ment of  a  personal  name  QB'JJ  '3X.  or  itself  de- 
note an  old  patriarch  or  family,  points  at  all 
events  to  the  inhabitants  of  an  old  Jewish  moun- 
tain city  not  far  from  Bethlehem  and  Tekoa 
(2  i 'lirou.  xi.  6),  which  occurs  in  the  history  of 
Samson  (Judg.  xv.  S).  Jezreel  also,  the  first- 
named  son  of  Etam,  occurs  Josh.  xv.  50  as  a 
mountain  city  of  Judah  ;  eomp.  the  nom.  gentit. 
"  the  Jezreelitess  "  referring  to  this  city,  and  ap- 
plied to  Ahinoam  the  wife  of  David,  iii.  1.  On 
the  contrary,  Ishma,  Idbash,  and  their  sister 
Hazelelponi  are  mentioned  only  here.  Whether 
the  name  of  the  last  is  the  name  of  a 
family  or  of  an  individual  (comp.  Ew.  §  273e) 
remains    doubtful. — Ver.    4.     And    Penuel    the 

father  of  Gedor.  Penuel  (^133^  is  llt're  tlie 
name  of  a  patriarch  of  Jewish  descent,  but  in 
viii.  25  of  a  Benjamite.  With  the  city  Penuel  or 
l'eniel,  east  of  the  Jordan  and  south  of  Jabbok 
(Gen.  xxxii.  31  f.,  Judg.  viii.  S,  17,  1  Kings  xii. 
25),  the  name  herj  has  no  connection.  On  the 
contrary,  that  of  his  son  Gedor  occurs  also  as  a 
name  of  a  town  in  the  tribe  of  Judah  (Josh.  xv. 
58  ;  com]).  1  Chron.  iv.  39,  xiii.  7),  and  this 
town,  preserved  as  a  ruin  in  the  present  Jedur 
I  Robins,  ii.  592),  is  to  be  referred  to  the  son  of 
l'.nuel  as  its  father  or  founder.  We  meet,  iu- 
deed,  in  ver.  18  with  a  certain  Jered  as  "father 
.if  Gedor,"  whence  we  may  conclude  that  the 
posterity  of  both  formed  tie-  population  of  this 
il.  dor.  —  And  Ezer  the  father  of  Bvshak      ijy 

;"help  ")  occurs  elsewhere  as  a  man's  name  (vii. 


21,  xii.  9),  but  not  in  the  genealogies  of  the  house 
of  Judah.  The  site  of  the  town  Hushah  founded 
by  this  Ezer  is  unknown  ;  but  the  nam.  gentii. 
TVJ'in  occurs  several  tiroes,  namely,  in  the  Davidic 

hero  Sibbechai,  1  Chron.  xi.  28,  xx.  4,  2  Sam. 
xxiii.  27.  —  These  aie  the  sons  of  Hw  the  first- 
horn  if  Ephrathath,  the.  father  of  Bethlehem. 
Comp.  ii.  19,  and  on  Hur's  relation  to  Bethlehem 
ii.  51,  where  more  precisely  than  here  Salma  tin- 
son  of  Hur  is  called  "father  of  Bethlehem." 
"The  circumstance,  moreover,  that  in  our  verses 
(3  and  4)  other  names  and  persons  are  enumerated 
as  descendants  of  Hur  than  in  ii.  50-55,  betokens 
no  difference  ;  for  there  is  no  ground  for  the 
assumption  that  in  tlie  latter  passage  all  his 
descendants  are  given  "  (Keil).  Our  passage  is 
thus,  like  ver.  2,  supplementary  to  ii.  50-55,  so 
far  as  it  repeats  and  confirms  some  of  the  names 
and  affinities  there  mentioned,  and  adds  other 
new  ones. 

4.  Ashur  the  father  of  Tekoa  and  his  de- 
scendants: vers.  5-7.  According  to  ii.  24,  this 
Ashur  was  a  posthumous  son  of  Caleb  [?  HezronJ 
by  Abiah.     That  he  was  properly  a  son  of  Caleb, 

and  no  other  than   Hnr  (-pin  =  "VHTi."X>  *uat  is> 

"Wl  L,;,X,    Ew.  §  2736),  is  a  hypothesis  of  Well' 

hausen,  grounded  on  several  rather  forced  emenda- 
tions of  the  text  (p.  14  sq.  ;  comp.  above  on  the 
p.) — Ver.  6.  And  Naarah  hare  him  Ahuzzam,  a 
son  mentioned  nowhere  else.  Why  Naarah 's 
sou*  are  enumerated  first,  while  Helah  was 
named  ver.  5  as  the  first,  and  Naarah  the  second, 
wife  of  Ashur,  remains  uncertain.  Hepher  the 
second  son  of  Naarah  is  at  all  events  different 
from  the  Gileadite  of  this  name  mentioned  xi. 
36  and  Num.  xxvi.  32  f,  but  might  possibly  be 
the  patriarch  or  founder  of  the  district  Hepher, 
1  Kings  iv.  lo,  iu  the  south  of  Judah,  not  far 
from  Tappuah,  where  a  Canaanitish  king  resided 
in  early  times  (Josh.   xii.   17).  —  Temeni  ('jo'W) 

or  Temani  (Southern),  the  third  son,  will  de- 
signate a  neighbouring  family  of  the  tribe  of 
Judah.   Ahashtari,  that  is,  the  family  of  those  from 

Ahashtar,  is  wholly  unknown. — Ver.  7.  And  tlie 
sons  of  Hi  'ah  :  Zinth,  lzhar,  and  E'hnan.  These 
names  occur  only  here.  The  iriS  of  the  K'ri< 
instead  of  the  Kethib  -|nY\  occurs  as  the  name  ot 

a  son  of  Simeon,  Gen.  xlvi.  10,  and  of  a  Canaan- 
itish king,  Gen.  xxiii.  8  ;  but  these  names  have 
obviously  nothing  to  do  with  the  son  of  Ashur 
and  Helah. 

5.  Koz  ami  his  descendants,  among  whom  is 
Jabez  :  vers.  8-10.  This  section  w.ints  all  genealo- 
gical connection  with  the  families  already  men- 
tioned.— And  Koz  beijat  Anub.  A  Koz  (with  the 
art.  J'ipn)  occurs  afterwards,  xxiv.  10,  as  a  Levite, 
and  also  in  Ezra  ii.  61  and  Neh.  iii.  4,  in  which 
latter  passage,  moreover,  the  Levitieal  descent  is 
not  expressed,  so  that  possibly  a  Jew  descended 
from  this  Koz  might  be  meant.  In  what  rela- 
tion our  Koz  stands  to  those  before  named, 
whether  he  belonged  to  the  sons  of  Ashnr  ias 
Glassius,  Treniell,  Piscator,  Starke,  etc.,  think), 
is  quite  uncertain.     The  name  of  his  sou   2«J) 

appears,  moreover,  to  be  identical  with  that  of 
the  town  3jy,  Josh.  xi.  21,  xv.  50  (a  place  not  fat 

from  Debir  in  the  south  of  Judah)  ;  for  the  P-nt 


CHAP.  IV.  7-14. 


55 


cod.  Alex.)  lenders  it  by  'a»«w3.  If  tliis  identi- 
fication be  correct,  ayy,  "the grape,"  would  be 

the  product  of  pp,  a  "thorn,"  and  the  present 
genealogical  notiee  thus  present  an  allegorical 
sense,  reminding  us  of  the  fable  of  Jotham  (Judg. 
ix.  i,  and  of  .Matt.  vii.  16  (comp.  I  Idler,  Hierophyt. 
i.  p.  404). — Zobebah  and  the  families  of  Aharhel 
the  son  of  Sarum.  Thes  ■  are  quite  unknown.  — 
Ver.  9.  And  Jabez  was  honoured  above  his  bre- 
thren. Jabez  here  is  probably  the  name  of  another 
descendant  of   Eoz  j   for  the  lfl'l   connects  the 

notice  of  him  closely  with  that  which  precedes. 

The  town  Jab  -z,   the  inhabitants  of  which  are 

mentioned  ii.  55,  may  perhaps  have  I a  founded 

bj  him  ;  from  which  might  be  surmised  a  con- 
nection of  himself  and  of  those  named,  ver.  8, 
with  Shobal  the  son  of  Hnr  (ii.  50).  But  all 
this  is  very  uncertain.  —  /  bare  him  with  sorrow. 
This  maternal  utterance,  discovering  the  funda- 
mental meaning  of  the  name   j'ay  =   "son  of 

sorrow  "  (comp.  the  root  QVIS  thesecond  and  third 

radicals  of  which  are  here  transposed),  reminds  us 
of  similar  exclamations  of  mothers  in  the  patri- 
archal age,  as  Gen.  iv.  25,  xix.  37  f. ,  xxix.  32-35, 
xxxiii.  20.  In  like  manner,  the  statement  that 
Jabez  was  "honoured  above  his  brethren,"  re- 
minds us  of  Gen.  xxxiv.  19  (Hamor  the  soil  of 
Sheehem).  And  by  the  vow  of  this  Jabez  to  the 
"God  of  Israel  "  (comp.  Gen.  xxviii.  20,  xxxiii. 
20)  recorded  in  ver.  10,  as  well  as  by  the  new  ex- 
planation of  the  name,  which  is  contained  in  the 
terms  of  tins  vow  (a  second  reference  of  J'ajp  to 

the  root  y*]l>  but  ^'itli  a  new  turn,   <3Vy  'rta^, 

"  that  thou  grieve  me  not"),  we  arc  carried  back 
to  the  scenes  of  Genesis  (comp.  Gen.  xvii.  17  tf., 
xviii.  12,  xxi.  6,  xxvi.  8,  etc.),  so  that  we  have 
here  an  undoubted  primeval  historical  record. 
Even  the  rhetorical  clothing  of  the  vow,  a  mere 
antecedent  clause,  with  qx  wanting  a  consequent, 

but  with  clear  emphasizing  of  the  '3V1?  coming 

in  at  the  end  as  the  point  of  the  whole,  reminds 
us  of  the  ancient  style  of  the  Pentateuch  ;  comp. 
Gen.  xxviii.  20  tf.  ;  Num.  xxi.  2,  etc. — And  God 
brought  that  which  fa  had  asked.  This  statement, 
occupying  the  place  of  consequent  to  the  aposio- 
pesis  1J313FI  7p2~QX.  serves  to  explain  the  above 

notice  that  Jabez  was  honoured  above  his  bre- 
thren, and  exhibit  him  as  the  lord  of  a  wide 
Lomain,  and  the  possessor  of  the  divine  blessing. 
Observe,  moreover,  the  name  DTipX  used  bere 
(as  in  v.  20,  25,  26 1  instead  of  nin\  which  occurs 

elsewhere  in  these  genealogical  sections  (for 
example,  ii.  3,  v.  41,  etc.). 

o  The.  Men  of  Sechah:  vers.  11,  12. — And 
t.'etub  tin-  broth  r  of  Shuhah  begat  Mehir. 
This  Celub  (3^3)  bears  indeed  the  same  name  as 

the  famous  hero  Caleb  or  Celubai  (ii.  9),  but  is 
distinguished  by  the  addition  "the  brother  of 
Shuhah "  from  his  more  illustrious  namesake, 
and  cannot  possibly  have  passed  witli  our  genealo- 
gist  l'"r  the  same  person  (as  Wellhausen,  p.  'Jo, 

thinks).  The  choice  of  the  form  31S3.  which 
"oris  to  2^tj  as  2W-  ver.  8,  to  2}]}<  while  the 


famous  Caleb  the  son  of  Jephunneh,  ver.  15.  is 
designated  by  his  usual  name,  shows  that  in  the 
view  of  the  writer  tlie  owners  "I'  ih"  two  names 
are  to  be  kept  apart.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
rims'  be  a  man's  or  a  woman's  name  ;  its  identi- 
fication witli  rVC;'n,  ver.  4,  is  not  admitted  (against 

Starke  and  other  old  writers).  Mehir  tl 
and  Esliton  the  grandson,  of  Celub  occur  no- 
where else.  —  Ver.  12.  And  Eshton  begat  Beth 
rapha,  that  is,  perhaps,  the  house  or  family  of 
Kapha,  who  is  otherwise  unknown  ;  for  neither 
the  Benjamite  Kapha  (viii.  2i  nor  the  offspring  of 
Rapha  ;.xx.  4-S)  can  apply  here.  And  the  two 
following  descendants  of  Eshton  remain  at  least 
uncertain.  Paseah  might  possibly  be  the  ancestor 
of  tlie  "sons  of  Paseah"  introduced  among  the 
Xethiiiim  (Ezra  ii.  49;  Neh.  vii.  51);  Tehinnah 
occurs  not  elsewhere,  though  perhaps  tlie  city 
N'ahash,  ofwhich  he  is  the  father  "i'  founder,  may 
be  connected  with  Nahash  the  father  of  Abigail, 
the  step-sister  of  David  (see  ii.  10:  2  Sun.  xvii. 
251.  —  These  tie  the  men  of  Rechah,  the  in- 
habitants perhaps  of  the  town  Eechah,  a  place 
not  elsewhere  named. 

7.  The  Descendants  of  Kenaz :  vers.  13,  14. 
— And  the  sons  of  Kenaz:  Othniel  and  Seraiah. 
That   Kenaz  (Up),  the   "father"  of  Othniel  the 

judge  (Judg.  i.  13  If.,  iii.  9),  sprang  from 
Hezron  the  grandson  of  Judah,  appears  to  follow 
from  this,  that  Caleb  the  sou  of  Jephunneh  is 
several  times  designated  a  Kenizzite  (i^p),  and  so 

placed  in  a  certain  genealogical  relation  to  Kenaz. 
It  is  to  be  observed,  indeed,  that  Kenaz,  if  really 
father  or  grandfather,  and  not  a  more  remote 
ancestor  of  Othniel,  would  have  been  younger 
than  Caleb  or  a  contemporary  of  nearly  tlie  same 
age.  Caleb  and  Othniel  are  usually  called 
"  brothers,"  on  account  of  their  common  relation 
to  Kenaz  (Josh.  xv.  17  ;  Judg.  i.  13)  ;  and,  in- 
deed, in  the  latter  place  Othniel  is  called  the 
"younger  brother"  of  Caleb  (we  must  there- 
fore translate,  with  Bachmann,  tlie  son  of  Kenaz, 
younger  brother  of  Caleb,  with  which,  how- 
ever, Josh.  xv.  17  would  conflict  ;  see  Keil,  p. 
03).  Hence  appears  the  possibility  that  both  the 
companion  of  Joshua,  Caleb  the  son  of  Jephunneh 
(who  was  eighty-five  years  old  at  the  conquest  of 
Canaan,  Josh.  xiv.  10  f. ),  and  Othniel  the  judge, 
at  least  a  generation  younger  (the  conqueror  of 
Cushan  rishathaim),  stood  in  a  common  relation  to 
an  otherwise  unknown  patriarch  Kenaz.  Of  what 
nature  this  relation  was,  whether  it  was  that 
Caleb,  by  means  of  his  father  Jephunneh,  was  a 
grandson  of  Kenaz  (as  appears  to  have  been  the 
case,  Num.  xxxii.  12),  and  that  Othniel,  either 
through  Jephunneh  or  some  other,  was  likewise 
in-  grandson,  or  perhaps  great-grandson,  rausl  re- 
main uncertain.  Possibly  Kenaz  is  merely  tlie 
name  of  a  race  external  to  Israel,  belonging  111 
fact  10  Edoui,  Gen.  xxxvi.  11,  1  Cnron.  i.  36,  53, 
to  which  Caleb  became  somehow  related  in  the 
march  through  the  wilderness,  and  from  which 
also  Othniel  was  descended.  Knobel  1011  Gen. 
xxxvi.  11,  p.  2S1)  conceives  lie  relationship 
thus  :  "  The  '  Kenizzite  '  is  perhaps  a  sui  name  of 
Caleb,  originating  from  some  Kenizzites  having 
pissed  into  his  family  during  the  joiirnev  ot 
Moses.  After  Jephunneh's  death,  one  of  them 
appears  to  have  married  Caleb's  mother,  and  had 
by  her  Othnid.      His  name  being  afterwards  for 


66 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


gotten,  he  was  designated  by  the  Dame  of  his 
tribe."—  Seraiah,  Othniel's  brother,  occurs  only 
here  ;  we  meet  with  a  later  Jew  of  this  name, 
who  returned  with  Zembbabel,  Ezra  ii.  2. — And 
the  sons  of  Othniel:  Hathath.  On  the  phrase 
"331  before  only  one  name,   see  ii.    7.     Yet  the 

plural  might  here  possibly  refer  also  to  Meonothai 
as   brother  of   Hathath   (ver.    14),   if  a  Vljil'Cl 

hail  fallen  out  at  the  end  of  our  verse,  or  if  the 
genealogist  had  presupposed  that  Meonothai  was 
brother  to  Hathath,  and  therefore  hastened  at 
once  to  the  statement  of  his  descendants. 
Othniel's  sons  occur  nowhere  else.  The  name 
Meonothai  might  also  be  connected  with  the 
town  Maon  (Jusli.  xv.  55),  or  with  the  Meunim 
(Ezra  ii.  5U;  Neh.  vii.  52). — Ver.  14.  And 
Meonothai  begat  Ophrah.  We  can  scarcely  think 
of  Ophrah  as  the  Benjamite  town  of  this  name 
(Josh,  xviii.  23;  1  Sam.  xiii.  17),  or  even  of  the 
home  of  Gideon  in  the  tribe  of  Manasseh  (Judg. 
vi.  11). — And  Seraiah  beijal  Joab  father  if  the 
valley  of  the  carpenters.  This  occurs  here  as  a 
place  founded  by  Joab  son  of  Seraiah  (ver.  13), 
called  the  "  Valley  of  the  carpenters  or  the 
craftsmen"  (D'SShn),  and  in  Neh.   xi.  35  ;  and, 

indeed,  as  a  place  not  far  from  Jerusalem,  on  the 
north  side.  Whether  it  had  received  its  name 
after  the  exile,  and  whether  Joab,  the  founder  of 
the  colony,  is  to  pass  for  one  of  those  Joabs  in 
Zerubbabel's  time  who  are  mentioned  Ezra  ii.  ti, 
Neh.  vii.  11  (to  which  hypothesis  Berth,  seems 
inclined),  must  remain  doubtful. 

S.  Tlu  Descendants  of  Caleb  tin-  Son  qfJephun- 
neh  :  ver.  15. —That  this  Jephunnite  Caleb  is 
probably  the  same  with  him  whose  genealogy  is 
given  oh.  ii.  46-49  (and  therefore  with  the  Caleb 
of  Num.,  Josh.,  and  Judg  ),  and  different  from 
the  Hezronite  Cclubai  or  Caleb  (ii.  9,  IS,  42  ti'., 
50  ff.,  perhaps  his  ancestor  [rather  descendant]), 
has  been  fully  shown  on  ii.  49. — Iru,  Elah,  ami 
Noam.  These  three  sons  of  Caleb  occur  m  m  here 
else;  for  the  second,  Elah,  must  have  been  com- 
bined with  the  Edomite  prince  of  the  same  name 
mentioned  i.  52,  as  Eenaz  might  be  identical 
with  the  Kenaz  named  there,  "ver.  53.  This 
Calebite  Kenaz  cannot  be  the  same  as  the  father 
of  Othniel  (ver.  13) ;  rather  as  grandson  or  great- 
grandson,  he  bore  the  same  name  as  his  ancestor. 
Why  "the  sons  of  Elah"  are  set  down  between 
this  Kenaz  and  Naam  in  the  series  of  the  sons  of 
Caleb  we  can  no  longer  explain.  It  is  inadmis- 
sible, at  all  events,  to  translate,  with  a  number 
of  older  expositors  (including  Starke) ;  "  and  the 
sons  of  Elah  were  (also)  Kenaz,"  as  if  1  before 
Jjp  could  be  anything  but  the  copula.     As  the 

words  run,  Kenaz  is  appended  to  the  aforemen- 
tioned descendants  of  Caleb,  of  whom  the  sons  of 
Elah  take  the  fourth  place,  as  the  fifth  and  last ; 
only  if  a   name  were  fallen  out  before  f;p^  (as 

Keil  supposes)  could  Kenaz  be  regarded  as  be- 
longing to  the  sons  of  Elah. 

9.  Jehaleltl's  Sons :  ver.  16. — Ziph  and Ziphah, 
Tiriah  and  Asarel.  Only  the  first  of  these  is 
known,  and,  indeed,  as  the  supposed  father  of 
one  of  those  towns  in  Judah  which  are  named  in 
Josh.  xv.  24,  55.  Even  of  Jehalelel  we  know- 
nothing  more.  A  quite  arbitrary  hypothesis  of 
some  older  scholars  makes  out  of  him  rather  a 
woman,  the  supposed  second  wife  of  Kenaz,  ver 
13,  whose  first  wife  was  (?)  Jelihunneh. 


10.  Ezrah's  Posterity:  vers.  17,  IS.—  And  thi 
sons  of  Ezrah:  Jether,  and  Mered,  and  Epher, 
and  Jalon  ;  and  she  conceived,  etc.  If  the 
smg-   pi  is  f°  De  retained,  we  may  compare  such 

cases  as  iii.  19,  21,  23,  etc.  ;  but  see  Crit.  Note. 
The  here-named  Ezrah  occurs  nowhere  else  ;  he 
belongs,  at.  all  events,  to  a  grey  antiquity,  as  the 
father  of  old  Jewish  towns  like  Eshtemoa,  Socho. 
Zanoah,  etc.  It  is  not  clear  how  he  is  connected 
with  the  foregoing  or  following  families  of  Judah, 
Of  his  four  sons,  the  last,  Jalon,  occurs  only  here 
even  in  name;  the  names  Jether  and  Epher  occui 
elsewhere,  but  in  other  families  (Jether,  ii.  32. 
comp.  53;  and  Epher,  xi.  33  and  v.  24);  furthei 
notices  of  them  are  wanting.  On  the  contrary, 
the  closing  sentence  of  ver.  18  shows,  with  respect 
to  Mered,  that  probably  all  the  names  from  ver. 
lilt  ("and  she  conceived,"  etc.)  denote  descend- 
ants <»!  this  man  by  two  wives,  a  "Jewess"  and  a 
"daughter  of  Pharaoh."     And  as  the  words  -inm 

'  131,  standing  as  they  now  do  alter  the  name  of 
the  fourth  son  of  Ezrah,  and  wanting  a  feminine 
subject,  yield  no  rational  sense,  the  removal  (pro- 
posed by  Bertheau,  and  adopted  by  Kamph., 
Keil,  and  others)  of  that  closing  sentence:  "and 
these  are  the  sons  of  Bithiah  daughter  of  Pharaoh, 

whom  Mered  took,"  to   our  passage  after   vt>^, 

'        T  ; 

commends  itself  as  a  very  suitable  amendment ; 
comp.  the  Crit.  Note,      "inm  is  then  to  be  taken 

as  a  synonym  of  "pm   (which   is  given   by  the 

Sept.   and  the   Vulg. ),   and    the   names   Miriam 

(□'"ID,  'or  which,  perhaps,  US~\12,  lis  in  Sept.  cod. 

Vat.  or  the  like,  is  to  be  read,  as  we  expect  to  find 
a  man's  name  in  the  first  place),  Shammai,  and 
Ishbah  then  denote  the  sons  born  to  Mered  by 
Pharaoh's  daughter;  whereupon  in  ver.  IS  the 
names  of  those  descended  from  the  Jewess  are 
added.  We  obtain  here,  accordingly,  two  lines 
descending  from  Mered — one  Egyptian,  from  which 
land  in  particular  from  Ishbah  (he  third  son  of 
Pharaoh's  daughter)  the  inhabitants  of  the  town 
Eshtemoa  (Sept.  'Erfa/tu*  or  'Erfm/ia*),  on  the 
mountains  of  Judah,  the  present  Samua,  south 
of  Hebron,  drew  their  origin  (comp.  Josh.  xv.  15, 
xxi.  14,  and  ver.  19),  and  one  Jewish,  from  which 
three  towns  of  Judah  are  derived: — 1.  Gedoi, 
comp.  on  ver.  4 ;  2.  Socho,  perhaps  the  present 
Suweikeh,  in  the  lowland  south  west  of  Jeru- 
salem, comp.  Josh.  xv.  35,  1  Sam.  xvii.  1,  etc. ; 
3.  Zanoah,  perhaps  the  present  Sanuah,  in  the 
lowland  near  Zorah,  comp.  Josh.  xv.  34  (though 
the  other  Zanoah  on  the  mountains  of  Judab. 
Josh,  xv.  36,  the  site  of  which  we  do  not  know, 
might  be  meant).  Of  the  names  of  the  three 
"fathers"  or  founders  of  these  towns,  Jekuthie] 

(^NTUpV  probably  "fear  of  God")  occurs  no- 
where else;  while  Jered  (comp.  Gen.  v.  15)  and 
"QPI    occur    elsewhere,    the    latter    pretty   often 

(Gen.  xlvi.  17;  Num.  xxvi.  45;  Judg.  iv.  11,  17; 
1  Chron.  viii.  17).— And  these  are  the  sons  oj 
Bithiah,  etc.  These  words,  in  the  position  which 
we  have  assigned  to  them,  are  not  a  subscription 
tor  the  preceding,  but  rather  an  introduction 
to  the  following  words   "131  innV      We  know 

nothing  more  of  this  daughter  of  Pharaoh. 
n'jns"ri3    may  be  merely  a  general  phrase  for 


CHAP.  IV.  19-23. 


57 


rVIXQ.  au  Egyptian ;  so  thinks  Hitzig,  Oesch.  d. 

V.  isr.  p.  64,  who,  indeed,  without  right,  might 
thus  degrade  the  Pharaoh's  daughter  of  the 
Exodus,  the  foster-mother  of  .Moses,  into  a  com- 
mon Egyptian.  No  less  arbitrary  is  the  opposite 
conjeeture  of  the  older  Rabbins,  and  recently  "I 
Fiirat  (Gesch.  d.  bibl.  Liter,  i.  319),  that  this 
same  king's  daughter Theiuiuthis,  the  protectress 

of  Muses,  is  here  meant.     The  na Miriam,  at 

the  head  of  the  descendants  of  this  Egyptian, 
seems  to  have  given  rise  to  this  identification 
with  Thernmthis  (comp.  Wagenseil,  Sota,  p.  '271). 
The  opinion  of  Osiander,  Hilh-r.  .1.  II.  Michaelis, 
Starke,  etc.,  that  we  are  not  to  think  of  an 
Egyptian  here,  as  Bithiah  is  a  Hebrew  name, 
and  Pharaoh  the  name  of  a  Jew.  is  also  arbitrary, 
and  directly  against  the  phrase  njPS"n3  (comp. 

2  Chron.  viii.  11;  1  Kings  ix.  24). 

11.  Tint  Sons  of  ike  Wife  of  ffodiah:  ver.  19. 
— And  (he  suns  of  the  wife  of  Hodiah,  the  sister 
of  Naham.     Hodiah  (n>"lin),  as  the  present  St. 

constr.  jyj'N.  an<I  its  occurrence  as  the  name  of 

several  Levites  after  the  exile,  in  the  book  of 
Nehemiah  (Neh.  viii.  7,  ix.  5,  x.  11),  show,  is 
not  a  woman's,  but  a  man's  name.  We  know 
neither  the  name  of  Hodiah's  wife  nor  her  rela 
tion  to  the  foregoing;  for  that  QrU,  whose  sister 

she  is  said  to  be,  is  the  same  as  QJJJ,  Caleb's  son, 

ver.  15,  no  one  will  seriously  assert.  —  Thefather 
of  Keilah  Hie  Garmite,  and  Eshtemoa  (or  perhaps 
"the  father  ol  Eshtemoa;"  see  Git.  Note)  thi 
Maachathite.  The  two  designations,  "the  liar- 
mite"  and  "the  Maachathite,"  are  to  us  equally 
obscure  and  unintelligible  ;  the  latter  may,  per- 
haps, contain  an  allusion  to  Maachah  the  third 
wife  of  Caleb,   ii.    48.      The  situation  of  Keilah 

(n^'yp),  a  town  in  the  lowland  of  Judah  (Josh. 

x\\  44),  has  not  yet  been  ascertained.  On  Eshte- 
moa, see  ver.  17. 

12.  Descendants  of  Shimon  and  hid :  ver.  20. 
— A»d  the  sous  of  Shimon:  Amnon,  etc.  We 
know  not  otherwise  either  Shimon  or  his  four 
sons,  and  therefore  cannot  indicate  his  place  in 
the  genealogy  of  Judah.  That  he  was  a  Hezronite, 
like  all  the  foregoing,  is  a  mere  conjecture  of 
Wellhausen  (p  20). — And  tin:  son-  of  Ishi: 
Zoheth  and  Benzoheth.  The  name  Ishi  was  also 
home  by  a  Jerahmeelite  (ii.  31),  the  son  of 
Appaim,  and  by  a  Shneonite,  iv.  42.  Neither 
can  be  meant  here,  especially  as  a  son  Zoheth, 
not  there  mentioned,  and  an  anonymous  grandson 
of  this  Zoheth,  are  added  as  descendants. 

13.  Descendants  of  She  la  It,  third  son  of  Judah: 
vers  21-23.  —  The  sons  of  Shelah  son  of  Judah. 
tin  this  third  son  of  Judah  by  the  Canaauitess 
Bathshua,  see  ii.  3;  Gen.  xxxviii.  5.     The  absence 

of  the   copula  1  before  nbc'  '33  (as  before  133 

rTWiT,    ver.    I)   marks  the  beginning  of  a   new 

genealogical  series:  and,  indeed,  a  series  that  is 
of  the  more  importance,  because  the  posterity  of 
Shelah  is  entirely  omitted  in  eh.  ii.  — Er  the 
father  of  Lechah,  and  Ladah  the  father  of  Mar- 

eshah.  This  Er  is  not  to  be  confounded  with 
Shelah 's  brother,  the  tirst  -  born  of  Judah  (as 
Bertheau  thinks);  rather  is  this  a  similar  case 
jf  uncle  and  nephew  having  the  same  name,  as 


in  Ram,   for  example,  ii.  9;  comp.  ver.   25.     We 

know  no  more  of  the  town  Lechah  (113^)  founded 

by  this  younger  Er;  but  Mareshah,  founded  by 
ids  brother  Ladah,  is  no  doubt  the  present  Marash 

in  the  Shephelah;  see  on  ch.  ii.  42.— And  the 
families  of  the  house  of  byssus  n;,rk,  of  the  hovst 
of  Ashbea.  This  house  of  byssus  work  (cotton 
factory)  may  have  been  situated  in  Egypt,  or 
possibly  in  Palestine.  We  know  as  little  of  its 
situation    as    of  the    "house    of   Ashbea"    (JV3 

i'ZJI'K.  rendered  by  Jerome:  domus  juramenli) 

For  the   cultivation  of  cotton  (p3,  here   dcfei 

tively  i'3)    also  in  Syria  and   Palestine,   comp 

Ezek.  xxvii.  16;  Pausan.  v.  5.  2;  Pococke,  Mor- 
ijenl  ii.  88;  Robinson,  ii.  612,  628,  iii.  432.— 
Ver.  22.  And  Jokhn,  and  the  men  of  Cozeba,  etc. 
The  strange  rendering  of  these  and  the  following 
words  in  the  Vulg.  (see  Crit.  Note)  seems  to  have 
been  occasioned  by  an  old  Rabbinical  combination 

of  the  words  3K1D^  ^>JQ  t";X  w!t»  the  narra- 
tive of  the  book  of  Ruth ;  the  Q^pi'  =  qui  stare 

n  cit  solem  are  accordingly  Elinieleeh,  the  viri 
mendacii  his  sons  Mahlon  and  Chilion,  who  re- 
moved with  him  to  Moab,  and  married  daughters 

of  this  land;  and  in  Dl"6  'OB*  is  indicated  their 
return  to  Bethlehem,  etc.  Our  passage  in  reality 
states  a  total  or  partial  conquest  of  Moab,  effected 
in  ancient  times  by  several  descendants  of  Shelah, 
whose  names  are  not  otherwise  known  to  us. 
Li'pV  appears  contracted  from  DV'V-  The  men 
of  H3T3  might  be  the  inhabitants  of  3*13,  Gen. 
xxxviii.  5  <  =  3,t3N.  Josh.  xv.  44),  the  birth- 
place of  Shelah,  in  the  lowland  of  Judah.  An 
altogether  strange  and  now  inexplicable  name 
occurs  at  the  end,  rjnS  l,3B>\  "which  the  punc- 
tuators would  scarcely  have  so  pronounced,  if  the 
pronunciation  had  not  been  so  handed  down  to 
them"  (Berth.!. — And  these  art  ancient  things, 
thai  is,  not  merely  "before  the  exile,  in  the 
period  of  the  kings,"  as  Bertheau  thinks  (p.  46), 
who  endeavours  to  convert  this  notice  into  an 
indin  ct  support  of  his  hypothesis,  that  in  vers. 
7-20  the  generations  and  families  of  Judah  after 
the  exile  are  reported,  while  vers.  21-23  form  an 
appendix  referring  to  the  period  of  kings,  but 
certainly  w  ithout  warrant ;  the  words  merely  be- 
speak a  high  age,  belonging  to  the  grey  foretime, 
for  the  traditions  concerning  Jokim,  the  men  of 
Cozeba,  etc.  (comp.  Wellhausen,  p.  23,  11.  1). — 
Ver.  23.  These  are  the  potters  and  the  dm  lb  rt  in 
Netaim  and  Gederah.      riEH,  "these,"  appear  tc 

refer  to  the  whole  descendants  of  Shelah  (with 
the  natural  exception  of  those  "byssus  workers," 
ver.  21,  that  could  not  well  he  at  the  same  time 
potters),  and  not  merely  those  named  in  ver.  22 
(as  Berth.);  for  this  verse  has  its  closing  notice 
in   D'pTlJ?  E'-Q'nn'l.      It   is   not    known   where 

Netaim  (D'yD3.   "plantings")   was;    perhaps   it 

means  royal  gardens  near  Jerusalem,  or  near 
those  pleasure  gardens  of  Solomon  in  the  Wady 
Urtus  at  Bethlehem  (see  on  Song  i.  1.  vol. 
xiii.    p.    29   of    Bilelir.);    comp.    also    I'zziah's 


o$ 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


gardens,    2   C'hron.    xxvi.    10.     Gederah    (nTBi 

"fence")  is  perhaps  the  town  mentioned  Josh. 
xv.  36  in  the  lowland  of  Jndah  (the  present 
village  Gedera,  about  an  hour  south-west  of 
Jabneh ;  see  Keil  on  1  Chron.  xii.  4). —  With  the 
king,  in  his  service,  they  dwelt  there.  To  what 
king  this  alludes  is  uncertain ;  probably  no  single 
king  (as  Uzziah,  or  David,  or  Solomon)  is  meant : 
but  the  phrase  applies  to  the  kings  of  the  house 
of  David  in  general,  who,  from  the  beginning, 
inherited  extensive  private  domains,  where  not 
merely  cattle  -  breeding,  tillage,  and  gardening 
were  pursued,  but  also  handicrafts,  as  the  pottery 
here  mentioned,  the  cotton-weaving,  ver.  21,  and 
perhaps  carpentry,  ver.  14.' 

It  has  been  already  remarked  that  Bertheau's 
assumption,  that  vers.  1-20  of  our  chapter 
"presented  a  description  of  the  generations  and 
families  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  which  were  living 
soon  after  the  exile  (the  time  of  Zerubbabel, 
Ezra,  and  Neherniah),"  but  vers.  21-23  formed 
an  appendix  relating  to  earlier  times,  was  not 
well  founded,  and  finds  no  sufficient  support  in 
the  assertion,  "and  these  are  ancient  things." 
Comp.  the  full  refutation  which  Keil  (p.  66  ff., 
note  2)  has  given  to  this  hypothesis.     Neither  is 

1  Moreover,  the  encineer  of  the  "Palestine  Exploration 
Fund,"  Captain  Wan  en,  lias  recently  discovered  remains 
of  the  pottery  of  the>e  royal  factories  in  Jerusalem.  See 
Our  Wort  in  'Palestine,  London  1873,  p.  149. 


the  concomitant  assumption  tenable,  that  then 
are  exactly  twelve  families  of  the  house  of  Judah 
in  vers.  1-29,  and  of  Judah,  too,  alter  the  exile, 
in  the  days  of  Zerubbabel ;  for  tlie  families  men- 
tioned are  not  arranged  according  to  the  sons 
and  grandsons  of  Judah  in  ver.  1,  but  are  strung 
together  loosely,  and  without  any  mark  of  con- 
nection. Instead  of  twelve,  also,  a  smaller  num- 
ber of  families  may  he  brought  out  by  another 
mode  of  reckoning ;  as,  for  example,  Ewald,  in  a 
far  more  arbitrary  way  indeed  than  Berthet.il, 
has  found  twelve  families  in  the  whole,  of  our 
section,  including  Shelah  and  his  descendants 
in  vers.  21-23  (Gesch.  i.  p.  471).  Both  appeal 
to  be  merely  accidental — the  number  twelve  of 
the  families  named,  according  to  Bertheau's 
reckoning,  and  the  circumstance  that  many  of 
the  persons  ami  places  in  our  section  recur  it 
Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  To  the  latter  circumstance, 
strongly  urged  by  Bertheau,  Keil  has  justly 
opposed  the  no  less  undeniable  fact,  that  most 
of  the  places  already  occur  in  Joshua,  and  very 
many  of  the  persons  in  Samuel  and  Kings,  and 
that,  with  respect  to  the  geographical  coincidences 
with  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  the  historical  contents 
of  these  books,  that  were  almost  exclusively 
enacted  on  the  soil  of  Judah,  and  among  Israelites 
of  Jewish  extraction,  should  in  great  part  be 
taken  into  account  in  explanation  of  this.  Comp. 
also  what  has  been  urged  above  in  the  Prelimi- 
nary Remark,  p.  53. 


c.  The  Families  of  Simeon,  and  the  Transjohdanic  Tribes  of  Reuben,  Gad,  and  half- 
Manasseh  (till  the  Deportation  of  the  latter  by  the  Assyrians). — Ch.  iv.  24-v.  26. 


Cj 

.  IV 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 

37 

38 

3y 

40 

41 

42 


1.   The  Families  of  Simeun:  ch.  iv.  24-43. 

24.  The  sons  of  Simeon  were  Nemuel,  and  Jamin,  Jarib,  Zerah,  Shaul. 
Shallum  his  son,  Mibsam  his  son,  Mishma  his  son.  And  the  sons  of  Mishma  : 
Hainuel  his  son,  Zaccur  his  son,  Shimi  his  son.  And  Shimi  had  sixteen  sons 
and  six  daughters ;  but  his  brethren  had  not  many  sons  :  and  all  their  family 
did  not  multiply,  like  the  sons  of  Judah. 

And  they  dwelt  at  Beer-sheba,  and  Moladah,  and  Hazar-shual.  And  at 
Bilhah,  and  at  Ezem,  and  at  Tolad.  And  at  Bethuel,  and  at  Hormah,  and  at 
Ziklag.  And  at  Beth-marcaboth,  and  at  Hazar-susim,  and  at  Beth-biri,  and 
at  Shaaraim  :  these  were  their  towns  until  the  reign  of  David.  And  their 
villages,  Etam,  and  Ain,  Rimmon,  and  Tochen,  and  Ashan,  five  towns.  Ami 
all  their  villages  that  were  round  these  towus  unto  Baal.  This  was  their 
habitation,  and  they  had  their  own  genealogy. 

And  Meshobab,  and  Jamlech,  and  Joshah  the  son  of  Amaziah.  And  Joel, 
and  Jehu  the  son  of  Josibiah,  the  son  of  Seraiah,  the  son  of  Asiel.  And 
Elioenai,  and  Jaakobah,  and  Jeshohaiah,  and  Asaiah,  and  Adiel,  and  Jesimiel, 
and  Benaiah.  And  Ziza  the  son  of  Shiphi,  the  son  of  Allon.  the  son  of  Jedaiah, 
the  son  of  Shimri,  the  son  of  Shemaiah.  These  are  they  that  entered  by  name 
princes  in  their  families  ;  and  their  father-houses  spread  greatly.  And  they 
went  to  the  entrance  of  Gedor,1  to  the  east  of  the  valley,  to  seek  pasture 
for  their  flocks.  And  they  found  fat  and  good  pasture,  and  the  land  was 
wide  on  all  sides,  and  quiet,  and  peaceful ;  for  they  were  of  Ham  who  dwelt 
there  before.  And  these  written  by  name  came  in  the  days  of  Hezekiah 
king  of  Judah,  and  smote  their  tents,  and  the  Melinites'-'  that  were  found 
there,  and  destroyed  them  unto  this  day,  and  dwelt  in  their  stead  ;  for  there 
was  pasture  there  for  their  flocks.  Ami  of  them,  of  the  sons  of  Simeon,  five 
hundred  men  went  to  mount  Seir  ;  and  Pelatiah,  and  Neariah,  and  Eephaiah, 


CHAP.  IV.  24-33. 


59 


43  and  Uzziel,   the  sons  of  Ishi,   were  at  their  head.     And   they  smote   the 
remnant  that  had  escaped  of  Amalek,  and  dwelt  there  unto  this  day, 

1  The  Sei>r  gives  here  Vipxp,  whence  ~n3  might  possibly  be  an  error  of  transcription  for  ")")•]. 
*  So  (D'WBil)  the  Keri,  whereas  I  lie  Kethib  gives  D'J'l'Qn.  unit  the  Sept.  accordingly  Mow'wf- 


EXEGETICAL. 

Preliminary  Remark. — This  account  of  the 
tribe  of  Simeon  includes  in  it  a  genealogical,  a 
geographical,  and  a  historical  section.  The  first 
(vers.  24-27)  gives  the  five  sons  of  Simeon,  and 
traces  the  posterity  of  the  last,  Shaul,  through  a 
series  ol  generations  :  the  second  (vers.  28-33) 
recounts  their  dwelling-places  till  the  time  of 
David  ;  the  third  (vers.  34-43)  contains  two 
migrations  or  conquests  of  Sim- unite  families,  one 
in  the  time  of  Hezekiah  into  a  region  previously 
inhabited  by  Hamites,  another  without  a  date  to 
.Mount  Seii,  into  a  district  previously  Amalekite. 
These  accounts  partake  of  the  same  fragmentary 
character  as  the  sei  tions  referring  to  the  following 
tribes.  Convp.  moreover,  K.  H.  Graf,  Dei- Stamm 
Simeon,  a  contribution  to  the  History  of  Israel, 
Meissen  1S66,  and,  with  respect  to  the  geography, 
the  great  work  "!'  the  Englishmen  E.  H.  Palmer 
and  T.  Drake,  The  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  etc., 
Cambridge  1&71 ,  one  of  the  most  valuable  publica- 
tions of  the  "  Palestine  Exploration  Fund,"  with 
specially  valuable  contributions  to  the  geography 
of  the  south  of  Palestine.  With  the  conclusion 
of  these  inquirers,  that  the  south  border  of  Pales- 
tine, in  particular  of  the  tribe  of  Simeon,  must  be 
extended  much  farther  than  is  usually  supposed, 
agrees  also  Consul  Wetzstein,  Ueber  Kadesh  mud 
PaUistma'sSiidgrenze  (Excursus  III.  in  Delitzsch's 
Comment  on  Gen.,  4th  edit.). 

1.  The  Five  Sons  of  Simeon,  and  the  Desa  mlnn's 
of  Shaul;  vers.  25-27. — Lemuel.  andJamin^Jarib 
Zerah,  Shaul.  The  list  in  Num.  xxvi.  12-14  also 
names  five  sons  of  Simeon,  and  quite  the  same  as 
here,  except  Jarib,  who  is  there  Jakin  (p^),  of 

which  it  appears  to  lie  a  corruption.  On  the 
contrary,  in  the  older  parallels,  Gen.  xlvi.  10, 
Ex.  vi.  15,  six  sons  of  Simeon  are  enumerated, 
among  whom  an  ( lhad  stands  in  the  third  place, 
who  is  wanting  here  and  in  Numbers,  perhaps 
because  his  posterity  had  died  out  so  soon  as  to 
form  no  distinct  family  ;  and  in  the  first  place  a 
Jemuel,  who  corresponds  to  the  Nemuel  of  our 
passage,  and  in  the  last  a  Zohar,  instead  of  the 
Zerah  here  before  the  last.  It  is  plain  that  we 
have   here   equivalent  names,  as  "l|"l'V>  candor,  is 

not   very   remote   from  nil,    ortus  soils   (corop. 

Mai.  iii.  20  ;  Luke  i.  78),   and  also  7X1DJ  (with 

whom  Hitzig  on  Prov.  xxx.  01,  perhaps  too 
toldly,  identities  the  conjectural  king  Lemuel  ol 

Massa)  appears  only  a  by-form  of  pSftQ\  '!"}'  "1 

God.  It  is  uncertain  whether  we  are  t<>  regard 
the  forms  given  in  Genesis  and  Exodus  at  once  as 
original.  It  is  at  least  plain,  from  the  agreement 
of  Num.  xxvi.  12-14  with  our  passage,  that  the 
Chrouist  has  not  adopted  an  arbitrary  form  of  the 
names,  as  Gramberg  assumes. — Ver.  25.  sin, Hum 
his  son,  etc.  Only  of  Shaul,  the  last  (perhaps  the 
voungest)  of  the  sons  of  Simeon,  whose  mother  is 
called  a  Canaauitess  in  the  parallel  accounts  of 
Genesis  and  Exodus,  are  further  descendants  re- 


ported in  six  succeeding  generations,  Shalluni, 
Mibsam,  Mishma,  Hamuel,  Zaccur,  and  Shimi. 
By  the  words,  "and  the  sons  of  .Mishma,"  at  the 
beginning  of  ver.  27,  these  six  generations  are 
divided  into  two  groups,  of  which,  however,  the 
s  cond,  only  lineal,  without  any  collateral  descen- 
dants; comp.  the  plur.  '33}  in  like  cases,  as  i.  41, 

ii.  31,  iii.  16,  22,  etc. — Ver.  27.  And  •Shimi  had 
sixteen  sons  and  six  daughters.  This  lather  of  a 
very  large  and  flourishing  family  is  brought  into 
prominence,  like  Elioenai,  iii.  24  :  comp.  the 
descendants  of  Jacob,  Jesse,  David,  Jet,  and 
Ps.  exxvii.  8,  exxviii.  3. — But  his  brethren  (the 
remaining  Simeonites,  not  merely  Shimi's  imme- 
diate brothers)  had  not  many  sons.  This  is  the 
reason  that  their  whole  "  family  did  not  multiply 
like  that  of  Judah."  With  this  agrees  the  com- 
paratively small  number  of  the  Simeonites  in  the 
census  under  Moses  (Num.  i.-iv. ),  and  the  way 
in  which  this  smaller  tribe  was  included  in  the 
stronger  tribe  of  Judah  in  the  division  of  the  land, 
Josh.  xix.  1. 

2.  The  original  Dwelling-Places  of  the  Simeon- 
ites in  the  Southern  Part  of  the  Land  of  Judah: 
vers.  28-33  ;  comp.  Josh.  xix.  2-8.— With  the 
names  of  the  Simeonite  dwelling-places  reported 
in  this  old  parallel,  those  here  named  agree  in  the 
main,  and  in  particular  with  respect  to  the  sepa- 
ration into  two  groups,  one  of  thirteen,  the  other 
of  five  towns.  Only  the  second  group  consists 
there  of  only  four  towns  (see  on  ver.  32),  and  in 
the  first  group,  notwithstanding  the  statement 
that  thirteen  towns  are  reported,  ver.  6,  four- 
teen are  actually  named  ;  between  Beer-sheba 
and  Moladah  a  Sheba  is  inserted,  a  name  (JQBJ) 

which  appears  to  be  a  repetition  of  the  second 
component  of  yx?  "1K3,  occasioned  by  negligence 

in   copying,    but   possibly   also  =  yoCi*>    a   town 

named,  Josh.  xv.  26,  before  Moladah  (of  the  latter 
opinion  is,  for  example,  Keil,  on  Josh.  xix.  2  and 
our  passage).  There  are  several  unessential  differ- 
ences of  form  or  orthography  between  our  passage 

and  Josh,  xix.,  as  in  the  latter  n?3  for  n!"l?3, 

ver.  29,  i^inta  for  ~bsn,  ^j-q  for  bwnz, 

HD1D  "fifTl  for  D'DID  IVn.  niK3^  JV3  (house  of 
lions)  for  '{03  JT3.  and  jni~m>  (pleasant  har- 
bour) for  D'll'C'  (two  gates).     It  cannot  be  shown 

which  of  these  forms  is  the  more  original  :  some 
of  the  deviations  may  rest  on  mere  errors  of  trau- 
scription,  as  might  so  easily  happen  in  places  that 
scarcely  ever  occur  again.  Moreover,  the  book  of 
Joshua  (xv.  26-32)  repeats  the  most  of  them  as 
belonging  to  the  towns  of  the  south  of  Judah,  and 
certainly  »vith  some  variations  of  form  (for  ex- 
ample, rb'slZ  for  Bilhah,  ^D3  for  Bethul,  OWE* 

for  Shaaraim,  Madmannah  for  Keth-mareaboth, 
Sansannah  for  Hazar-susim).  Most  of  these 
places  are  still  undiscovered ;  Beer-sheba  survives 


60 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


in  Bir-es-Seba  ;  Moladah  probably  in  tlie  ruins 
Tel  Milh,  south  of  Hebron,  on  the  road  to  Aila ; ' 
Hormah,  the  older  name  of  which  was  Shephath, 
in  the  ruin  Sepnta,  two  aud  a  half  hours  south  of 
Khalasa  ;  Ziklag  in  Kasluj,  east  of  this  Sepata  ; 
and  Shaaraim  in  Tell  Sheriah,  between  Beer-sheba 
and  Gaza.  —  These  were  their  towns  until  the  reign 
of  David,  and  their  villages.  With  almost  all 
recent  expositors,  D.Tiyni  is  certainly  to  be  at- 
tached to  ver.  31,  for  the  parallel,  Josh.  xix.  6, 
speaks  of  "  towns  and  their  villages,"  and  all 
that  are  named  in  ver.  32  are  expressly  named 
"towns."  Moreover,  the  separation  of  QDHSffi 
from  the  foregoing,  occasioned  by  the  date  "  until 
the  reign  of  David,"  is  already  very  old  ;  for  the 
old  translators  agree  with  the  Masoretic  text  in 
transferring  the  word  to  the  following  verse. 
The  reason  why  the  date  "until  the  reign  of 
David"  was  inserted  here,  and  not  in  ver.  33 
(where  it  would  be  less  surprising),  appears  to  be 
this,  that  the  changes  occurring  from  the  time  of 
David  in  the  habitations  of  the  Simeonites,  con- 
sisting in  their  partial  removal  by  the  Jews  (com  p. 
ver.  34  ff. ),  applied  only  to  the  thirteen  towns 
already  named,  whereas  the  live  towns,  with  theii 
villages  to  be  named  in  the  following  verse,  re- 
mained still  an  undiminished  possession  of  the 
Simeonites.  So,  justly,  Keil,  following  Rashi  and 
Kimchi,  and  partly  against  Bertheau,  who  assumes 
as  the  object  of  the  subscription  merely  an  allu- 
sion to  Ziklag  (conip.  1  Sam.  xxvii.  6),  or  perhaps 
to  others  of  the  forementioned  towns,  as  belong- 
ing from  the  time  of  David  no  longer  to  the  tribe 
of  Simeon,  whereas  such  a  limitation  of  the  sense 
is  foreign  to  the  words;  and,  moreover,  Ziklag  was 
severed  from  Simeon  by  the  Philistines  before  the 
reign  of  David  (1  Sam.  xxvii.  6).— Ver.  32.  Etam, 
and  Ain,  JRimmon,  and  Tochen,  and  Ashen,  fate 
towns.  After  the  thirteen  towns,  the  parallel, 
Josh.  xix.  7,  gives  a  second  group,  not  a  penta- 
polis,  but  only  a  tetrapolis,  with  the  omission  of 
Tochen,  and  the  change  of  Etam  (DU'J?)  into  Ether 

(IDV).     It  is  hard  to  say  where  the  original  is  to 

be  sought.  We  are  scarcely  entitled,  with  Movers 
(p.  73)  and  Bertheau,  to  charge  both  texts  with 
inaccuracy,  and  to  altirm  that  the  series  of  these 
towns  originally  ran  thus  :  pQ-\  pjj,   -)j-|y.  pft, 

JC'J?,  so  that  by  an  oversight  two  cities  were  made 

out  of  one  En-rimmon  (which  occurs  in  Neh.  xi. 
29),  and  by  another  oversight  Tochen  fell  out  of 
the  text  ol  Joshua,  and  by  a  third  the  name  -injj, 
which  is  proved  to  be  original  by  the  subsequent 
mention  of  such  a  town  in  Josh.  xv.  43,  has  in 
Chronicles  been  supplanted  by  the  better  known 
DU'V-     Against  this  conjecture  Keil  has  justly 

urged  :  1.  The  \\q-\  and  py  are  counted  as  sepa- 
rate cities  not  merely  in  Josh.  xix.  7,  but  also  in 
Josh.  xv.  32,  and  the  union  of  the  two  names  into 
an  En-rimmon  in  Nehemiah  may  be  explained 
simply  from  the  contiguity  of  the  two  places  (of 
which  Rimmon  is  discovered  in  "  Rum  er  Rum- 
u.anin,"  four  hours  north  of  Beer-sheba,  and  Ain 
appears  to  have  been  the  name  of  an  oil  will  lying 
near  it),  or  possibly  by  a  coalescence  of  the  two  at 
a  later  period  ;  2.  Etam,  if  it  actually  came  into 
the  text   by  exchange  with  the  original  Ether, 

1  So  also  1'alDier  and  Diake.  p.  303 


should  have  been,  not  at  the  head  of  the  list,  but 
the  last  but  one  (where  "tnj;  stands  in  Josh.  xix. 

7) ;  and  3.  There  were  notoriously  two  Etams,  one 
in  the  mountains  of  Judah  south  of  Bethlehem, 
2  Chron.  xi.  6,  and  one  in  the  Negeb  of  Judah  on 
the  border  of  Simeon,  which  occurs  in  the  history 
of  Samson,  Judg.  xv.  8,  11,  and  must  be  the  place 
here  meant,  where  a  locality  near  Ain  and  Rim- 
mon is  intended.  This  leaves  nothing  unsolved 
but  the  difference  of  the  number,  being  only  four 
in  Joshua,  and  five  here.  The  hypothesis  of  Keil, 
that  pn  is  only  another  name  for  -inj?,   is  not 

well  grounded. — Ver.  33  And  all  theii  villages 
that  were  round  these  towns  unto  Baal.  The 
parallel,  Josh.  xix.  8,  is  more  full  :  "and  all  the 
villages  that  were  round  these  towns,  unto  Baa- 
lath-beer,  Ramath-negeb."  Hence  ^2  appears 
to  be  an  abbreviation  of  the  fuller  name  D?y2 
"IX3>  alu'  the  group  of  villages  extending  to  this 

Baalath-beer  (or  Bealoth,  as  it  is  called  Josh.  xv. 
24)  bore  the  name  Ramath-negeb  or  Ramah  of  the 
south,  with  which  Ramoth-negeb,  1  Sam.  xxx.  27, 
is  manifestly  identical.  "  An  attempt  has  been 
recently  made  to  determine  the  situation  of  this 
place,  in  doing  which  it  is  to  be  observed  that 
Baal  or  Baalatli-beer  is  not  to  be  counted  among 
the  towns  of  Simeon  ;  for  it  is  only  said  that  the 
villages  of  the  last-named  towns  extend  to  Baal, 
that  is,  in  the  direction  and  perhaps  very  near  to 
Baal,  so  that  we  are  warranted  in  seeking  our 
Baal  in  a  region  somewhat  more  remote  from  the 
towns,  if  it  hail  otherwise  a  peculiar  character 
and  adaptation  to  denote  the  direction  in  which 
the  territory  of  Simeon  extended.  Now  Walkott 
found  near  Ramet  el  Khulil,  about  an  hour  north 
of  Hebron,  a  second  Ramah,  called  Ramet  el 
Amleh,  and  also  two  heights  with  old  sites.  A 
whole  group  of  places  on  bills,  which  can  be 
observed  at  one  glance,  and  present  a  grand  and 
peculiar  aspect,  is  here  found  :  there  is  no  doubt 
that  the  Ramoth-negeb,  1  Sam.  xxx.  27,  is  to  be 
sought  here.  As  there  is  a  remarkable  well  in 
Ramet  el  Khulil,  the  conjecture  arises  that  here 
is  a  Baalath-beer,  a  well-town  ;  and  a  continuation 
of  this  conjecture  presents  itself  in  the  designation 
of  this  place  by  the  addition  Ramoth-negeb." 
So  Bertheau,  after  Roediger  (review  of  Robinson's 
Bibl.  Sacra,  Halle'sche  Literaturztg.  1843,  Xo. 
Ill) ;  whereas  Keil  on  Josh.  xix.  S  is  inclined  to 
seek  Baalath-beer  and  Ramoth-negeb  in  a  more 
southerly  situation  than  Ramet  el  Khulil,  which 
is  not  far  from  Hebron  ;  and  the  best  chartogra- 
ihcrs  of  the  day  (Menke  in  ch.  iii.  of  his  Bible 
Atlas,  Gotha  186S)  place  the  localities  in  ijucs- 
tion  south-west  of  the  Dead  Sea,  on  the  caravan 
road  leading  to  Hebron. — This  was  their  habita- 
tion, and  they  had  their  own  genealogy,  that  is, 
their  own  register  of  families  as  a  separate  inde- 
pendent tribe,  though  they  dwelt  in  the  territory 
of  Judah,  and  were  much  less  in  number  and  ex- 
tent than  this  contiguous  tribe.  On  the  substan- 
tively  used   infin.   {jTPnn,  genealogy  (properly, 

entrance  in  the  register),  comp.  Introd.  §  5. 
3.   History  of  the  Two  Migrations  or  Conquest* 

of  the  Simeonites :  vers.  34-43. — a.  First  expedi- 
tion, in  the  time  of  Hezekiah  :  vers.  34-41. — 
And  Meshobab,  and  Jarnlech,  and  Jtoshah,  etc. 
These  thirteen  princes  of  the  tribe  of  Simeon  are 


CHAP.  IV.  38-43. 


61 


only  made  prominent  because  they  were  the 
leaders  of  the  present  expedition,  not  because  the 

former  genealogical  series  (vers.  24-26)  was  i 

tinued  by  them.  For  although  of  sonic  of  them 
(Joshah,  Jehu,  and  Ziza)  the  descent  for  several 
generations  is  given,  yet  the  connection  of  these 
small  genealogical  lines  with  that  earlier  scries  is 
wanting.    With  the  remarkable  form  ro'pJJ',  "to 

Jacob  "  (reckoned  to  him),  comp.  the  analogous 

form   ni1X"it."\  1    Chron.    xxv.    14,    and    other 

examples  in  Ewald,  Lehrb.  p.  070,  n.  1,  7th  edit. 
-Ver.  38.  These  on  they  that  entered  by  nam 
princes  in  their  families  (not:  "thesewere  famous, 
celebrated  princes,"  as  Luther).  A  phraseessen- 
tially  the  sLime  occurs  in  ver.  41  ;  comp.  also  xii. 
31;  Num.  i.  17;  Ezra  viii.  25.  "Princes  of 
families"  are,  moreover,  not  heads  of  families, 
but  "heads  of  the  houses  into  which  the  families 
were  divided"  (Keil). — And  their  father-houses 
spread  greatly,  unfolded  and  branched  out  into  a 
great    multitude.      On   rfaKTFSi   plural  of  the 

compound  3N~JV3i  comp.  Ewald,  ^  270,  p.  657, 

where  the  same  plural  is  cited  from  2  Chron. 
xxxv.   5,   Num.   i.   2,   IS,   20,   vii.   2,   etc.,  and 

the  similar  ni03  iV3>  high  houses,  from  1  Kings 

xii.  31,  2  Kings  xvii.  29,  32.— And  they  went  to 
the  entrance  of  Oedor  (scarcely  "to  the  west  of 

Gedor,"  as  Keil,  for  this  would  have  required 
the  addition  of  C'OC'H  to  xi3D^)>  io  the  east  of 

the  valley.  What  valley  is  uncertain,  as  the  de- 
finite article  only  points  to  some  known  valley 
near  Gedor,  a  place  that  cannot  itself  be  deter- 
mined ;  but  the  identification  of  this  tf'jn  with 

the  valley  of  the  Dead  Sea  is  a  very  precarious 
conjecture  of  Ewald  and  Bertheau,  for  the  valley 
of  the  Dead  Sea  with  its  southern  continuation 
bears  in  the  0.  T.  the  standing  name  of  n3"IJjn. 

Equally  uncertain  is  the  conjecture  of  the  same 
inquirers,  and  of  Kamph.,  Graf,  Muhlau  (also  ol 
Menke  in  ch.  iii.  of  his  Bible  Atlas),  that  "na 

is  an  error  of  transcription  for  "nj  (Tsfeif  in  Sept. ; 

see  Crit.  Note).  A  place  so  far  west  as  Gerar 
now  Kirbet  el  Gerar  I  on  the  river  Gerar  can 
scarcely  '  we  been  used  to  mark  the  border  of  the 
Simeonite  pasture  lands  :  and  the  mode  of  ex- 
pression is  not  fitted  to  indicate  the  west  and 
east  bounding  points  of  the  region  occupied  by 
the  Simeonites  (comp.  also  on  ver.  41).  On  the 
Dther  hand,  to  identify  Gedor  with  the  town 
"rVl3    named   in   Josh,    xv    58,  situated    on    the 

iwmitains  of  Judah,  has  its  difficulties.  For  it 
must  also  be  presumed  that  the  Meunim  named 
in  ver.  41  were  the  inhabitants  of  the  adjacent 
hill-town  Jlaon,  Josh.  xv.  55;  and  the  region  of 
this  hill-town  of  Judah  cannot  be  that  intended 
here,  as  the  latter  is  described,  -er.  40,  as  on  all 
sides  (literally  "  on  both  sides;  "  Q^T,  as  in  Gen. 

xxxiv.  21)  open,  and  therefore  clearly  as  a  plain. — 
Ver.  40.  For  they  were  of  Ham  who  dwelt  then 
before.  For  the  phrase,  comp.  Judg.  xviii.  7,  28. 
These  men  ol  Ham,  whom  the  Simeonites  found  as 
inhabitants,  peaceable  and  harmless  inhabitants  of 
the  country  in  question,  and  subdued,  may  have 
been  Egyptians,  Cushites,  or  Canaanites  ;  most 
probably  they  belonged  to  the  last  branch  of  the 


Hamites,  as  the  region  in  question  is  contiguous 
to  Palestine.  HitzigC'Thc  Kingdom  of  Massa"  in 
Zcllei's  Theolog.  Jakrbiichern,  1844,  p.  209  11'., 
and  on  Prov.  p.  312)  gratuitously  supposes  the 
Amalekites  to  be  designated  by  "the  men  of 
lhiiu  "  (likewise  Hoffmann,  lilich  in  diefriiheste 
Geschichte  dee  heiliyen  Landes,  p.  73):  for  the 
history  of  the  second  expedition  of  the  Simeonites 
refers  to  the  Amalekites,  vers.  42,  43,  and  it  is  a 
question  whether  the  Amalekites  were  Hamites 
(Knobel  on  Gen.  x.  13,  23,  and  comp.  above  on 
i.  .'iii  1. 1 ;  and  the  circumstance  that  these  Hamites 
were  nomades  aoes  not  compel  us  to  think  of 
Amalekites  (Ludim,  Hyksos?),  since  many 
Canaanitish  tribes  lived  as  nomades;  for  example, 
those  of  Laish,  Judg.  xviii. — Ver.  41.  Came  in 
th,-  days  <;/'  Hezekiah,  Here  is  a  quite  definite 
chronological  date,  that  shows  still  more  posi- 
tively than  the  reference  to  the  reign  of  David  in 
ver.  31,  the  high  age  and  the  certainty  of  these 
notices.  —  And  smote  their  (the  Hamites')  tents, 
and  the  Melinites  (hat  were  found  there.  The 
smiting  refers  first  to  the  tents  or  d  veilings  of  the 
Hamites,  and  then  to  the  Meunibs  found  there, 
who  are  therefore  foreigners  who  had  come  to 
dwell  among  the  Hamites.    Q'^JJD  (for  which  the 

Kethib  has  Q^iyo  and  the  Sept.  Mivam)  are  here, 

as  in  2  Chron.  xxvi.  7  (comp.  xx.  1),  probably 
inhabitants  of  the  town  Maon  near  Petra,  east  of 
the  Wady  Musa  (Robinson,  iii.  127).  Their 
being  involved  in  the  fate  of  the  Hamites  implies 
that  the  scene  of  the  present  event  lay  to  the  east, 
though  it  cannot  be  further  defined.  Against  the 
ri  Jing  proposed  by  some  old  expositors  (Luther, 
Starke),  D^yBnTlrS),  "and  the  fixed  habita- 
tions," in  contrast  with  the  forementioned  tents, 
see  Bochart,  Oeoejr.  Sacra,  p.  138. — And  destroyed 
them  unto  this  day,  and  dwelt  in  their  stead. 
DD'in'l,  ad  internecionem  usque  eos  exciderunt 

(J.  H.  Mich.),  deleverunt  (Vulg. ).    Comp.  D'-inn, 

ban,  extirpate,  in  2  Chron.  xx  23,  xxxii.  14,  2 
Kings  xix.  11,  Isa.  xxxvii.  11.  The  term  "unto 
this  day  "  points  to  the  time  of  composition,  not 
by  the  Chronist,  but  by  the  old  historical  sources 
at  least  before  the  exile  employed  by  him. 

b.  Second  expedition  of  the  Simeonites  against 
Mount  Seir  :  vers.  42,  43. — And  of  them,  of  the 
sons  of  Simeon,  five  hundred  men  went  to  Mount 
Si  ir.  Nothing  more,  precise  is  stated  regarding 
the  time  of  this  expedition  ;  it  may  have  been 
before  or  alter  that  in  the  time  of  Hezekiah. 
And  the  sta:ement,  "of  them,  of  the  sons  of 
Simeon,"  is  quite  general,  and  sets  no  limit  either 
to  the  Simeonites  named  vers.  34-37  or  to  those 
before  enumerated,  vers.  24-27.  Keil,  who  ex- 
changes the  Islii  of  our  verse  with  Shinii,  ver.  27, 
is  arbitrary  in  thinking  only  of  the  latter  ;  and 
no  less  so  is  Bertheau,  who  refers  the  words  to 
the  part  of  the  Simeonites  described  ver.  34  If. 
Of  the  surmise,  that  the  event  of  our  verse  is 
somehow  connected  with  that  referred,  vers.  34- 
41,  to  the  time  of  Hezekiah,  and  is  to  be  re- 
garded as  in  some  measure  a  continuation  of  it 
iEw.,  Berth.,  Kamph.),  there  is  not  the  slightest 
hint  in  the  text,  even  if  the  valley  of  the  present 
expedition  to  Mount  Seir  could  be  situated  in  the 
same  direction  from  the  tribe  of  Simeon  as  that  of 
the  former  ;  see  on  vers.  39,  40. — Ver.  43.  And 
they    smote    the    remnant   that    had   escaped    of 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


Amalek,  that  is,  those  Arnalekites  who  escaped 
annihilation  in  the  victories  of  Saul  and  David 
over  this  hereditary  foe  of  the  Israelites  (who 
were  formerly  settled,  Judg.  v.  14,  xii.  15,  conip. 
Num.  xiii.  29,  chiefly  in  Paran  or  half-Manasseh 
east  of  Jordan  ;  comp.  Hitzii;,  Gesch.  d.  V.  1st.' 
pp.  26,  104) ;  conip.  1  Sam.  xiv.  4S,  xv.  7;  2  Sam. 
viii.  12.  These  who  thus  escaped  had  retired 
into  the  Idumean  mountains,  ami  there  inter- 
mingled partly  with  the  Edomites  (comp.  i.  36  f. ). 
Here  they  were  now  sought  out  and  extirpated 
by  the  Simeonites  under  the  sons  of  Islii,  while 
the  conquerors  occupied  their  seats.  From  a 
comparison  of  the  present  passage  with  Mic. 
i.  15,  ii.  8-10,  Isa.  xxi.  11,  xxviii.  12,  etc., 
which  appear  to  indicate  an  advance  of  the 
Israelites  who  believed  in  Jehovah  far  into  the 
south  and  south-east  in  the  times  of  Hezekiah 
and  Isaiah,  Hitzig  (Das  Kbnigreich  Massa)  has, 
with  the  concurrence  of  Bunsen,  Bertheau,  etc., 
•loveloped  his  hypothesis  of  the  founding  of  an 


Israelitish  kingdom  of  Massa  east  or  south-east 
of  Seir  (not  far  from  Dumah  ;  comp.  Gen.  .xxv.  44: 
1  Chron.  i.  30)  by  the  colony  of  Simeonites  here 
mentioned,  and  has  assigned  to  it  as  kings,  Agur 
and  Lemuel,  the  authors  of  the  two  appendices 
to  the  book  of  Proverbs.  Comp.  our  substantially 
concurring  judgment  concerning  this  hypothesis 
on  Prov.  xxx.  1  tt,  vol.  xii.  p.  208  of  the  Bibelw. 
The  objections  urged  against  this  hypothesis  by 
Graf  (Uer  Slarnm  Simeon,  p.  12  ff.)  and  Miihlau 
(De  prov.  Aguri,  etc.,  orig.  p.  24  f.)  certainly 
point  out  much  that  is  not  and  cannot  be  proved 
in  it,  but  are  not  sufficient  to  show  that  it  is  i 
mere  fancy  picture.  At  all  event?,  the  traditions, 
that  in  accordance  with  our  passage  part  of  the 
tribe  of  Simeon  penetrated  far  into  Arabia  and 
founded  there  an  Israelitish  colony,  are  as  wide- 
spread as  they  are  ancient.  Arabian  legends  even 
make  the  tribe  of  Simeon  found  the  city  and  the 
temple  of  Mecca.  See  Hoffmann,  Blicke,  etc., 
p.  124. 


2.  The  Tribes  of  Reuben,  Gad,  and  half-Manasseh :  ch.  v. 

a..  The  Tribe  of  Reuben :  vers.  1-10. 

Ch.  V.  1.  And  the  sons  of  Keuben,  the  first-born  of  Israel, — for  he  was  the  first-born  ; 
but,  because  he  defiled  his  father's  bed,  his  birthright  was  given  to  the  sons  ot 

2  Joseph  the  son  of  Israel,  though  he  was  not  to  be  registered  as  first-born.     For 
Judah  was  mighty  among  his  brethren,  and  of  him  was  the  prince;  ami  Joseph 

3  had  the  birthright. — The  sons  of  Reuben,  the  first-born  of  Israel  :  Hanoch  and 

4  Pallu,  Hezron  and  Canni.     The  sons  of  Joel :  Shemaiah  his  son,  Gog  his  son, 
5,  6  Shimi  his  son.     Micah  his  son,  Reaiah  his  son,  Baal  his  son.     Beerah  his  son, 

whom  Tilgath-pilneser  king  of  Asshur  carried  away  ;  he  was  prince  among  the 
Reubenites. 

7  And  his  brethren  by  their  families,  in  the  register  after  their  generations: 

8  the  chief  Jeiel,  and  Zechariah.     And  Bela  the  son  of  Azaz,  the  son  of  Shema, 

9  the  son  of  Joel ;  he  dwelt  in  Aroer,  even  unto  Nebo  and  Baal-meon.     And  east- 
ward he  dwelt  unto  the  entrance  into  the  wilderness  from  the  river  Euphrates ; 

10  for  their  cattle  multiplied  in  the  land  of  Gilead.  And  in  the  days  of  Saul  they 
made  war  with  the  Hagarites,  and  they  fell  by  their  hand ;  and  they  dwelt  in 
their  tents  on  all  the  east  side  of  Gilead. 


/3.  The  Tribe  of  Gad:  vers.  11-17. 

11  And  the  sons  of  Gad  dwelt  over  against  them,  in  the  land  of  Bashan,  unto 

12  Salcah.     Joel  the  chief,  and  Shapham  the  second,  and  Janai  and  Shaphat1  in 

13  Bashan.     And  their  brethren  by  their  father-houses:  Michael,  and  Meshullam, 

14  and  Sheba,  and  Jorai,  and  Jachan,  and  Zia,  and  Eber,  seven.  These  are  the 
sons  of  Abihail  the  son  of  Huri,  the  son  of  Jaroah,  the  son  of  Gilead,  the  son 

15  of  Michael,  the  son  of  Jeshishai,  the  son  of  Jahdo,  the  son  of  Buz.     Alii  the 

16  son  of  Abdiel,  the  son  of  Guni,  chief  of  their  father-houses.  And  they  dwelt  in 
Gilead  in  Bashan,  and  in  her  daughters,  and  in  all  the  suburbs  of  Sharon2  unto 

17  their  outgoings.  All  of  them  were  registered  in  the  davs  of  Jotham  king  of 
Judah,  and  in  the  days  of  Jeroboam  king  of  Israel. 

y.  War  of  the  Tribes  of  Reuben,  Gad,  and  half-Manasseh  with  Arab  Kalians:  vers.  18-22. 

18  And  the  sons  of  Reuben,  and  Gad,  and  the  half-tribe  of  Manasseh,  of  valiant 
men  bearing  shield  and  sword,  and  drawing  the  bow,  and  skilful  in  war,  were 

19  forty  and  four  thousand  and  seven  hundred  and  sixty  going  forth  to  war.     And 

20  they  made  war  with  the  Hagarites,  and  Jetur,  and  Naphish,  and  Nodab.  And 
they  were  helped  against  them,  and  the  Hagarites  were  delivered  into  their 
hand,  and  all  that  were  with  them;  for  they  cried  to  God  in  the  battle,  and  Hp 


CHAP.  V.  1-6. 


6:1 


1\  was  entreated  of  them,  because  they  trusted  in  Him.     And  they  took  their 

cattle:  their  camels  fifty  thousand,  and  sheep  two   hundred   and   fifty  thousand, 

22  and  asses  two  thousand,  and  souls  of  men  a  hundred  thousand.  For  many  fell 
slain,  because  the  war  was  of  God  ;  and  they  dwelt  in  their  stead  until  the 
captivity. 

5.   The  half-Tribe  of  Manasseh:  vers.  23.  24. 

23  And  the  sons  of  the  half-tribe  of  Manasseh  dwelt  in  the  land,  from  Bashan 

24  unto  Baal-hermon  and  Senir  ami  .Mount  Herraon  :  these  were  many.  And 
these  were  the  heads  of  their  father  houses,  even  Epher,  and  [shi,  and  Eliel, 
and  Azriel.  and  Jeremiah,  and  Hodaviah,  and  Jahdiel,  valiant  heroes,  famous 
men,  heads  of  father  houses. 

c.  Carrying  of  the  Three  East-Jordanic  Tribes-  into  lixile :  vers.  "25,  26. 

•Jo  And  they  were  untrue  to  the  God  of  their  fathers,  and  lusted  after  the  gods 
26  of  the  people  of  the  land,  whom  the  Lord  destroyed  before  them.  And  the  God 
of  Israel  stirred  up  the  spirit  of  Ful  king  of  Asshur,  and  the  spirit  of  Tilgath- 
pilneser  king  of  Asshur,  and  he  carried  them  away,  the  Reuhenites,  ami  the 
Gadites,  and  the  half-tribe  of  Manasseh,  and  brought  them  to  Halah  and  Habor, 
and  the  mountain  and  the  river  Gozan,  unto  this  day. 

'  For  US""!   ttie  Sept.  read   D2i."  or  "13D ;    for  it  gives  the  words   |t;'33  02L"1  'jJH   by:  **i  r«>i> «  yp*u- 
1  For  plw'  the  cod.  F<i/.  of  the  Sept  has  Tipiau.  (possibly  from  an  original  fVHCN  comp.  Exeg.  Xnt.o. 


EXEGETICAL. 

Preliminary  Remark. — The  three  east-jor- 
danic  tribes  are  closely  connected  by  our  genea- 
logist on  account  of  their  common  fate,  not  only 
by  being  here  placed  together,  although  by  this 
arrangement  the  eastern  half  of  Manasseh  are 
severed  from  their  western  kindred,  but  also  by 
the  insertion  of  two  historic  episodes  referring  to 
the  common  doings  and  fortunes  of  the  three. 
The  first  of  these  pieces  is  inserted  between  Gad 
and  half-Manasseh ;  the  second  is  transferred  to 
the  end,  hecause  it  describes  the  catastrophe  by 
which  the  three  tribes  lost  their  independence. 
"An  endeavour  after  an  equable  distribution  "1 
the  historical  matter"  (Berth.)  may  lie  at  the 
ground  of  this :  tor  even  to  the  genealogical 
account  of  the  Reubenites  a  short  war  notice, 
ver.  10,  is  appended.  But  the  notable  thine;  is, 
that  the  more  copious  and  important  of  these 
historical  notices  refer  to  the  common  aits  and 
the  common  fall  of  the  three  (it  is  not  observed 
that  the  tribe  of  Gad,  in  connection  with  whose 
generations  the  war  report,  vers.  18—22,  is  given, 
played  a  specially  prominent  part  in  it),  by  which 
■ur  section  is  distinguished  as  one  compact  group 
from  the  genealogical  series  of  our  chapter. 

1.  The  Tribe  m'  ft  uben  vers.  1-10.— The  in- 
troductory vers.  1,  2  treat  of  the  birthright  of 
Reuben  in  its  relation  to  that  of  Joseph.  For  h 
\cas  the  first-born  ;  but  61  cause,  etc.  These  words 
to  the  close  of  ver.  2  form  a  parenthesis,  which, 
reminding  us  in  its  opening  words  of  ten.  xlix.  4, 
set  forth  the  ground  on  which  the  birthright  of 
Joseph  is  mentioned  along  with  that  of  lb 
Though  he  tea's  not  to  bt  r<  gisU  ri  d  as  first-born, 
literally,  "though  not  to  register  (7  before  BTPDil, 

to  denote  that  which  should  take  place  . 

S  -2 " ! 7 ,  c)  for  the  first  birth,"  that  is,  in  the  rank 

of  the  first-born.     The  subject  here  is  perhaps 


not  Reuben  (Sept.,  Vulg.),  but  Joseph,  as  Kimchi 

and  other  Rabbinical  expositors  justly  observe  ; 
for  the  statement  of  the  following  verse  refi  is  !" 
Joseph  as  the  chief  person  spoken  of  here. — Ver. 
2.  For  Judah  ica-i  mighty  among  his  brethren. 
"03,  waj3  strong,  mighty,  in  numbers  and  influ- 
ence; comp.  Gen.  xlix.  8  ff. ;  Judg.  i.  1,  and  eh. 
ii.-iv. — Ami  of  him  wax  the  prince  (namely, 
David, xxviii.  4;  1  Sam.  xiii.14,  xxv.  30),  or,  "and 
of  him  should  be  one  of  the  princes"  1  liamph.  |. 
This  concealed  reference  to  the  Davidic  kingdom 
that  sprang  from  Judah  reminds  us  in  its  form 
of  Mic.  v.   1   (comp.   tOQD  here  with  •^B'O  there, 

and  TM^with  <PftnO  rriTITJ  there). — And  Joseph 

had  the  birthright.  To  him  were  allowed  two 
territories  (according  to  the  right  of  first  birth, 

Deut.  xxi.  15-17>,  one  for  Ephraim  1  one  for 

Manasseh. — Ver.  3  Hanoeli  and  Putin,  Hezron 
mid  Carmi.  So  are  the  four  sons  of  Reuben 
named  Gen.  xlvi.  9,  Ex.  vi.  14;  comp.  Num. 
xxvi.  5-7. — Vers.  4-6.  The  descendants  of  Joel, 
as  a  single  line  of  Reuhenites,  which  is  earned 
through  several  generations.  From  «'hich  of  the 
four  sons  this  line  descended,  the  author  of  tin 
present  list  knew,  and  perhaps  even  tin-  Chronist, 
who  incorporated  it  into  his  work  ;  but  the  know- 
ledge is  lost  to  after  times. — 'SliemaicJi  his  eon, 
son,  etc.     The  first  }j3  aftei    rPJJOtt'  the 

Sept.  has  read  as  a  nom.  propr.,  and  thi 
inserted  between  Shemaiah  and  flog  another 
descendant  of  Joel,  Bene«t,  whereby  his  whole 
descendants  are  increased  fp  m  seven  to  eight, 
though  scarcely  in  accordance  with  the  original 
text.  The  seven  names  occur  also  elsewhere, 
but  only  here  in  reference  to  the  descendants  of 
Reuben. — Ver.  6.  Beerah  his  son.  whom  Tilgatk- 
pilneser  earned  away.  The  Chronist  always 
writes   1^X3^3  T\"hv\,   whereas   in    2    Kin        thi 


61 


CHRONICLES 


only  form  of  writing  is  "IDS&B  rkjF\  (comp.  the 

similar  difference  between  "  Nebuchadrezzar"  of 
Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel  and  "Nebuchadnezzar"  of 
the  other  books;  see  on  Dan.  i.  1).  Whether  G. 
i  Ippert's  interpretation  of  the  name  =  "JTOfi 
~nD~N7,3-  "prayer  to  the  son  of  the   Zodiac," 

th  Assyrian  Hercules,  be  correct,  or  the  cer- 
tainly preferable  one  of  Schrader  (Tuklat-habal- 
near,  "trust  in  the  son  of  the  house  of  grace," 
or,  "he  who  trusts  in  the  house  of  grace,"  that 
Is,  in  the  god  Adar ;  comp.  Schrader,  £>'<■  Keilin- 
schriften  itnd  das  Alte  T..  1872,  pp.  134  f.,  237), 
the  form  used  in  the  books  of  Kings  appears 
the  more  original.  —  He  was  a  prince  among  the 
Reubenites,  that  is,  Beerah.  He  was  prince  of  a 
family  of  Reubenites,  not  of  the  whole  tribe ;  for 

the  ^  OjQ'KI?)  indicates  a  looser  sort  of  con- 
nection than  the  relation  of  prince  to  the  whole 
tribe,  to  be  expressed  by  the  stat  constr.  The 
adjective  form,  "the  Reubenite,"  denotes  here, 
as  in  ver.  26  and  xxvi.  32,  generally  those  be- 
longing to  the  tribe  of  Reuben  ;  comp.  ver.  18,  H3, 

and  iv.  2,  "DJIISn,  and  similar  forms  in  Chronicles. 

— Vers.  7-9.  The  brothers  of  Beerah,  that  is, 
the  families  among  the  descendants  of  Joel  most 
nearly  related  to  his  family.  —  And  his  brethren 
by  their  families  (.before  vnnSL"D^  supply  c;,X. 

every  one  by  his  family ;  comp.  Num.  ii.  34, 
xi.  10),  in  the  register  after  their  generations  (or 
order  of  birth):  the  chief  Jeiel,  etc.     C'Nin,    the 

head,  the  first,  the  chief  of  the  family.  Comp. 
ver.  12  and  ix.  17,  where,  however,  tiiis  epithet 
stands  after  the  name  of  the  person  in  question, 
while  in  xii.  3,  xxiii.  8,  as  here,  it  stands  before. 
— Ver.  8.  And  Bela  the  son  of  Azaz,  the  sun  of 
Shema,  the  son  of  Joel;  scarcely  any  other  than 
the  Joel  of  ver.  4.  From  him  sprang  Bela  in  the 
third  generation,  a  clear  proof  that  he  belonged 
only  in  the  wider  sense  to  the  brethren  "1  Beerah, 
who  descended  from  him  in  the  seventh  genera- 
tion, and  that  he  was  at  all  events  considerably 
older  than  the  latter;  see  on  ver.  10. — He  dwelt 
in  Arocr,even  unto  Nebo  and  Baal-meon.  Aroer, 
now  a  ruin,  Arrayr  on  the  river  Anion  icomp. 
Josh.  xii.  2,  xiii.  9,  16);  Nebo,  a  place  on  Mount 
Nebo,  in  the  range  of  Abarim,  over  against  Jericho 
i Num.  xxxii.  38,  xxxiii.  47);  Baal-meon,  perhaps 
the  ruins  Myun,  two  miles  south  of  Heshbon 
(comp.  Num.  xxxii.  3S,  where  it  is  also  found 
along  with  Nebo). — Ver.  9.  And  eastward  hi 
din  It,  unto  the  entrance  into  tin-  wilderness  from 
(lit  rin  r  Euphrates,  that  is,  to  the  line  where  the 
jt -at  wilderness  begins,  that  extends  from  the 
Euphrates  to  the  east  border  of  Persea,  or  Gilead 
as  it  is  called  in  this  verse  ;  for  Gilead  (Gen.  xxxi. 
21,  xxxvii.  25;  Josh.  xiii.  11,  xvii.  1;  Judg.  v. 
17,  etc.)  is  the  general  term  usual  in  the  Old 
Testament  for  the  territory  of  Israel  east  of  the 
Jordan  ;  comp.  on  ver.  16. — Ver.  10.  And  in  the 
days  of  Saul  (the  first  king  of  Israel)  they  modi 
war  with  the  Hagarites  (or  Hagarenes ;  comp. 
Ps.  lxxxiii.  7),  the  same  North  Arabian  tribe  that 
appears,  vers.  19,  20,  as  the  adversary  of  the  east- 
jordanic  Israelites,  perhaps  the  ' Kyfmm  of  Strabo, 
xiii.  p.  767,  occurring,  according  to  Schrader,  in 
the  form  Hagaranu  (or  Ha-ar-gi-'i)  several  times 
in  the  Assyro  -  Babylonian   cuueate  inscriptions. 


— And  they  fell  by  their  hand,  or,  even  into  their 
hands,  of  which  the  consequence  was,  that  the 
victors  dwelt  in  the  tents  of  the  vanquished  (thai 
is,  occupied  their  country,  Gen.  ix.  27),  "on  all 
the  east  side  of  Gilead,"  that  is,  on  the  whole  east 
border  of  the  land  of  Gilead  and  beyond  it  (with 
"jq-^-^j;  comp.    >;3  Sy,    "close  before,"  Gen. 

xvi.  12).  Who  are  these  conquerors?  Are  they 
the  Reubenites  in  general,  or  only  those  of  the 
family  of  Bela  ?  Against  the  latter  alternative, 
which  is   defended  by   Keil,   appears  to  be  the 

circumstance  that  in  vers.  S,  9  Bela  is  spoken  of 

in  the  singular.  But  this  singular  begins  even  in 
ver.  9i  to  pass  into  the  plural  (Du'JpD),  and  the 

mighty  outspreading  of  the  Belaites  mentioned 
there  seems  intended  to  prepare  fur  tin-  notice  oi 
their  war  with  their  Hagareue  neighbours.  More- 
over, the  statement  in  ver.  8,  that  Bela  was  great- 
grandson  of  Joel,  while  Beerah  was  his  descendant 
in  the  seventh  generation,  corresponds  with  the 
fact  that  this  conquest  of  the  Hagarites  preceded 
tin-  deportation  of  the  Reubenites  under  Beerah 
by  Tilgatli-pilneser,  ver.  6,  some  centuries.  After 
the  removal  of  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
Reubenites,  so  wide  an  outspreading  of  another 
Reubenite  family  as  is  here  related  would  scarcely 
have  taken  place.  We  must  therefore  refer  what 
is  recorded  from  ver.  7  of  the  family  of  the 
brothers  of  Beerah,  and  especially  of  that  of  Bela, 
to  a  much  earlier  time  than  that  which  is  related 
in  ver.  6,  because  the  narrative  issues  in  the  pre- 
sent notice  of  a  war  in  the  time  of  Saul;  and  there 
is  no  good  ground  why  we  should  isolate  this  war 
notice,  and  regard  it  as  an  unconnected  appendix 
to  the  genealogy  of  Reuben  (against  Berth,  and 
others,  and  also  against  Hoffmann,  Das  gelobte 
Land  in  d<»  Zeiten  des  getheilten  Reichs,  etc. 
1871,  p.  27). 

2.  The  Tribe  of  Gad:  vers.  11-17.— And  the 
sons  of  Gail  ilu-elt  ore:-  against  them  in  the  land  nl 
Bashan,  that  is,  over  against  the  Reubenites 
dwelling  beside  tin-  Dead  Sea  in  the  mountain 
range  of  Abarim  or  Moab,  and  also  beyond  the 
Jordan  in  middle  Gilead.  which  formed  the 
southern  part  of  the  former  kingdom  of  Og  king 
of  Bashan  (Num.  xxi.  33;  Deut.  iii.  11).  The 
extension  of  this  tract  inhabited  by  the  Gadites 
to  the  east  is  shown  to  be  considerable  by  the 
addition  "unto  Salehah"(as  in  Josh.  xiii.  11). 
For  Salchah,  now  Sulkhad,  lies  on  the  southern 
slope  of  Jebel  Hauran,  six  or  seven  hours  east  of 
Bozra,  and  therefore  about  thirty  hours  in  a  direct 
line  east  from  Jordan.— Ver.  12.  Joel  thechief,  and 
Shaphan  tin-  sin, ml,  and  Janai  and  Shaphat  in 
Bashan,  that  is,  dwelling,  the  lot."' of  the  pre- 
vious verse  completing  the  sense  here.  It  is  un- 
certain  how  these  four  Gadite  heads  of  families 
are  genealogically  connected  with  the  immediate 
descendants  of  Gad  named  in  Gen.  xlvi.  16.  The 
omission  of  thos-  seven  sons  of  Gad  enumerated 
in  Genesis  (Ziphion,  Haggi,  Shuni,  Ezbon,  Eii, 
Arodi,  Areli)  is  surprising,  and  raises  the  sus- 
picion of  a  gap  in  the  text.  On  the  variant 
reading  of  the  Sept.  for  BSK^  see  Crit.  Note.  As 
U3C'  occurs  elsewhere  as  a  proper  name,  for  ex- 
ample, iii.  22,  its  retention  here  is  the  less  doubt- 
ful.— Ver.  13.  And  their  brethren  by  tin  ir  father- 
houses,  that  is,  by  the  families  at  whose  head 
they  stood,  and  which  were  named  after  them. 


CHAP.   V.   15-22. 


65 


For  the  plur.    Dn'JliaX  JV3,   comp.   on  iv.  33. 

Luther  has  erroneously  taken  the  phrase  for  a 
singular,  and  therefore  translated,  "  and  their 
brethren  of  the  house  of  their  fathers,"  etc.  Tin- 
term  "brethren  "  stands  naturally  in  as  wide  a 
sense  as  in  ver.  7.  A  statement  of  the  country 
where  they  dwelt  does  not  follow  the  names  ol  i  hese 
seven  brothers  of  the  lour  Gadite  heads  of  families 
already  named.  But  their  pedigree  is  first  given, 
vers.  14,  15,  through  eight  generations,  termin- 
ating in  a  not  otherwise  known  Buz,  who  has 
perhaps  as  little  to  do  with  his  namesake  the  son 
of  Nahor,  Gen.  xxii.  21,  as  with  the  progenitor  of 
Elihu,  Job  xxxii.  2. — Ver.  15.  Ahi,  the  son  of 
Abdiel,  the  son  of  Guni,  chief  of  their  father- 
houses.  This  Ahi  we  may  suppose  to  have  lived 
at  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  century  B.C.,  under 
eroboam  II.  of  Israel,  or  half  a  century  Inter, 
under  Jotham  of  Judah,  as  ver.  17  shows.  —  Ver. 
16.  And  they  dwelt  in  Gilead,  in  Bashan,  and  in 
her  daughters,  and  in  all  the  suburbs  of  Sharon 
-into  their  outgoings.  The  first  of  these  designa- 
tions of  place  is  the  widest  and  most  general  :  it 
en. braces  both  "  Bashan  and  her  daughters  "  and 
"the  suburbs  of  Sharon;"  see  on  ver.  9.  The 
suffix  in  nTW33   refers    to    both  countries,   the 

more  extensive  Gilead  and  the  narrower  Bashan 
forming  merely  the  northern  part  of  Gilead  ;  and 
the  "suburbs"  or  pastures  tD'^'1316,  as  in  Num. 

hxv.  2  ff . ;  Josh.  xxi.  11  ff. ;  Ezek.  xlviii.  15)  of 
Sharon  are  no  doubt  to  be  sought  in  Gilead,  as 
nothing  is  known  of  a  dwelling  or  a  grazing  of 
any  Gadites  on  the  well-known  plain  of  Sharon, 
west  of  Jordan,  between  Csesarea  and  Joppa 
(Songii.  1;  Isa.  xxxiii.  9,  xxxv.  2.  lxv.  10);  and 
the  "outgoings  "  of  the  suburbs  of  Sharon  are  not 

necessarily  outgoings  or  boundaries  on  tl L, 

Keil,  referring  to  Josh.  xvii.  9,  will  hue  if  ; 
comp.  on  the  contrary,  Num.  xxxiv.  4,  7..  Kamph. 
is  right,  who  at  the  same  time  mentions  a  plausi- 
ble conjecture  of  the  early  expositors,  that  Shirion 
should  be  read  for  Sharon.  But  we  see  no  reason 
why  there  should  not  be  a  Sharon  east  of  the 
Jordan.  Comp.  Smith's  Bibl.  Diet.,  Art.  "Sharon. " 
— Ver.  17.  All  of  them  were  registered  in  the  days 
of  Jotham,  etc.  "  All  of  them  "  refers  to  the  col- 
lective families  of  the  Gadites  from  ver.  11,  not 
merely  to  those  mentioned  ver.  13  ff.  Of  the 
'  \\  o  kings  of  the  eighth  century  under  whose 
reign  the  registration  took  plate,  that  of  the 
rightful  kingdom  of  Judah  is,  contrary  to  the 
.•rder  of  time,  named  first.  We  meet  with  no 
other  notices  of  these  two  registrations  of  the 
tribe  of  Gad,  of  which  that  undertaken  by  Jero- 
boam it.  of  Israel  (825—784),  at  all  events,  coin- 
cides with  the  restoration  of  the  old  boundaries  of 
the  northern  kingdom  mentioned  2  Kings  xiv. 
25  ff.  A  temporary  subjection  of  the  tribe  of 
Had  by  Jotham  of  Judah  (759-  743),  or  per- 
haps by  bis  predecessor,  the  powerful  Pzziah 
(811-759),  as  a  prelude  to  the  second  registration 
here  mentioned,  is  easily  conceivable,  because 
after  Jeroboam's  death  a  long  weakening  of  the 
northern  kingdom  by  internal  strife  and  anarchy 
ensued,  from  which  it  recovered  under  Pekah's 
reign  of  twenty  years  (759-739).  Comp.  Keil, 
p.  77,  where,  however,  Pekah's  reign,  probably 
by  an  error  of  the  press,  is  stated  to  he  of  only  ten 
years'  duration. 
3.   War  of  the  Tribes  of  Reufien,  Gad,  and  half - 


Manasseh  with  Aral*  Tribes:  vers.  18-22.— On 
the  reason  why  this  account  is  inserted  here  after 
the  families  of  Gad,  see  Preliminary  Remark. — Of 
valiant  men,  literally,  of  sons  of  valour  (p'rj  »J3  jo; 
comp.  ^Tl  ,-li32,  ver.  24).  These  and  the  follow- 
ing descriptions  of  the  military  prowess  of  these 
tribes  are  confirmed  by  1  Chron.  xii.  8,  21,  at 
least    with    regard    to    Gad    and     hall- Manasseh. 

With  nDIT>D  '"HD^,  comp.  the  partie.  Pual 
,_113^D,  Song  iii.  8  and  eh.  xxv.  7.  The  number 
44,760,  which  certainly  rests  on  an  exact  numera- 
tion, nearly  agrees  with  that  given  in  Josh.  iv.  13, 
but  not  with  the  added  numbers  yielding  a  far 
r  sum  in  Num.  i.  21,  25,  xxvi.  7,  18.  The 
difference  is  explained  by  this,  that  the  statements 
in  Numbers  refer  to  the  time  when  the  whole 
tribes  of  Reuben,  Gad,  and  half-Manasseh  were 
aimed  lor  war  under  Moses,  and  in  a  wandering 
state,  and  each  of  these  tribes,  at  least  ol'  the  tirst 
two,  numbered  more  than  40,000  men  fit  for  war, 
whereas  the  present  statement,  like  that  in  Josh. 
iv.  13,  refers  to  the  time  after  they  were  settled 
beyond  the  Jordan,  when  the  number  of  troops 
available  for  external  service  was  naturally  much 
smaller;  comp.  on  xxi.  5. —Ver.  19.  And  they 
made  war  with  /If  Hagarites.  The  same  tribe  of 
northern    Arabs  with  which   Reuben  alone,  ver. 

10,  had  been  at  war.  The  present  common  fight 
of  all  the  tribes  beyond  the  Jordan  with  this  tribe 
is  perhaps  to  be  dated  later  than  that  of  Reuben  ; 
comp.  ver.  22. — And  Jetur,  rind  Naphvsh,  and 
Xodab.     The  first  two  tribes  (of  which  -\m>  has 

given  name  to  the  district  of  Ituraja)  occurred 
in  i.  31  and  in  Gen.  xxv.  15  as  descendants  of 
Ishmael.  Nodab,  also  a  Beduin  tribe,  occurs 
nowhere  else.  The  name  appears  to  signify 
"noble,  princely,"  and  might  possibly  be  the 
source,  of  the  Nabataeans  (Arab,  nabt)  :  for  to 
identify  this  at  once  with  nV33,  Gen.   xxv.   13, 

Isa.  lx.  7,  as  is  usually  done,  has  its  difficulties  ; 
comp.  Chwolsohn,  IJh  Sabier,  i.  C98  ;  Quatre- 
mere,  Les  KabaUens,  Par.  1835 ;  Muhlau,  De 
prov.  Aguri  et  Lemuelis  orig.  et  indole,  p.  28  f. — 
Ver.  20.  And  they  were  helped  against  them. 
nTV'1'  namely,  of  God  ;  comp.  2  Chron.  xxvi.  15; 

Ps.  xxviii.  7.  —  And  oil  that  were  with  them, 
namely,  the  Ituraans,  etc.,  the  confederates  of 
the  Hagarites. — And  he  was  entreated  of  them. 
"linyjl  's  n0'  an  unusual  form  of  the  perf. 
Xiphal  (for  nnyjl,  Isa.  xix.  22),  but,  what  alone 

suits  for  continued  narrative,  as  here,  btfin.  abs. 
Xiph.,    with  a  perfect  meaning  ;   comp.   Dinnj, 

Esth.    viii.    8;    TriBru,    Esth.    ix.    1.— Ver.    21. 

Camel",  fifty  thousand.  Luther,  Starke,  and 
even  Kamph  .  in  Bunsen's  Bibclwerk,  incorrectly 

mot  observing  the  plur.  D'tTOn),  "hve  thousand." 

The  enormous  numbers,  that  are  explained  by  the 
great  riches  in  herds  of  the  north  Arabians,  re- 
mind us  of  the  like  statements  regarding  the 
rich  booty  in  the  war  with  Midian,  Num.  xxxi. 

11,  32  ff.— Ver.  22.    For  many  fell  slain.     The 
greatness  of  the  defeat  which  the  foe  sustained 
accounts  for  the  extremely  great  value  oi  the  booty 
taken   from  them.      On  the  further   expla 
sentence,    "  for   the   war   was   of    God,"   comp. 


06 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


2  Chrcn.  xxv.  20;  1  Sam.  xvii.  47. — And  they 
dwelt  in  their  stead,  in  the  seats  of  the  conquered 
tribes  ;  unhindered,  they  made  use  of  their  abodes 
aud  pastures,  "until  the  captivity,"  until  the 
deportation  decreed  by  Tilgath-pilneser,  ver.  6. 

4.  The  half-Tribeof  Manasseh  :  vers.  23,  24. — 
Front  Bashan  unto  Baal-hermon  and  Senir  and 
Mount  Hi  rmon.  As  B.ishan  is  the  district  in- 
habited by  Gad  bordering  on  the  south,  ver.  12, 
it  denotes  here  the  south  border,  while  Baal- 
hermon  (Judg.  iii.  3,  or  "  Baal-Gad  under  Her- 
■jion,"  Josh.  xii.  7,  xiii.  5),  Senir  (later,  by  the 
Arabs,  Sunir :  according  to  Ezek.  xxvii.  8,  the  name 
of  a  part  of  the  Hermon  range ;  according  to  Dent. 
iii.  9,  an  Amorite  name  for  the  whole  of  Hermon  |, 
and  .Mount  Hermon  (or  Autilibanus,  now  Jebel 
esh  Sheik)  designate  the  north  border.  On 
account  of  this  wide  extent  from  south  to  north, 
and  also  in  breadth,  it  is  said  of  those  belonging 
t.i  this  half-tribe,  "these  were  many;"  comp. 
Num.  xxvi.  34,  where  the  number  of  military  age 
in  this  whole  tribe  is  said  to  be  52,700. — Ver.  24. 
And  these  were  the  heads  of  their  father-Iiouses, 
even  Epher.     The  1  before  irjy  may  be  rendered 

••  even  ";  but  it  is  surprising,  and  raises  the  sus- 
picion that  perhaps  a  name  has  fallen  out.  None 
of  these  heads  of  families  of  East  Manasseh  is 
otherwise  known,  so  that  we  know  nothing  of  the 

1 Is  for  w  hich  they  were  called  "  valiant  heroes, 

famous  men." 

5.  Carrying  away  into  Exile  of  the  threi  east- 
Jordanic  Tribes:  vers.  25,  iii.  — And  they  were 
untrue,  etc.,  namely, 'the  three  eastern  tribes 
named  in  the  following  verse,  and  not  merely 
the  Manassites.  For  the  terms,  a-,  for  the  fact, 
comp.  2  Kings  xvii.  7  ff.  —  The  peoph  of  the  land, 
whom  tin  Lord  liaa  destroyed  befori  them,  are 
the  Amorites  and  tke  subjects  of  Og  of  Bashan. 
— Ver.  26.  And  th  Hod  of  Israel  stirred  up  the 
epi  it  of  Fill.     -|JW,  as  2  Chron.   xxi.  16  (comp. 

\\\i  20,  Ezra  i.  1,  5).  L.  Lavater  justly  re- 
marks: in  mentem  Mis  dedit,  movii  eos,  ut  ex- 
pcditionem  facereni  contra  illos.  Pul  is,  more- 
.  named  as  the  beginner  of  the  oppressions 
coming  from  Assyria  (comp.  2  Kings  xv.  19  1.) ; 
the  removal  itself  is  completed  by  Tiglath-pi- 
leser,  as   the  sing.   Q?J*|,  relerring  only  to  him, 

shows.  Besides,  the  Assyriologists,  especially 
Rawlinson,  Schrader  (p.  124  ff.),  declare  Pul  to 
be  the  sanie  with  Tiglath-pileser,  and  his  name 
a  mere  mutilation  of  the  latter  name,  because  the 
Assyrian  inscriptions  nowhere  exhibit  any  such 
thing  as  a  rider  Pul  almost  contemporary  with 
Tiglath-pileser. — Carried  tin  in  away,  the  Hi 

:/■  s,  etc.  The  suffix  in  D^J>1  is  more  precisely 
defined  by  the  following  accusatives  '131  'llfifcn?, 

introduced  by  •>  (according  to  later  usage):  comp. 
Ew.  §  277c. — And  brouglU  them  to  Hatali  and 
Hut, or,  mill  the  mountain  and  the  river  Gozan, 


Unto  this  day.     n?H,  perhaps  =  n?3,  Gen.  x.  11, 

at  all  events  =  k«i»j;jp»,  a  region  described  by 
Strabo  and  Ptolemy:  "On  the  east  side  of  the 
Tigris,  near  Adiabene,  north  ol  Nineveh,  on  the 
borders  of  Armenia."  Not  far  from  this  Halah 
(the  name  of  which  occurs  on  the  Assyrian  monu- 
ments in  the  form  Knl-ha;  comp.  Schrader,  Die 
Keilenschriften  mid  d.  A.  T.  p.  20  f. )  is  to  be 
sought  ?i3n,  perhaps  a  district  in  North  Assyria, 

after  which  both  the  mountain  \x2inu;  (Ptolem. 
vi.  1),  near  the  Median  border,  and  a  river  flow- 
ing into  the  Tigris  (Khabur  Chasaniat,  now 
Khabur),  are  named.  We  are  not  here  to  think 
of  the  Mesopotamia!)  river  Chaboras,  rising  at 
Nisibis,  and  falling  into  the  Euphrates  near 
Circesium,  as  its  Hebrew  name  is  133,  Ezek.  i.  1. 

The  river  Gozan,  also,  is  scarcely  to  be  sought  in 
Mesopotamia  (where  there  is  certainly  a  district 
r«o£*wn5,  tlie  present  Kaushan,  bordering  on 
that  river  Chebar,  and  where  also  Schrader,  p. 
161,  lias  pointed  out  a  place  Guzaim.  mar  Nisibis 
— Xasibina — in  an  Assyrian  inscription!,  but  per- 
haps in  the  border  laud  of  Assyria  and  Media, 
where  the  Median  city  Tarawa,  mentioned  by 
Ptol.  vi.  2.  lay,  and  where  also  a  river  Ozan  (in 
full,  Kizil-Ozan,  the  red  Ozan)  is  found,  the 
Mardos  of  the  old  Greeks,  rising  south-east  of 
the  lake  Urumiah,  forming  the  boundary  of 
Assyria  and  Media,  and  falling  into  the  Caspian 
S  a.  As  all  these  places  point  to  the  north  of 
Assyria  and  to  Media,  so  the  term  before  the 
la, 1,  "the  in.  mil  tain."  appears  to  mean  the  Median 
highlands  :  and,  indeed,    ftf-in    seems    to    he    the 

Aramaic  form  for  the  Hebrew  in,  mountain,  the 

popular  designation  in  that  region  of  the  Median 
highlands  (al  Jebal  among  the  Arabs):  comp.  also 
2   Kings  xvii.    6,   where,   in  place   ef  Kin,   the 

"cities  of  Media"  (vjrj  vij))  are  nan  cd.      Keil 

on  our  passage  and  on  2  Kings  xvii.  ti,  Bahr  on 
the  latter,  Ew.  (Gesch,  iii.  p.  318),  M.  Niebuhr 
(Gesclt.  Assurs  uml  Babels),  Wiehelhaus  {Das 
Exil  der  10  Stamuie.  in  the  Deutschen  Morgenl. 
Zeitschr.  v.  467  ff. ),  Kamph.  on  our  passage,  etc., 
are  here  right  :  while  Thenins,  Berth.,  Hitz. 
think,  without  sufficient  grounds,  of  parts  of 
Mesopotamia,  near  the  Euphrates.  Moreover, 
not  merely  the  Chronist,  but  the  sources  used  by 
him,  appear  to  have  assumed  as  the  place  to 
which  Tiglath-pileser  removed  the  tribes  beyond 
the  Jordan,  the  same  region  in  the  north  ut 
Assyria  to  which,  2  Kind's  xvii.  1''.  some  decem.i a 
afterwards,  Shalmanescr  transplanted  the  remain- 
ing tribes  of  the  northern  kingdom.  Whether  this 
statement  be  historically  correct,  or  involve  the 
confounding  of  two  different  events  (as  Berth, 
will  have  it),  must  remain  undecided.  From 
2  Kings  xv.  29,  where  the  country  to  which 
Tiglath-pileser  brought  the  24  tribes  is  simply 
called  Asshur,  the  inaccuracy  of  the  present  state- 
ments cannot  be  proved. 


d  The  Family  of  the  Levites.  with  a  Statemekt  of  their  Seats  is  the  different 

Tribes.— Ch.  v.  27-vi.  GO. 

1.  The  Family  of  Aaron,  or  the  High-priestly  Line  to  the  Exile:  ch.  v.  27—41. 

On   v.  27,  2S.  The  sons  of  Levi :  Gershon,  Kohath,  and  Merari.     Ami  the  sons  of 
29   Kohath  :  Ann-am.  Izhar.  and  HeLron,  and  Uzziel.     And  the  sous  of  Ainram  • 


CHAP.  V.  27-VI.  66.  67 


Aaron,  and  Moses,  and  Miriam.     And  the  sons  of  Aaron  :  Nadab  and  Abihu, 

30  Eleazar  and  Ithamar.     Eleazar  begat  Pbinehas,  and  Phinehas  begat  Abishua. 

31,  32  And  Abishua  begat  Buklri,  and  Bukki  begat  Uzzi.     And  Uzzi  begat  Zerahiah, 

33  and  Zerahiah  begat  Meraiotli.     Meraioth  begat  Amariah,  and  Amariah  begal 

34,  35  Ahitub.     And  Alii  tub  begat  Zadok,  and  Zadok  begat  Ahimaaz.     And  Alii- 

36  maaz  begat  Azariah,  and    Azariah    begat   Johanan.      And   Johanan    begat 

Azariah,  he  that  served  as  priest  in  the  house  that  Solomon  built  in  Jeru- 

37.  38  salem.      And  Azariah  begat   Amariah,   and   Amariah   begat  Ahitub.       And 

39  Ahitub  begat  Zadok,  and  Zadok  begat  Shallum.    And  Shallum  begat  Hilkial 

40  and  Hilkiah  begat  Azariah.     And  Azariah  begat  Seraiah,  and  Seraiah  begat 

41  Jehozadak.  And  Jehozadak  went  away,  when  the  Lord  carried  away  Judah 
and  Jerusalem  by  the  hand  of  Nebuchadnezzar. 

2.   The  Descendants  of  Gershom,  Kohath,  and  Merari,  in  a  Double  Series:  ch.  vi.  1-15 

Oil  VI.  1,  2.  The  sons  of  Levi  :  Gershom,  Kohath,  and  Merari.      And  these  are  the 

3  names  of  the  sons  of  Gershom  :  Libni  and  ShimL     And  the  sons  of  Kohath  : 

4  Amram  and  Izhar,  and  Hebron  and  Uzziel.     The  sons  of  Merari :  Mahli  and 

5  Mushi.     And  these  are  the  families  after  their  fathers. 

0         To  Gershom  :  Libni  his  son,  Jahath  his  son,  Zimmah  his  son.     Joah  his 

son,  Iddo  his  son,  Zerah  his  son,  Jeatherai  his  son. 

7         The  sons  of  Kohath  :  Amminadab  his  son,  Korah  his  son,  Assir  his  son. 

8,  9  Elkanah  his  son,  and  Ebiasaph  his  son,  and  Assir  his  son.     Tahath  his  son. 

Id  Uriel  his  son,  Uzziah  his  son,  and  Shaul  his  son.     And  the  sons  of  Elkanah  : 

1 1   Amasai  and  Ahimoth.    Elkanah  his  son,1  Elkanah  of  Zoph  his  son,  and  Nahath 

12,  13  his  son.     Eliab  his  son,  Jeioham  his  son,  Elkanah  his  son.     And  the  sons  of 

Samuel  :  the  first-born2  Vashni,  and  Abiah. 

1 4  The  sons  of  Merari :  Mahli,  Libni  his  son,  Shimi  bis  son,  Uzzah  his  son. 

15  Shima  his  son,  Haggiah  his  son,  Asaiah  his  son. 

."■.  The  Ancestors  ofthi  Levitical  Songmasters  Heman,  Asaph,  and  Ethan:  vers.  16-34. 

16  And  these  are  they  whom  David  set  over  the  singing  in  the  house  of  the 

17  LORD,  after  the  resting  of  the  ark.  And  they  ministered  before  the  dwelling 
of  the  tent  of  meeting  with  singing,  until  Solomon  built  the  house  of  the  Lord 

IS  in  Jerusalem,  and  they  attended  in  their  order  to  their  service.  And  these 
are  they  who  attended,  and  their  sons  :  of  the  sons  of  Kohath  :   Heman  the 

19  singer,  the  son  of  Joel,  the  son  of  Samuel.     The  son  of  Elkanah,  the  son  of 

20  Jeroham,  the  son  of  Eliel,  the  son  of  Toah.     The  son  of  Zuph,8  the  son  of 

21  Elkanah,  the  son  of  Mahath,  the  son  of  Amasai.     The  son  of  Elkanah,  the 

22  son  of  Joel,  the  son  of  Azariah,  the  son  of  Zephaniah.     The  son  of  Tahath. 

23  the  son  of  Assir,  the  son  of  Ebiasaph,  the  son  of  Korah.  The  son  of  Izhar, 
the  son  of  Kohath,  the  son  of  Levi,  the  son  of  Israel. 

24  And  his  brother  Asaph,  who  stood  on  his  right  hand,  Asaph  the  son  of 

25  Berechiah,  the  son  of  Shima.     The  son  of  Michael,  the  son  of  Baaseiah,  the 

26  son  of  Malchiah.     The  son  of  Ethni,  the  son  of  Zerah,  the  son  of  Adaiah. 
27,  28  The  son  of  Ethan,  the  son  of  Zimmah,  the  son  of  Shimi.     The  son  of  Jahath. 

the  son  of  Gershom,  the  son  of  Levi. 

29  And  the  sons  of  Merari,  their  brethren  on  the  left  band  :  Ethan  the  son  of 

30  Kishi,  the  son  of  Abdi,  the  son  of  Malluch.     The  son  of  Hashabiah,  the  son 

31  of  Amaziah,  the  son  of  Hilkiah.     The  son  of  Amzi,  the  son  of  Bani,  the  son  of 

32  Shamer.    The  son  of  Mahli,  the  son  of  Mushi,  the  son  of  Merari,  the  son  of  Levi. 

33  And  their  brethren  the  Levites,  given  for  all  service  of  the  tabernacle  of 

34  the  house  of  God.  And  Aaron  and  his  sons  offered  on  the  altar  of  burnt- 
offering,  and  on  the  altar  of  incense,  for  all  the  work  of  the  holy  of  holies, 
and  to  atone  for  Israel,  in  all  that  Moses,  the  servant  of  God,  had  com- 
manded. 

4.   The  Series  of  High  Priests  from  Eleazar  to  Ahimoa-  [in  the  time  of  Solomon):  vers.  35-38. 

35  And  these  are  the  sons  of  Aaron  :    Eleazar  his  son,  Phinehas  his  son, 


68  I.  CHRONICLES. 


36,  37  Abishua  his  son.     Bukki  his  son,  TTzzi  his  son,  Zerahiah  his  son.     Meraioth 

38  his  son,  Amariah  his  son,  Aliitub  his  son.     Zadok  his  son,  Ahimaaz  his  son. 

5.   The  Towns  of  it.e  Levites:  vers.  39-66. 

39  And  these  are  their  dwellings,  by  their  districts,  in  their  border,  of  the 
sons  of  Aaron  :  of  the  family  of  the  Kohathites,  for  to  them  was  the  lot. 

40  And  they  gave  them  Hebron,  in  the  land  of  Judah,  and  its  suburbs  round 

41  about  it.     And  the  field  of  the  city  and  its  villages  they  gave  to  Caleb  the 
■42  son  of  Jephunneh.     And  to  the  sons  of  Aaron  they  gave  the  free  towns,1 

Hebron  and  Libnah  and  its  suburbs,  and  Jattir  and  Eshtemoa  and  its  suburbs. 
43,  44  And  Hilen5  and  its  suburbs,  Debir  and  its  suburbs.     And  Ashan  and  its 

45  suburbs,  and  Bethshemesh  and  its  suburbs.  And  out  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin : 
Geba  and  its  suburbs,  and  Allemeth  and  its  suburbs,  and  Anathoth  and  its 
suburbs  ;  all  their  cities  were  thirteen  cities  in  their  families. 

46  And  to  the  sons  of  Kohath  that  remained  of  the  family  of  the  tribe,  were 

47  from  the  half-tribe,  the  half  of  Manasseh,  by  lot,  ten  cities.  And  to  the  sons 
of  Gershom  for  their  families,  of  the  tribe  of  Issachar,  and  of  the  tribe  of 
Asher,  and  of  the  tribe  of  Naphtali,  and  of  the  tribe  of  Manasseh,  in  Bashan, 

48  thirteen  cities.  To  the  sons  of  Merari  for  their  families,  of  the  tribe  of 
Keuben,  and  of  the  tribe  of  Gad,  and  of  the  tribe  of  Zebulun,  by  lot  twelve 
cities. 

49  And  the  sons  of  Israel  gave  to  the  Levites  the  cities  and  their  suburbs. 

50  And  they  gave  by  lot  out  of  the  tribe  of  the  sons  of  Judah,  and  the  tribe  of 
the  sons  of  Simeon,  and  the  tribe  of  the  sons  of  Benjamin,  these  cities  which 
they  called  by  names. 

51  And  of  the  families  of  the  sons  of  Kohath,  some  had  the  cities  of  their 

52  border  out  of  the  tribe  of  Ephraim.  And  they  gave  them  the  free  towns, 
Shechem  and  its  suburbs  in  Mount  Ephraim,   and  Gezer  and  its  suburbs. 

53,  54  And   Jokmeam   and   its   suburbs,  and   Beth-horon    and   its   suburbs.     And 

55  Aijalon  and  its  suburbs,  and  Gathrimmon  and  its  suburbs.  And  out  of  the 
half-tribe  of  Manasseh,  Aner  and  its  suburbs,  and  Bilam  and  its  suburbs, 
to  the  family  of  the  remaining  sons  of  Kohath. 

56  To  the  sons  of  Gershom,  out  of  the  family  of  the  half-tribe  of  Manasseh, 

57  Golan  in  Bashan  and  its  suburbs,  and  Ashtaroth  and  its  suburbs.  And  out 
of  the  tribe  of  Issachar,  Kedesh  and  its  suburbs,  Daberath  and  its  suburbs. 

58,  59  And  Ramoth  and  its  suburbs,  and  Anem  and  its  suburbs.     And  out  of  the 

60  tribe  of  Asher,  Mashal  and  its  suburbs,  and  Abdon  and  its  suburbs.     And 

61  Hukok  and  its  suburbs,  and  Rehob  and  its  suburbs.  And  out  of  the  tribe  of 
Naphtali,  Kedesh  in  Galilee  and  its  suburbs,  and  Hammon  and  its  suburbs, 
and  Kiriathaim  and  its  suburbs. 

62  To  the  sons  of  Merari  that  remained,  out  of  the  tribe  of  Zebulun,  Rim- 

63  mono  and  its  suburbs,  Tabor  and  its  suburbs.  And  beyond  Jordan  by 
Jericho,  east  of  Jordan,  out  of  the  tribe  of  Reuben,  Bezer  in  the  wilderness 

64  and   its   suburbs,   and   Jahzah   and   its   suburbs.     And    Kedemoth  and  its 

65  suburbs,   and  Mephaath  and  its  suburbs.      And  out  of  the  tribe  of  Gad, 

66  Ramoth  in  Gilead  and  its  suburbs,  and  Mahauaim  and  its  suburbs.  And 
Heshbon  and  its  suburbs,  and  Jazer  and  its  suburbs. 

1  Tht  Kelhib  is  133  i"13p;>t<i  the  Kcri  puts  *33  for  133,  and  places  H3p7K  (with  Athnnch)  as  a  separate  super- 
scription The  text  is,  at  all  events,  corrupt  (sec  Exeg.  Exp].),  whether  the  tlr*t  POpPX  is  to  be  erased,  and  *33 
to  be  rend,  or  the  second  n3p?X  removed,  and  the  sing.  133  to  be  retained. 

•  After  "113371,  the  name  ?Nr  must  have  faUen  out,  as  the  comparison  of  1  Sam.  viii.  2  shows  (comp.  also  ver.  IS). 

•  The  Kt'hib  has  C^V'tS;  the  Keri,  more  correctly,  £|1X~|3. 

•  For  t3?p©n  '"ISmX,  some  old  prints,  after  the  Bibl.  Veneta  Rabb.  1525,  have  'BH  7\~\VV  '"IjrnX-  The 
mbs.  (sec  de  Ro*si,  Var.  Led  )  do  not  show  this  addition,  which  appears  to  have  come  into  the  text  from  the  margin 

1  For   p^H   (in  Jo>h.  xxi.  16,  pn),  the  mere  accurate  M.ss.  have,  according  to  R.  Norzi  and  Ed.  NeapoHt.,   pTV 


CHAP.  V.  27-56. 


1.3 


EXEGET1CAL. 

Preliminary  Remark.  —  Of  the  live  sub- 
divisions into  which  this  section  falls,  the  lirst 
(v.  27-41)  i»  a  list  of  the  high  priests  from  Aaron 
to  the  exile,  which  appears  to  be  taken  from  a 
peculiar  older  source,  partly  be  ause  one  portion 
of  the  high  priests  is  enumerated  again  (vi.  ::.",  :',■>> 
under  a  different   genealogical   form   (instead  of 

Ivin  before  the  name,  ^2  comes  after  it),  partly 

liecause  Gershon  (v.  27)  appears  instead  of  *'  Ger- 
shom,"  which  is  used  throughout  ch.  vi.  But 
the  four  divisions  also  in  ch.  vi.  hear  a  more  or 
less  fragmentary  character  ;  only  the  genealogies 
of  the  three  Davidic  songmasters  Heinan,  Asaph, 
and  Ethan  (vers.  16-34),  appear  to  be  complete  in 
themselves,  and  without  delect.  In  the  register 
of  the  three  Levi tica]  families  Gershom,  Kohath, 
and  Merari  (vers.  1-15),  many  names  are  obviously 
wanting,  and  some  parts,  especially  in  the  series 
of  the  Kohathites,  vers.  7-13,  appear  to  have 
come  down  in  a  state  of  some  confusion.  The 
list  of  the  Levitical  cities,  vers.  39-66,  presents 
great  corruptions  of  the  text  in  considerable  num- 
ber, with  many  inaccuracies,  and  a  notorious  per- 
version of  the  original  order  (see  on  vers.  49,  50), 
as  a  cursory  comparison  of  it  with  that  drawn 
from  other  sources  in  the  book  of  Joshua,  xxi., 
will  show.      And  lastly,  the  short  list  of  the  high 

Eiiests  appears  clearly  to  lie  a  fragment  from  its 
reaking  off  with  Ahimaaz  :  is,  moreover,  closely 
connected  with  the  preceding  remarks  in  vers. 
3H,  34,  on  the  ministry  of  the  Aaronites  in  the 
temple,  and  might  be  fitly  formed  with  these  two 
verses  into  a  special  section  referring  to  the  apxn~ 
pa-Tixiv  yivos  of  the  house  of  Levi  and  its  func- 
tions. Comp.  moreover,  H.  Graf,  ZurOe'ch.  d. 
St.  Levi,  in  A.  Merx's  Archiv.  f.  Wisseuschaftliche 
Erfors  hung  des  A.  T.  vol.  i.  1S70  (hypercritical 
on  the  content  of  our  chapter,  and  throughout). 

1.  The  Family  of  Aaron,  or  the  High-priestly 
l.:u>  to  the  Male:  v.  27-41.  a.  Aaron's  descent 
from  Levi :  vers.  27-29. — Gershon,  Kohath,  and 
Merari.  So  run  the  names  of  the  three  sons  of 
Aaron  in  the  Pentateuch,  Gen.  xlvi.  11,  Ex.  vi. 
18.     The  form  JVJ'13  is  there  constant,  while  for 

nnp  is  occasionally  n~p- — Ver.  28.  The  names 

of  the  four  sons  of  Kohath  (The  father  of  the  chief 
Levitical  line)  are  literally  the  same  in  Ex.  vi. 
18.  Likewise  the  names  of  the  three  children  "t 
Amram,  and  those  of  the  four  sons  of  Aaron,  ver. 
29,  agree  literally  with  Ex.  vi.  20,  23  ;  comp. 
Num.  iii.  2-4,  and  in  1  Chron.  xxiv.  2.  the  ac- 
count of  the  premature  death  of  Nadab  and 
Ahihu  by  a  divine  judgment,  reminding  us  of 
Lev.  x.  1  if. — b.  The  descendants  and  successors 
of  Eleazar  (Num.  XX.  28;  Josh.  xiv.  1)  in  the 
oltice  of  high  priest :  vers.  30-41.  Only  this  seiies 
of  high  priests  from  Eleazar  is  given  here,  as  in 
vi.  35  ff.,  not  that  from  Ithamar,  as  the  former 
only  is  strictly  legitimate.  That  the  line  from 
Ithamar,  to  which  Eli  belonged  (1  Sam.  ii.  SO),— 
whose  son  was  Phinehas,  and  grandson,  Ahitub 
(1  Sam.  iv.  11,  xiv.  3),  further,  Ahitub's  son 
Ahijah  or  Ahiraelech  (comp.  1  Sam.  xiv.  3  with 
xxii.  9  ff. ),  lastly,  this  Ahimelech's  son  Abiatliar 
(from  whom  Solomon  took  the  high-priesthood  to 
give  it  to  Zadok,  1  Sam.  xxii.  20  ;  1  Kings  ii. 
26-35), — was  not  unknown  toour  author,  is  show  n 
by  his  account  in  1  Chron.   xxiv.  3  ff.      But  the 


line  of  Eleazar  only  must  have  passed  with  him 
as  really  legitimate  ;  for  here,  and  in  vi.  3.".  If.,  he 
ignores  the  line  of  Ithamar  running  parallel  with 
it  for  several  generations  (from  l/.i,  ver.  31,  the 
contemporary  of  Eli,  to  Zadok,  tin-  contemporary 

ami  ileal  of  Abiatliar,  ver.  84).  On  the  I 
existing  between  those  collateral  lines  in  the  tunes 
of  Saul  and  David  we  find  nothing  certain,  -  itl  ei 
in  our  books  or  in  those  of  Samuel  >>r  Kings.  Sc 
much  appears  certain,  however,  from  various  in- 
timations in  the  latter  books,  that  the  statement 
oi  Josephus  {A  at  a j.  Jud.vm.  1.  3;  con  p.  ch.  v.  12), 
that  the  descendants  of  Eleazar  kept  quiet,  and 
lived  as  private  persons  during  tic  supremacy  "1 
Eli,  Phinehas,  Ahitub,  and  Ahimelech,  is  incoi 
H-,  t,  and  rests  on  mere  conjecture.  Rather,  from 
1  Kings  iii.  4  ff.  (comp.  1  Chron.  xvi.  39),  Zadok 
appears  to  have  presided  at  Gibeoii,  contemporary 
«uli  Abiathar  (the  constant  companion  ot  David. 
1  Sain.  xxii.  20-23)  at  Jerusilem  over  the  service, 
of  Ihe  sanctuary  ;  and  even  before  David,  there 
seems  to  have  been  a  certain  co-existence  "I  differ- 
ent sanctuaries  with  different  high  priests  in 
different  places, — an  assumption  that  is  at  least 
better  supported  than  the  conjecture  proposed  by 
Thenius  on  2  Sam.  viii.  17,  that,  in  David's  time, 
the  two  high  priests  of  the  collateral  houses  might 
have  held  office  in  alternate  years. — Ver.  35.  And 
Ahimaaz  begat  Azariali.  As  Ahimaaz  (ver. 
38)  is  son  of  Zadok,  he  belongs  to  the  reign  of 
Solomon,  within  which  also  his  son  Azariali  may 
have  been  high  priest.  Without  doubt,  the  notice 
standing  in  ver.  36,  beside  a  younger  Azariah 
(grandson  of  the  other),  "he  that  served  as  priest 
(lilSi  Lx.  xl.  13;  Lev.  xvi.  32)  in  the  house  that 

Solomon  built  in  Jerusalem,"  only  suits  the  pre- 
sent  Azariali,   the   grandson   of   Zadok.      For  in 

1  Kings  iv.  2,  also,  Azariali  the  son  (more  exact  Iv 
grandson)  of  Zadok  is  named  as  priestly  prince 
under  Solomon  ;  his  grandson  of  the  sam,  name 
in  ver.  36  cannot  have  lived  before  the  lime  of 
Rehoooam,  or  even  Asa  or  Jehoshaphat.  We 
must  therefore  assume,  with  Bertheau,  tnat  tie- 
words  quoted  from  ver.  366  originally  stood  alter 
tin-   name  -'Itl',  ver.  35a, — an  assumption  which, 

from  the  second  occurrence  of  the  same  name 
shortly  after,  and  from  the  notorious  occurrence 
of  such  erroneous  transpositions  in  our  section 
(see  on  ver.  49  f. ),  involves  no  difficulty,  and  at 
least  commends  itself  more  than  the  attempt  of 
Keil  to  identify  the  Azariah  of  ver.  36  with  the 
high  priest  of  this  name  under  king  LJzziah  (who, 

2  Chron.  xxvi.  17,  boldly  resisted  the  attempt  of 
this  king  to  burn  incense  in  the  sanctuary). '  The 
name  Azariah  appears  to  have  offer,  recurred  in 
tin-  family  of  the  high  priest  in  the  time  of  the 
kings  ;  for  as  our  series  contains  this  name  no  less 
than  three  times  (vers.  35,  3ti,  40),  we  know  from 
other  accounts  several  other  high  priests  of  the 
name  before  the  exile  ;  thus,  besides  the  one  ill 
Uzziah's  time,  another  in  the  time  of  Hezekiah, 
2  Chron.  xxi.  10,  who  cannot  possibly  be  identi- 

1  Ii  is  only  :in  insipid  rabbinical  eonreit.  which  Keil  si, mild 
no'  have  reproduced,  of  Rasln  and  Kimchl  'o  apply  tie 
word*,  ver  366,  "  lie  that  serv<  d  a-  priest  in  the  house  I 

Solomon  built,"  to  tie-  bold  stand  of  the  .\zaii.<h,  Ul  del 
Uxziab,  MtHUlBt  tliis  king  recorded  in  2  Chron  xxvi  17,  I:  it 
no  less  untenable  is  Net,  lei's  assertion  {Chron.  pp 
Hint  Az  riah  was  the  son  of  Jehuiada,  the  husband  i 
shabaih,  and  effecter  of  that  it-volution  which  r,ised  toaah 
to  the  throne  ("2  Kings  xi.;  -I  Chron.  xxiii.  I  IT);  see  oa 
2  Cnron  xxiii  8. 


70 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


cal  with  those  here  mentioned.  For  the  one 
named  in  ver.  40  as  the  son  of  Hilkiah  (2  Kings 
xxii.  i  may  have  lived  under  Jusiah,  nearly  a 
century  after  Hezekiah  ;  of  all  the  three  Azariahs 
of  our  suction,  therefore,  only  the  first  (ver.  35) 
can  coincide  with  one  of  the  elsewhere  mentioned 
high  priests  of  this  name,  and  this  can  have  been 
no  other  than  that  contemporary  of  Solomon 
named  in  1  Kings  iv.  2.  — Ver.  37.  And  Azariah 
I'll/, u  Amariah.  This  is  the  Amariah  mentioned, 
2  Chron.  xix.  11,  in  the  history  of  Jehoshaphat. 
Here  Oehler,  Art. "  Hoherpriester"  in  Herzog's  Heal- 
Encycl.  vi.  205,  is  certainly  right,  though  opposed 
by  Keil  ;  in  the  .sixty-one  years  between  Solomon's 
death  and  Jehoshaphat's  accession,  the  four  high 
priests  named  between  Zadok  and  Amariah  may 
very  well  have  followed  in  succession. — Ver.  38. 
Ami  Ahitubbegat  Zadok.  In  the  neighbourhood 
af  this  second  Ahitub,  whom  we  must  place  at  the 
beginning  or  middle  of  the  ninth  century  B.C., 
we  miss  the  Jehoiada  who  dethroned  Athaliah, 
and  governed  some  time  for  the  young  king 
Joash  (who  was  perhaps,  however,  not  properly 
high  priest,  but  only  "  chief  of  the  priesthood  of 
his  time,"  that  is,  a  very  influential  priest  ;  see 
on  2  Chron.  xxiii.  8).  Even  so  somewhat  later  in 
the  vicinity  of  Shallum  is  wanting  the  Uriah, 
known  from  2  Kings  xvi.  10  ff.,  who  was  high 
priest  under  king  Ahaz.  The  list  from  vers. 
37-40,  or  for  the  last  period  of  the  kings  (ninth, 
eighth,  and  seventh  centuries),  appears  very  defec- 
tive and  concise,  like  the  New  Testament  genealo- 
gies of  Jesus  (Matt.  i.  8-10;  Luke  hi.  28-31), 
which  make  the  longest  leaps  in  this  ver}'  epoch. 
The  number  of  the  links  omitted  in  our  list 
between  the  high  priests  for  the  time  of  Solomon 
( ver.  36)  and  Seraiah  must  be  at  least  seven  ;  for 
with  the  ten  generations  of  high  priests  enume- 
rated vers.  36-40,  correspond  seventeen  genera- 
tions of  the  house  of  David,  from  Solomon  to 
Zedekiah  (comp.  iii.  10-27);  and  there  is  no 
reason  why  tin*  line  of  priests  should  have  a  less 
rapid  succession  of  generations  than  that  of  kings. 
— Ver.  41.  And  Jehozadak  ■<■* nt  away,  to  captivity 

in  Babylon.  7]pn  stands  here  for  the  usual  more 
definite  n?133  TIPH.  Jer.   xlix.   3.     The  carrying 

away  of  this  Jehozadak  must  have  taken  place 
before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  (perhaps  5119); 
for  at  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  (588),  not  he, 
but  his  aged  father  Seraiah,  grandson  of  Hilkiah, 
was  high  priest,  as  appears  from  the  account  in 
2  Kings  xxv.  18,  21,  of  his  capture  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar ami  execution  at  Riblah.  Jehozadak,  in 
exile,  became  father  of  that  Joshua  who  returned 
536  £  c.  with  Zerubbabel  at  the  head  of  the 
exiles,  Ezra  iii.  2.  v   2,  Hag.  i.  1. 

With  the  scries  here  given  of  the  high  priests 
troin  Aaron  to  the  exile,  agrees  that  in  Ezra  vii. 
1-5,  which  is  more  summary,  and  makes  even 
greater  omissions.  If  we  compare  the  sixteen 
names  there  given,  from  Seraiah  to  Aaron,  with 
twenty-two  of  our  list,  the  shorter  list  of  Ezra 
appears  to  be  an  abbreviated  extract  of  the  pie- 
sent  longer  one.      But   the  author  of  the   latter 

1  With  Kelt's  and  Bahr's  attemnt  (Bihelw. part  vii.  p.  25 ff.) 
torepanl  the  "Azar.ah  son  of  Zjilok"  of  This  passage,  not 
as  priest  or  high  priest,  but  as  the  first  of  the  yre-t  evil 
functionaries  of  Solomon,  we  cannot  ap-.  e,  because  Ii"l3n 

Is  thereby  taken  In  too  abnormal  a  sense.  Comp.  Gestn.- 
Uietrich  on  the  wor.J  jrtn. 


cannot  have  aimed  at  absolute  completeness.  The 
"ppin  used  by  him  to  denote  the  descent  is  uuite 

as  much  a  mere  phrase  of  indefinite  and  elastic 
meaning  as  the  p  of  Ezra.     Moreover,  tie   argu 

ment  of  Giatnbeig,  p.  55,  from  the  repeated 
occurrence  of  the  same  names  in  our  list,  for 
the  assumption  of  an  arbitrary  process  of  com- 
piling by  the  Chronist,  has  been  long  refuted  by 
.Movers,  Keil,  anil  others.  On  the  extra-biblical 
traditions  concerning  the  series  of  high  priests 
before  the  exile,  in  Josephus,  in  the  Seder  Olam, 
etc.,  comp.  Lightfoot,  M'mieterium  lempli,  Opp. 
t.  i.  p.  682  sqq.  ;  Seidell,  De  successiOTte  in  pontif, 
1.  i  ;  and  Reland,  Antiq.  ii.  c.  2.  So  far  as  these 
accounts  supplement  the  statements  of  our  text, 
they  are  almost  devoid  of  any  historical  authority. 
[The  line  from  Aaron  is  not  said  to  be  a  list  of 
actual  high  priests.  External  influence  seems  to 
have  often  determined  who  should  be  the  actual 
high  priest— J.  G.  M.] 

2.  The  Descendants  of  Gershom,  Kohath,  and 
Merari :  vi.  1-15. — These  are  first  given  alone 
with  their  sons  (vers.  1-4,  ;  then  follow  further 
genealogical  statements  regarding  the  descendants 
of  the  most  important  of  these  sons,  who  became 
the  ancestors  of  the  three  chief  families  of  the 
Levites.  That  in  the  Kohathitc  family  the  line 
of  Amram,  the  father  of  Aaron,  is  not  given  again, 
as  in  v.  27  ti'.,  is  explained  by  this,  that  the 
families  of  the  Levites,  not  that  of  the  high  priest, 
are  here  to  be  registered.  For  the  form  "Ger- 
shom," comp.  on  v.  27.  The  two  sons  each  if 
Gershom  and  Merari,  and  the  four  sons  of  Kohath, 
bear  the  same  names  as  in  the  Pentateuch,  Ex. 
vi.  16-19,  Num.  iii.  17-20,  xxvi.  57  ff. — Ver.  46. 
And  these  are  tin-  families  of  Levi,  after  their 
fathers.  This  formula,  found  by  the  author  in 
his  source,  seems  rather  to  be  the  superscription 
for  the  following  special  genealogy  of  the  Levites, 
than  the  subscription  to  what  precedes  ;  but  comp. 
Ex.  vi.  19,  where  the  same  words  serve  clearly  as 
the  subscription  to  the  list  of  the  sons  and  grand 
sons  of  Levi. — Vers.  5,  6.  Descendants  of  Ger- 
shom.—  To  Gershom:  Libni  his  son,  etc.  The  ■) 
before  Qi^hj  serves  for  introduction,  and  there- 
fore stands  in  another  sense  than  in  Ezraii.  6,  16, 
where  it  is  nota  genitivi;  comp.  rather  Ps.  xvi.  3; 
Isa.  xxxii.  1. — Jeatherai,  the  last  in  this  eight- 
link  chain  of  the  descendants  of  Gershom,  may 
have  lived  in  the  times  of  Saul  and  David,  but  is 
not  otherwise  known.  That  some  of  the  nanus 
in  this  series,  Jahath,  Zimmah,  and  Zerah,  occur 
also  among  the  ancestors  of  Asaph,  who  springs 
from  the  line  of  Shimi  (vers.  24-28),  does  nut 
warrant  the  identification  of  the  two  series,  nor 
(as  Bertheau  affirms)  the  assumption  that  "  these 
are  inserted,  not  because  they  had  to  Jeatherai, 
but  because  they  belong  to  the  ancestors  of 
Asaph."  As  if  the  recurrence  of  the  same  names 
in  different  lines  were  not  usual  in  our  genea- 
logical sections!  —  Vers.  7-13.  Descendants  of 
Kohath.  Three  series  of  names,  each  beginning 
with  anew  133  or  <;-Ql  (vers.  7, 10,  3),  without  ex- 
hibiting their  genealogical  connection.  The  very 
beginning:  "The  sons  of  Kohath:  Amminadao 
his  son,"  involves  a  surprising  deviation  both 
from  ver.  3  and  from  Ex.  vi.  18  ff.,  where  no 
Amminadab  occurs  among  the  sons  of  Kohath. 
As  the  latter  parallels,  as  ver.  23,  agree  in  naming 


('HAT.   VI.   10-17. 


7) 


an  Izhar  as  the  link  between  Kohath  and  Korah, 
with  Ceil  and  the  majority  of  older  expositors, 
Amminadab  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  by-name  of 
Izhar;  for  to  regard  Amminadab,  with  Bertheau, 
as  a  descendant  of  Izhar,  and  suppose  au  omission 
of  the  latter  by  some  oversight,  is  less  probable. 
Why  should  not  the  name  Amminadab,  otherwise 
occurring  among  the  descendants  of  Judah  as 
father  of  Nahsnon  and  father-in-law  "I  Aaron 
(Ex.  vi.  23;  Nihil  vi,  28;  Ruth  i.  19;  comp, 
1  Chron.  ii.  10),  by  some  ii"  longer  discoverable 

mum',  serve  osa  by-name  to  Izhar,  the  ond  sen 

Kohath? — Korah  his  son,  Astir  his  son,  Elkanah 
his  son,  and  Ebiasaph  his  son.  If  we  a 
the  series  in  vers.  18-23  of  the  ancestors  of 
Heraan,  which  presents  so  many  points  of  contact 
with  the  present,  that  it  may  and  must  be  used 
for  the  elucidation  of  several  of  its  obscurities,  it 
appears  that  Ebiasaph  also  (the  father  of  that 
second  Assir  who  is  named  ver.  8)  is  a  son  of 
Korah,  and  a  brother  of  that  first  Assir;  and  in 
fact  Assir,  Elkanah,  and  Ebiasaph  appear  in  Ex. 
vi.  2-1  as  sons  of  Koran.  Thus  these  three,  not- 
withstanding tie-  inexact  phraseology  of  our  list, 
which  seems  to  exhibit  them  as  father,  sun,  and 
grandson,  are  rather  to  be  taken  for  brothers. 
That  Ebiasaph,  the  third  of  these  Korahites,  had  a 
son  Assir.  and  this  a  son  Tahath,  is  recorded  also 
in  the  genealogyof  Heman,  ver.  22.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  names  of  the  three  following  members, 
Uriel,  Uzziah,  an  1  Shaul,  vary  from  the  parallel 
names  Zephaniah,  Azariah,  and  Joel,  in  the  line 
of  Heman,  ver.  21  ;  whence  it  would  appear 
natural  to  assume  a  double  name  (favoured  by 
the  known  identity  of  the  king's  name,  Uzziah- 
Azariah)  for  these  three  members;  but  this  is 
liable  to  grave  doubts. — Ver.  10.  And  the  sons 
of  Elkanah:  Amasai  and  Ahimoth.  Among  the 
ancestors  of  Heman  also,  ver.  20,  an  Amasai  is 
named  as  son  of  an  Elkanah.  It  is  natural  to 
identify  that  Elkanah  with  the  present,  to  take 
him  for  a  son  of  Joel,  son  of  Azariah,  and  so 
supply  the  severed  connection  between  Shaul, 
ver.  9,  and  Elkanah.  The  present  Elkanah 
might  also,  indeed,  be  the  son  of  Korah  men- 
tioned ver.  8,  and  brother  of  Ebiasaph.  It  is 
impossible,  however,  to  decide  absolutely.  —  Ver. 
11.  Elkanah  his  son,  Elkanah  ofZoph  his  son,  or 
"Elkanah  Zophai."  As  the  text  is  here  notori- 
ously corrupt,  and  an  Elkanah,  be  it  the  first  or 
the  second,  is  redundant  (see  Crit.  Note',  it 
should  perhaps  be  emended,  with  Bertheau, 
"  Elkanah  his  son,  Zophai  his  son,"  etc.  In  r  1 1 i — 
case,  a  desirable  agreement  with  ver.  2"  is  gained, 
where  Elkanah  appears,  not  indeed  as  son,  but  as 
grandson  of  Amasai  (through  a  certain  Mahath 
omitted  in  our  text',  and  where,  further,  Zuph  is 
named  as  son  of  this  Elkanah,  a  name  that  is 
obviously  identical  with  Zophai  (comp.  Kelnbai, 
ii.  9,  with  Kelub,  iv.  11). — Ver.  12.  Eliab  his  son, 
Jcroham  his  son,  Elkanah  his  son.  As  "N'ahath," 
the  father  of  Eliab,  bears  a  name  that  is  closely 
allied  in  etymology  to  Toah,  the  son  of  Zuph  (or 
Zophai),  in  the  series  of  the  ancestors  of  Heman, 
ver.   19,   and  so  may  pass  for  a  by-form  of  this 

name,  3XvX    a'so  appears  to  be  a  collateral  form 

°f  ?NvX-  ver,    19;    but    Jcroham    and    Elkanah 

coincide  exactly  with  the  two  there  named  pre 
decessors  (or  rather  descendants)  of  Eliab.  Hence 
the  two  parallel  series  actually  agree  out  and  out, 


from  Zuph  to  the  last  Elkanah.  So  much  the 
more  certainly  is  a  133  ^SIOL"  (comp.    ver.    18), 

forming  the  transition  to  ver.  18,  to  he  supposed 
..mil  1  oil  at  the  end  ot  our  verse,  or  the  assumption 
at  least  to  In-  made  th  it  the  author  'a.  follows  at 
one, •  from  ver,  13)  meant  by  the  last  Elkanah  no 
other  than  the  father  of  Samuel.-  Ver  1::.  .he/ 
tin  sons  of  Samuel,  the  first-bom  Vashni,  and 
Abiah.  That  here  the  name  of  Joel,  who  was 
actually  the  first-born  ot  Samuel,  and  i-  named, 
ver.  Is,  as  his  proper  scion,  has  fallen  out,  ap- 
pears indubitable  from  1  Sam.  viii.  2  ;  comp, 
('lit.  Not,-.  On  the  whole,  the  present  genealogy 
of  Kohath  coincides  with  that  of  tie-  ance  tors  ol 
Heman   in   vers.    18-23,   though  the   text   of  our 

list   appears  the   nmre  defective,   ini urate,  and 

partly  corrupt.  —  Vers.  14,  1."..  Descendants  •;/' 
Merari,  of  the  line  of  Mahli,  from  whom  six 
generations  of  direct  descendants  are  given. 
Against  Bertheau's  attempt  to  identify  the  nami 
.Mahli,  Libni,  Shinii,  Uzzah.  Shema,  Haggiab, 
Asaiah  with  those  of  the  ancestors  of  Ethan  in 
vers.  29-32  (Mushi,  Mahli,  Sham  r,  I'.ani,  Amzi, 
Hilkiab,  Amaziah),  in  order  to  repn  sent  the  three 
sei  is  of  our  section  as  mere  parallels  to  the  three 
series  of  the  following  section,  see  the  remarks  of 
Keil  (p.  89).  The  latter  justly  asserts,  in  refer- 
ence to  ver.  4a;  "The  vers.  14  and  15  furnish  a 
list  of  the  family  of  Mahli,  whereas  the  ancestors 
of  Ethan,  vers.  29-32,  belong  to  the  family  of 
Mushi.  Accordingly,  our  series  cannot  be  d(  - 
^iu'ind  to  introduce  Ethan  or  Ethan's  ancestors. 
This  hypothesis  is  altogether  a  castle  in  the  air." 
3.  The  Ancestors  of  the  Levitical  Songmasters 
Hi  man.  Asaph,  anil  Ethan:  vers,  lii  34.-  And 
thesi  iin  they  wltom  David  set  over  th  singingin 
the  house  of  the  Lord;  comp.  XV.  17  tf.  and 
2  Chron.  xxxix.  27.  —  Tt:'~,T~^l\  properly:   "to 

the  bands  of  song,"  that  is,  for  the  singing,  for 
the  purpose  of  leading  and  executing  it. — After 
the  resting  of  the  ark;  from  the  time  when  the 
ark  (]i-iN  =  rm3n  fiK),  instead  of  its  previous 
wandering,  had  a  permanent  abode  on  Mount 
Zion,  2  Sam.  vi.  2,  17.— Ver.  17.  And  they 
ministered  Injure  the  dwelling  of  th  tent  of  meet 
ing  with  singing.  "Before  the  dwelling;''  for  in 
the  court,  before  the  holy  tent,  or  before  the 
temple,  took  place  the  public  worship,  -  "insisting 
of  sacrifice  and  singing.  The  genitive,  "of  the 
tent  of  meeting"  (institution),  is  explicative  of 
thi  dwelling,  that  is.  the  dwelling  of  God  among 
H 1,  people.  This  means,  in  the  first  place,  the 
tent  of  institution  or  meeting  (-|jnD"6jlk)i  which 

David  erected  on  Zion,  as  the  immediate  pre- 
decessor of  the  stone  temple  (2  Sam.  vi.  17  tf. ; 
1  Chron.  xxi.  28  tf. ;  2  Chron.  i.  3),  and  along 
with  which  the  old  Mosaic  tent  of  meeting  con- 
tinued a  long  time  in  Gibeon,  with  a  separate 
service  (1  Chron.  i.  29:  2  Chron.  1.  "  ,  1  Kings 
iii.  41.  That  this  Davidic  tent  on  Zion  is  in- 
tended in  the  first  place,  is  shown  partly  by  the 
following  reference  to  the  building  of  Solomon's 
temple,  and  partly  by  the  circumstance  that  the 
following  genealogy  takes  its  start  from  the  three 
songmasters  of  David. — Ami  they  attended  m 
their  order  to  their  service.  "In  their  ordei  " 
(DDBC'Oa),  that  is,  according  to  tin  older  pre- 
scribed by  David, — so,  namely,  that  (ver.  IS  ff.) 


72 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


Heman  the  Kohathite,  as  chief  leader  of  the 
whole  choir,  should  stand  in  the  middle,  Asaph 
the  Gershonite,  with  his  choir,  on  his  right,  and 
Ethan  the  Merarite  on  his  left,  in  conducing  the 
sacred  singing  of  the  temple  (comp.  xvi.  37  ff., 
xxiv.  1  2  Chron.  xxx.  16). — Vcr.  IS.  And  these 
(the  following)  are  they  who  attended,  and  their 
sons,  with  the  choirs  formed  of  their  sons  and 
their  families.  The  names  of  their  sons,  see  in 
xxv.  2-4.  Here  it  is  intended  to  trace,  not  so 
much  the  descendants  of  these  songmasters  from 
David's  time  down,  as  rather  their  ancestors  up 
to  Levi. — Of  the  sons  of  Kohath:  He/nan  the 
singer.  He  stands  before  the  rest,  and  is  dis- 
tinguished from  them  by  the  mere  predicate,  "the 
singer"  ("nic'on;  Sept.  i  i/.«Xt«»2os),  because  the 

chief  leading  of  the  temple  singing  belonged  to 
him.  He  appears  here  as  the  grandson  of  Samuel, 
which  is  chronologically  and  genealogically  admis- 
sible, ami  is  needlessly  questioned  by  Hitzig 
[Cfesch.  d.  1st.  p.  125  f.),  who  denies  that  Samuei 
belonged  to  the  house  of  Levi.  On  the  series  of 
Kohathites  now  following  to  vcr.  23,  consisting 
of  twenty-two  generations,  and  its  relation  to  that 
in  vers.  7-13,  see  above. — Vcr.  23.  The  son  of 
Levi,  the  son  of  Israel.  Only  here  is  this  ascent 
beyond  Levi  to  the  patriarch  of  all  Israel  ;  comp. 
Liike  iii.  38:  toS  A«i«  rev  BsoS. — Vers.  24-28. 
The  ancestors  of  \saph  the  Gershonite. — And  his 
brothel- Asaph.  "Brother,"  obviously  in  a  wider 
sense,  as  relative  and  fellow-officer  in  tin-  sacred 
service.  On  the  relation  of  his  genealogy,  in- 
cluding fifteen  members  to  the  earlier  series  of 
Gershonites,  see  on  vers.  5,  6. — Vers.  29-32.  The 
ancestors  of  Ethan  the  Merarite. — And  the  sons 
of  Merari,  their  brethren  on  the  left,  forming  the 
choir  standing  on  the  left.  For  the  name  Jedu- 
thun  (prw"l\  "praiseman"),  otherwise  occurring 

for  Ethan,  perhaps  an  honorary  surname,  comp. 
xvi.  41,  xxv.  1;  2  Chron.  xxxv.  15:  Neh.  xi.  17. 
The  series  of  Ethan's  ancestors  must  be  greatly 
abbreviated,  as  it  contains  only  twelve  names  up 
to  Merari. — Ver.  32.  The  son  of  Mahli,  the  son 
of  Mushi.  the  sun  of  Merari.  If  Mahli  and 
Mushi,  ver.  4,  be  named  together  as  sons  of 
Merari  (as  also  Lev.  iii.  20),  this  does  not  con- 
tradict our  passage,  as  Mahli  is  plainly  enough 
designated,  not  as  son,  but  as  grandson  of  Merari, 
therefore  as  nephew  or  perhaps  grand-nephew  of 
Mushi  the  younger  son  of  Merari.  On  the 
diversity  of  the  whole  series,  vers.  29-32,  from 
that  in  vers.  14,  15,  see  on  these  verses. — Ver. 
33  f.  And  their  brethren  the  Levites,  givenfor  all 
service,  etc.  "Their  brethren  the  Levites"  are 
other  Levites  beside  the  singers  already  nien- 
t.jned.  A  general  notice  of  the  ministry  of  the 
Levites  not  belonging  to  the  families  of  the 
singers  thus  closes  our  section,  as  the  like  notice 
of  the  liturgical  functions  of  the  singers  them- 
selves (vers.  16,  17)  opened  it.      D'JVIJ,    "given 

to  all  service,"  that  is,  given  to  Aaron  and  his 
descendants,  to  the  priestly  family  appointed  for 
service  in  the  performance  of  worship  ;  comp. 
Num.  iii.  '.'.  viii.  16-19,  xviii.  6;  also  Samuel's 
consecration  or  dedication  to  the  temple  service, 
!  Sam.  i.  11,  28,  and  the  oblati  of  monkery  in 
the  middle  ages,  for  example,  Bernard,  etc. — Ver. 
34.  And  An  run  and  his  sons  offered.  There  are 
three  functions  of  the  priestly  portion  of  the 
Levites:  —  1.   Sacrifice  (on    the   altars  of   burnt- 


offering  and  incense),  Num.  xviii.  1-7  ;  2. 
Ministration  in  the  holy  of  holies,  1  Chron. 
xxviii.  13;  3.  Propitiation  or  expiation  for  Israel, 
Lev.  xvi.  3'2. — In  all  that  Moses,  the  servant  of 
God,  had  commanded.  For  this  honourable  de- 
signation of  Moses,  comp.  Num.  xii.  7  ;  Deut. 
xxxiv.  5;  Josh.  i.  1,  13;  Heb.  iii.  2  if. 

4.  The  Series  of  High  Priests  from  Eleazar  to 
Aliirnaaz:  vers.  35-38. — This  section  is  closely 
connected  with  the  two  preceding  verses ;  for  it 
states  who  were  "the  sons  of  Aaron"  named, 
ver.  34,  as  the  conductors  of  the  priestly  service 
in  the  temple.  This  series  (which  agrees  essen- 
tially with  v.  30-34  ;  comp.  Ezra  vii.  1-5)  is 
brought  down  only  to  Ahimaaz,  the  contemporary 
of  Solomon  (comp.  2  Sam.  xv.  27),  because  in  the 
whole  section,  from  ver.  16,  a  "source  is  used  in 
which  the  prominent  families  of  Levi  in  the  time 
of  David  (and  Solomon)  were  described,  and  along 
with  the  genealogies  of  Heinan,  Asaph,  ana 
Ethan,  that  of  Ahimaaz  also  stood,  which  the 
author'  of  Chronicles  w:as  induced  to  insert  for 
the  sake  of  completeness  and  confirmation  of  the 
former  series"  (Bertheau).  This  series  of  high 
priests,  breaking  oft"  with  the  time  of  Solomon, 
does  not  form  a  specially  suitable  transition  to 
the  following  list  of  the  Levitieal  cities  (against 
Keil),  although  by  its  introductory  words  (espe- 
cially  by  the  suffix  in   DnUU'lD,   vel-   38,  that 

points  to   pinx  <:a  n^Nl,  ver.   35)   it  appears 

closely  connected  with  the  foregoing  section. 

5.  Tkt  Cities  of  the  Levites :  vers.  39-66. — And 
these  are  their  dwellings,  by  their  districts  in  their 
border — the  border  which  was  then  assigned  to 
the  several  Levitieal  families.  The  superscrip- 
tion may  have  stood  in  tile  document  which  the 
Chronist  here  follows;  it  is  wanting  in  the  list  ol 
the  dwellings  of  the  Levites.  Josh,  xxi.,  which 
inns  in  the  main  parallel  to  this,  but  deviates  in 
form  and  in  many  details.      For  riTtS  (from  -piu, 

drcumdare),  in  early  times,  village  of  nomades. 
of  tents  (Gen.  xxv.  16  ;  Num.  xxi.  10),  hen-  dis- 
trict, circuit  of  dwellings,  comp.  Ps.  lxix.  26. — 
Of  tin  sons  of  Aaron,  of  the  family  of  the  Ko- 
hiilhiti-s ;  for  to  them  was  the  lot.  These  words 
form   the  special  superscription   to  vers.   40-45. 

Alter   inian.  perhaps    rOB^tO    has    fallen   out  ; 

comp.  Josh.  xxi.  10.  At  all  events,  the  first  lot 
is  here  in  question. — Vers.  40.  41  agree  almost 
literally  with  Josh.  xxi.  11,  12,  only  Hebron  has 
there  its  old  name  Kiriath  Arba;  and  for  "in 
the  land  of  Judah,"  stands  "on  the  mountains 
of  Judah."  —  And  its  suburbs  round  about  it. 
D'C'iJD  's  the  standing  phrase  for  the  pastures 
(Kamph. )  or  commons  belonging  to  the  cities,  as 
distinguished  from  the  field  mL">  or  arable  land, 

ver.  41.  For  the  historical  contents  of  ver.  41, 
comp.  also  Josh.  xiv.  14,  xv.  13. — Ver.  42.  And 
to  the  sons  of  Aaron  they  gave  the  free  towns 
Hebron  and  Libnah.     As  Hebron  only  was  a  free 

town  (nvinn  D^pO  Tj;,  place  of  refuge  for  the 

maiislayer),  the  plural  appears  at  least  inexact 
The  parallel,  Josh.  xxi.  13,  has  the  correct  form 
-pj/.     The  same  occurs  with  respect  to  Shechem, 

ver.  52. — And  Jattir,  and  Eshtemoa,  and  its 
suburbs.      After    "|>f|»,    the    standing    addition 


CHAP.  VI.  48-66. 


78 


rPBnjDVlNIi    which   is  found  in  Josh.   xxi.    13 

as  always. — Ver.  43.  And  Hilen  and  Us  suburbs. 

Instead  of  p'n.  Josh.  xxi.  15  has  the  more  correct 

f?h  (comp.  Josh.  xv.  51). — Ver.  44.  And  Ashan 

and  its  suburbs.      The  name  jj«j)  in  thi^   place 

appears  more  correct  than  pjf  in  Josli.  xxi.   lti. 

Immediately  after  this  Ashan  the  name  of  Juttah 
must  have  fallen  out,  as  appears  from  Josli.  xxi.; 
as  in  ver.  45  the  name  of  Gibeon  before  Geba. 
This  twofold  omission  is  indirectly  confirmed  by 
the  closing  notice  in  ver.  45:  "all  their  cities 
were  thirteen  cities  in  their  families;"  for  at 
present,  tile  list  referring  to  the  tribes  of  Judah, 
Simeon,  and  Benjamin,  vers.  42-45,  contains  only 
eleven  cities.  Besides,  the  third  of  the  Levitical 
cities  in   Benjamin  is  called,  Josh.  xxi.   18,  not 

Allemeth  (HD^y),  hut  Almon  (|ioi>jj).  It  is  im- 
possible to  decide  which  is  the  original  form. — 
Vers.  46-48  give  summarily  only  the  number, 
not  the  names,  of  the  cities  of  the  remaining 
Levites  of  the  families  of  Kohath,  Gershom,  and 
Merari  (parallel  to  vers.  5-7  in  Josh,  xxi.);  the 
enumeration  by  name  follows  ver.  51  If. — Of  the 
family  of  the  tribe,  from  the  half -tribe.  Between 
these  words  of  ver.  40  (ntSHH  and  rpVITO!"!)  there 

is  an  obvious  gap;  according  to  Josh.  xxi.  5,  the 
words  "  Ephraim,  and  of  the  tribe  of  Dan  and  " 
have  here  fallen  out. — Ver.  47.  And  of  the  tribe 
of  Manaeseh  in  Bashan.  More  exactly,  Josh, 
xxi.  6,  "and  of  the  half-tribe  of  Xlanasseh  in 
Bashan,"  though  we  may  do  without  the  missing 
'i'n.      Vers.   49,    50  disturb  the  progress  of  the 

enumeration,  which,  after  the  summary  state- 
ments of  the  foregoing  three  verses,  raises  the 
expectation  of  a  specification  of  the  cities  of  the 
other  Kohathites  in  a  way  so  surprising,  that 
their  original  occupatiou  of  another  place,  and 
that  before  ver.  396  ("of  the  sons  of  Aaron," 
etc.),  admits  of  no  doubt ;  comp.  Josh,  xxi.,  where 
they  stand  in  vers.  8,  9  as  superscription  of  the 
list  of  cities  assigned  to  the  priests.  As  they  are 
there  annexed  to  the  summary  statement,  vers. 
5-7,  which  forms  here  vers.  46-48,  a  mechani- 
cally proceeding  compiler  takes  them  over  with 
these  at  once,  and  the  Chronist,  who  followed 
this  compiler,  neglects  to  repair  his  negligence. 
—  These  cities  which  they  called  by  names.  The 
plurals  nil3C'  an(i  'IXIP'  are  suitable  explana- 
tions, instead  of  the  corresponding  singulars  in 
Josh.  xxi.  9,  as  the  subject,  "the  sons  of  Israel," 
is  easily  supplied  to  the  verb  from  ver.  48,  and 
several  names  of  cities  are  given.  The  masc. 
DnnN.  instead  of  jnnN.  njay  be  only  an  oversight 

(Berth.,  Keil).— Vers.  51-55.  The  cities  of  the 
remaining  Kohathites;  comp.  Josh.  xxi.  20-26. 
And  of  the  families  of  the  sons  of  Kohath. — 
Instead  of  ninSBTSDIi  •=>  perhaps  to  be  read 
niriBe'DTl,  "and  with  respect  to  the  families," 

etc. — Ver.  52.  For  the  pi.  "free  towns,"  comp. 
on  ver.  42.  —  Ver.  53.  And  Johneam.  Josh. 
xxi.  22  gives  for  this  DyOp'1  an  otherwise  un- 
known a'V2p  ;  but  the  Sept.  confirms  the  former 

reading  by  its  'Ux/ia£: — Ver.  54.  And  Aijaltm 
and  its  suburbs,  and  Gath-rimmon  and  its  suburbs. 


In  Josh.  xxi.  2:!.  24,  these  tun  Levitical  cities, 
with  two  others  Inn-  omitted,  Eltekeh  and  Gib- 
bethon,  belong  to  the  tribe  oi  Han.  According 
to  this,  before  these  words  a  whole  rerse  has 
fallen  out:  "and  of  the  tribe  of  Dan,  Kite], el. 
and  its  suburbs,  Gibbethon  and  its  suburbs." 
That  the  mention  of  the  tribe  of  Dan  is  here  for 
the  second  time  avoided  (comp.  ver.  4ti),  can 
scarcely  he  called  accidental  ;  comp.  on  vii.  12. 
—  Ver.  SS.  Aner  and  its  suburbs,  and  Bilam  ana 
its  suburbs.  Josh.  xxi.  25  calls  the  two  Levitical 
eities  iii  West.  Manasseli  rather  Tanaeh  and  Gath- 
i- 1  m 1 1 1 1 . »i i  ;  but  these  names  appear  In  be  errors  ..I 
transcription  originating  in  the  foregoing  verse. 
In  this  ease,  cur  text  should  be  the  more  correct, 

only  that   0JP2  (Josh.  xvii.   11)  should  perhaps 

be  changed  into  Qjfav  —  To  the  family  of  the 

n  maining  sons  of  Kohath.  These  words,  formally 
annexed  to  "they  gave,"  etc.,  ver.  52a,  fonn 
a  kind  of  subscription,  in  which,  perhaps,  the 
singular    "family"  should  be   changed   into  the 

plural ;  comp.   niflSBwi  Josh.    xxi.   26. — Vers. 

56-61.  Tlie  cities  of  the  Gershonites ;  comp.  Josh. 
xxi.  27-33. — Golan  in  Bashan.  That  Golan  is 
one  of  the  six  cities  of  refuge,  like  Hebron, 
Shechem,  etc.,  is  not  mentioned;  this  again  is 
one  of  the  omissions  in  which  our  text  abounds. 
For  the  name  Ashtaroth,  Josh.  xxi.  27  substitutes 
Beeshterah  (rnnC'JQ).  perhaps  compounded  of 
mncinva-     This  city  (Deut.   i.   4,  Josh.  xiii. 

12,  once  the  seat  of  king  Og>  was  perhaps  formerly 
called  Ashteroth-karnaim,  Gen  xiv.  5,  now  Tell 
Ashteroth,  some  hours  north-west  of  Edrei. — 
Ver.    57.    Kedesh  and  its  suburbs.      For    BHp, 

Josh.  xxi.  28  has  more  correctly  [i'E'p,  as  in 
ver.  58  the  reading  niOIN  Josh.  xxi.  29,  is  per- 
haps more  correct  than  niCS").  and  Q'35  J«j)  than 
□JJf.  —Ver.  59.  Mashal  (">g>o)  is  contracted  for 
^Xu''2,  Josh.  xix.  26.  On  the  contrary,  p'pin. 
ver.  60,  appears  to  he  wrongly  transcribed  fo' 
np?n,  which  Joshua  has  in  our  passage  and  xix. 
25  (i5pn   in    Najihtali,  Josh,   xix    24,  cannot  be 

here  intended). — Ver.  61.  Kedesh  in  Galilee.  Of 
this  city,  also,  it  is  not  noted  that  it  belonged  to 
the  siv  free  towns,  Josh.  xxi.  32.  On  its  site, 
west  of  the  lake  Merom,  where  Kedes  now  lies, 
see  Rob.  iii.  682,  Ranmer,  Palcest.  p.  116.— The 
following  Hammon  corresponds  to  Hainmoth-dor, 
Josh.  xxi.  32,  and  to  Hammath,  Josh.  xix.  35, 
which  three  forms  appear  all  to  point  to  hot 
springs  in  the  vicinity  of  the  place.  In  Joseph. 
Antiq.  xviii.  2.  3,  the  name  is  'A/i/txtvs.  For 
Kiriathaim,  Josh,  xxi  32  has  the  contracted  form 
Kaitan   (jnTp),  that  stands  to   the   present   full 

form  as  jnil,  2  Kings  vi.  13,  to  |"nn.  Gen.  xxxvii. 

17. — Vers.  62-66.  The  cities  of  the  Merarites  : 
comp.  Josh.  xxi.  34-37.  —  To  the  sons  of  Merari 
that  remained,  namely,  the   Levites,  as  the  fuller 

form  D'tniSH  D'vH.  Josh.  xxi.  34,  shows,  which 
may  mean,  "those  of  the  Levites  still  to  be  men- 


74 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


tioned." — Rimmono  and  its  suburbs,  Tabor  and 
its  suburbs.  Here  the  names  of  two  other  cities 
of  Zebulun  have  fallen  out,  Jokneam  and  Kartah. 
But  even  the  two  here  named  have  other  names 
there,  where,  for  ijiai,  the  probably  less  correct 

HJD'n  appears  (comp.  the  repeated  mention  of  a 
city  lien  in  Zebulun,  Josh.  xix.  13),  and  where, 
in  place  of  our  "lian,  stands  the  name  ?^H3,  which 

is  certainly  identical  with  Nahalol,  Judg.  i.  30, 
and  is  perhaps  found  in  the  present  Nalul,  south- 
west of  Nazareth.  It  is  hard  to  say  how  our 
"li^D  came  into  the  text  instead  of  the  un- 
doubtedly original  ^>ni ;  possibly  the  author 
meant,  instead  of  the  city,  only  the  region  where 
it  lay — Mount  Tabor  (Movers) ;  possibly  the  name 
of  the  city  fell  out,  and  of  the  determination  of 
Its  site,  that  was  perhaps  included  in  the  words 

"ii2Fl  rv">D3  ^33  bv-i  only  the  last  word  remains 

(Berth.);  or  possibly  the  place  bore  two  quite 
different  names.  — Vers.  63,  64  are  wanting  in 
some  editions  of  the  books  of  Joshua,  where  they 
are  xix.  36,  37.  But  the  most  and  best  MSS. 
contain  them,  and  there  is  no  decisive  reason  for 
their  condemnation  as  spurious ;  see  the  par- 
ticulars in  Fay  on  the  passage. — And  beyond 
Jordan  by  Jericho,  east  of  Jordan.  This  deter- 
mination of  place  (which  is  often  found  in  like 
terms,  Num.  xxii.  1,  xxvi.  3,  xxxiv.  15  ;  comp. 
on  2  Chron.  viii.  3)  is  wanting  in  the  book  of 
Joshua,  which  in  other  respects  agrees  with  our 
verse,  only  that  it  omits  not  to  mark  Bezer  as  a 
free  town. — Ver.  65.  And  out  of  the  tribe  of  Gad, 
Ramoth  in  Oilead.  Here  also  is  wanting  the 
mention  of  its  being  a  city  of  refuge  ;  comp.  Josh. 


xxi.  36,  where  also  the  name  is  written,  not  as 
here,    niDXIi  DUt  niO~l,    as  of  the    two   places 

mentioned  in  the  following  verse,  the  latter  is 
there  not  Jaazer  but  Jazer ;  comp.  Num.  xxi.  32. 
The  situation  of  these  towns  is  wholly  unknown. 

.Moreover,  let  us  compare,  with  respect  tt  the 
Levitioal  cities  in  general,  the  not  unimpoitant 
remark  of  Hengstenberg,  Oesch.  d.  Reichs  Golte» 
miter  dem  A.  B.  ii.  i,  p.  259:  "  the  number  of  the 
cities  in  all  amounted  to  forty-eight.  At  first 
sight,  for  a  comparatively  small  tribe,  this  appears 
to  be  too  great.  But  this  appearance  vanishes, 
when  we  consider  that  in  these  cities,  not  the 
Levites  alone,  but,  along  with  them,  craftsmen  and 
others  from  the  other  tribes  dwelt,  who  made 
often  the  greater  part  of  the  population  ;  comp. 
Lev.  xxv.  33  ;  1  Chron.  vi.  40,  41  (Caleb  as  in- 
habitant of  the  lands  of  Hebron),  etc."  There 
is  weight  also  in  his  remark,  p.  260,  on  the  many 
differences  between  our  list  and  Josh.  xxi. ;  these 
"are  most  easily  explained  by  the  fact  that  some 
of  the  cities  assigned  to  the  Levites  were  at  the 
time  (when  the  land  was  divided  among  the  twelve 
tribes)  in  possession  of  the  Canaauites,  and  as  the 
hope  of  their  immediate  conquest  failed,  were  first 
recovered  from  them  by  others,  in  whose  posses- 
sion they  remained,  on  account  of  the  inconve- 
nience of  the  change."  In  many  cases  this 
assumption  may  be  correct,  and  serve  to  explain 
the  double  names,  as  Ashau  and  Ain,  Allemeth 
and  Almon,  Kedesh  and  Kishion,  Anem  and  Kn- 
gannim,  Tabor  and  Nahalal,  etc.  (See  on  vers. 
44,  45,  57,  58,  62.)  But  that,  besides  numerous 
conniptions  of  the  text,  errors  in  transcription, 
and  omissions  of  names,  sentences,  and  clauses, 
took  place  not  merely  in  our  text,  but  also  in  that 
of  Joshua,  must  have  been  abundantly  evident 
from  our  exegetical  and  critical  remarks. 


e.  The  Families  of  the  Remaining  Tribes  (except  Dan  and  Zebulun),  and  in  particular 

OF  THE  BENJAMITE  HllUSE  OF  SAUL. — Ch.  VII.  VIII. 

1.   The  Families  of  Issachar,  Btnjamiu,  Napktali,  West  Mauasseh,  Ephraim,  and  Asher:  ch.  vii. 

».   The  Tribe  of  Issachar:  vers.  1-5. 

Ch.  vii.  1.  And  the  sons1  of  Issachar  :  Tola  and  Piiah,  Jashutr  and  Shimron,  four. 

2  And  the  sons  of  Tola  :  Uzzi,  and  Rephaiah,  and  Jeriel,  and  Jahmai,  and 
Jibsam,  and  Samuel,  heads  of  their  father-houses  to  Tola,  valiant  heroes  in 
their  generations  ;  their  number  in  the  days  of  David  was  twenty  and  two 

3  thousand  and  six  hundred.    And  the  sons  of  Uzzi :  Izrahiah ;  and  the  sons  ot 

4  Izrahiah  :  Michael,  and  Obadiah,  and  Joel,  Ishiah,  five  heads  in  all.  And  with 
them,  by  their  generations,  by  their  father-houses,  troops  of  the  host  of  war, 

5  thirty  and  six  thousand  ;  for  they  had  many  wives  and  sons.  And  their 
brethren  of  all  the  families  of  Issachar,  valiant  heroes,  eighty  and  seven 
thousand  was  their  register  for  all. 

/3.   The  'Tribe  of  Benjamin :  vers.  6-11. 

6,  7  Benjamin  :  Bela,  and  Becher,  and  Jediael,  three.  And  the  sons  of  Bela  : 
Ezbon,  and  Uzzi,  and  Uzziel,  and  Jerimoth,  and  Iri,  five,  heads  of  father- 
houses,  valiant  heroes  ;  and  their  register  was  twenty  and  two  thousand  and 
8  thirty  and  four.  And  the  sons  of  Becher  :  Zemirah,  and  Joash,  and  Eliezer, 
and  Elioenai,  and  Omri,  and  Jerimoth,  and  Abiah,  and  Anathoth,  and  Alemetb : 
ft  all  these  were  the  sons  of  Becher.  And  their  register  by  their  generations, 
heads  of  their  father-houses,  valiant  heroes,  twenty  thousand  and  two  hundred 


CHAP.  VII.  75 


10  And  the  sons  of  Jediael:  Billian  ;  and  the  sons  of  Bilhan :  Jeush,3  and 
Benjamin,  and  Ehud,  and  Chenaanah,  and  Zethan,  and  Tarshish,  and  Ahishahar. 

11  All  these  were  sons  of  Jediael,  by  the  heads  of  the  fathers,  valiant  heroes, 
seventeen  thousand  and  two  hundred  going  out  in  the  host  for  war. 

'/.  Another  Tribe,  and  the  Tribe  of  Naphtali :  vers.  12,  13. 

12,  13         And  Shuppim  and  Huppim,  sons  of  Ir:  Hushim,  sons  of  another.     The 
sons  of  Naphtali :  Jahziel,  and  Guni,  and  Jezer,  and  Shallum,  sons  of  Bilhah. 

o.   Half-Tribt  of  Manasseh  (west  of  Jordan):  vers.  14-19. 

14  The  sons  of  Manasseh:  Ashriel,*  whom  his  concubine,  the  Aramitess,  hare; 

15  she  bare  Maehir,  the  father  of  Gilead.  And  Machir  took  a  wife  for  Huppim 
and  Shuppim,  and  the  name  of  his  sister  was  Maachah,  and  the  name  of  the 

16  second  was  Zelqphehad  ;  and  Zelophehad  had  daughters.  And  Maachah, 
wife  of  Machir,  bare  a  son,  and  she  called  his  name  Peresh  ;  and  the  name  of 

17  his  brother  was  Sheresh  ;  and  his  sons  were  Ulam  and  Kekem.  And  the  sons 
of  Ulam  :  Bedan  :  these  are  the  sons  of  Gilead,  the  son  of  Machir,  the  son  of 

18  Manasseh.       And   his  sister  Hammolecheth  bare    Ishod,  and  Abiezer,   and 

19  Mahlah.  And  the  sons  of  Shemidah  :  Ahian,  and  Shechem,  and  Likhi,  and 
Aniam. 

i.   The  Tribe  of  Ephraim  :  rers.  20-29. 

20  And  the  sons  of  Ephraim :  Shuthelah,  and  Bered  his  son,  and  Tahath  his 

21  son,  and  Eladah  his  son  and  Tahath  his  son.  And  Zabad  his  son,  and 
Shuthelah  his  son  ;  and  Ezer  and  Elad  ;  and  the  men  of  Gath  that  were  born 
in  the  land  slew  them,  because  they  came  down  to  take  away  their  cattle. 

22  And  Ephraim  their  father  mourned  many  days,  and  his  brethren  came  to 

23  comfort  him.     And  he  went  in  to  his  wife,  and  she  conceived  and  bare  a  son, 

24  and  he  called  his  name  Beriah,  because  it  went  evil  with  his  house.  And  his 
daughter  was  Sherah,  and  she  built  Beth-horon,  the  nether  and  the  upper,  and 

25  Uzzen-sherah.     And  Rephah  his  son,  and  Resheph  and  Telah  his  son,  and 
2G,  27  Tahan  his  son.     Ladan  his  son,  Ammihud  his  son,  Elishama  his  son.     Non 

28  his  son,  Joshua  his  son.  And  their  possession  and  their  habitations  were 
Bethel  and  her  daughters,  and  eastward  Naaran,  and  westward  Gezer  and 
her  daughters,  and  Shechem  and  her  daughters  unto  Ajjah5  and  her  daughters. 

29  And  on  the  side  of  the  sons  of  Manasseh,  Bethshean  and  her  daughters, 
Taanach  and  her  daughters,  Megiddo  and  her  daughters,  Dor  and  her 
daughters  ;  in  these  dwelt  the  sons  of  Joseph  the  son  of  Israel. 

£.  The  Tribe  of  Asher:  vers.  30-40. 

30  The  sons  of  Asher  :  Imnah,  and  Ishuah,  and  Ishui,  and  Beriah,  and  Serah 

31  their  sister.     And  the  sons  of  Beriah  :  Heber  and  Malchiel ;  he  is  the  father 

32  of  Birzavith.6     And  Heber  begat  Japhlet,  and  Shomer,  and   Hotham,  and 

33  Shua   their   sister.     And   the   sons  of  Japhlet      Pasach,  and  Bimhal,  and 

34  Ashvath  :  these  are  the  sons  of  Japhlet.     And  the  sons  or  Shemer  :  Ahi,  and 

35  Rohgah,  and   Hubbah,7  and  Aram.       And  the  son  of  Helem  his  brother  : 

36  Zophah,  and  Imna,  and  Shelesh,  and  Ainal.     The  sons  of  Zophah  :  Suah,  and 

37  Harnepher,  and  Shual.  and  Beri,  and  Imrah,     Bezer,  and  Hod,  and  Shamma, 

38  and  Shilshah,  and  Ithran,  and  Beera.     And  the  sons  of  Jether :  Jephunneh, 

39  and  Pispah,  and  Ara.     And  the  sons  of  Ulla  :  Arah,  and  Hanniel,  and  Riziah. 

40  All  these  were  the  sons  of  Asher,  heads  of  father-houses,  choice,  valiant  heroes, 
heads  of  the  princes  :  and  their  register  for  the  service  in  war  was  twenty  and 
six  thousand. 

1  For   l,J27l  read   '231-   as  (^e  Sept.   cod.  Alex.  r:ads  xxi  etrci  1*1)    luri-xa-P  {cod    Vat.  has  xxi  re7i  titiTt    Irr.). 
!  So  the  A'crt:  tile  Kelhib  hca  TC^- 
*  {JT^  in  the  Kethib. 


76 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


•  fcOIC'N  appears  to  be  a  gloss  introduced  into  the  text  by  the  double  wilting  of  the  following  consonants, 

So  (HsV)  all  the  bes'  mss  and  prints.  The  tl^J/  of  some  other  mss.  and  editions  is  an  error  of  the  pen  or  the  press 
introduced  into  the  texr  by  the  influence  of  the  Sept ,  Vultr.,  and  Tarp. ;  comp.  de  Mossi,  Var.  lect.  ad  h.  I. 

•  So  the  Keri:  it  is  doubtful  how  the  Kethib  mi~0  is  to  be  pronounced  (j"lil"13  ?  with  Gesen.,  who  supposes  it  to  bp 
a  woman's  name). 

'  For  rnlT  Is  to  be  read,  with  the  Keri,  ri3nV 


EXEGETICAL. 
1.    The  Tribe  of  Issachar:  vers.  1-5. — And  the 
sons  of  Issachar.     That  13371  is  an  error  of  the 

pen  for  ijq^  (comp.  ver.  20,  v.  11,  etc.),  occa- 
sioned by  the  many  >}y?  m  the  previous  section 

(vi.  42,  46,  47,  etc.),  is  probable  in  itself,  and  is 
confirmed  by  the  Sept.  cod.  AUx.  (see  Crit.  Note). 
To  regard  the  ■>  as  introductory,  "as  for  the  sons 

of  Issachar,"  is  impossible,  because  the  names  of 
the  four  sons  immediately  follow.  On  the  con- 
stant Keri  ("13$',  "obtained  by  hire")  referring 

to  the  name  ~OOT>\  and  on  its  probable  pronun- 
ciation, comp.  the  expositors  on  Gen.  xxx.  16, 
and  Dietrich's  Gesenius. —  Tola  and  Pnah,  Jushub 
and  Shimron.  So  run  the  names  also  in  Num. 
xxvi.  23  ff.,  while  in  Gen.  xlvi.  15  the  second 
and  third  vary  (niQ  for  nj<1S,  al"l  2V  '°r  31t;"). 

— Ver.  2.  Uzzi  and  Rephaiah,  etc.  These  sons 
of  Tola  occur  nowhere  else  They  are  here  de- 
signated "  heads  of  their  father-houses  to  Tola" 
their  parent ;  this  addition  j;~>iri7  serves  to  define 
Dni3X  JY^?  more  exactly  ;  but  it  is  somewhat 

strange,  which  raises  the  suspicion  of  corruption. 
—  Valiant  heroes  in  their  generations,  after  their 
births,   that  is,   as  they  are  registered.     Before 

Drri"l7r6  a  DL'TTTin  appears  to  have  fallen  out ; 
comp.  ver.  9.  Less  probable  is  the  connection 
°'    DnilPh?  with  the  following  D1SDD.  against 

the  accentuation,  which  Keil  proposes,  "  after 
their  births  their  number  was,"  etc  Moreover, 
the  number  22,600  for  the  men  of  Issachar  fit  for 
service  in  David's  time  should  rest  on  the  known 
census  made  by  Joab  under  this  king  (ch.  xxi. ; 
2  Sam.  xxiv. ),  and  therefore,  like  the  following 
numbers,  vers.  4,  5,  7,  11,  etc.,  should  be  cre- 
dible and  accurate. — Ver.  3.  Five  heads  in  all, 
namely,  Izrahiah  the  father  with  his  four  sons. — 
Ver.  4.   And  with  them,  namely,  the  five  heads  of 

families  mentioned  ver.   3  (^>r/  in  Qn'7ltl,  "with, 

along  with ").  The  number  36,000  for  this 
family  alone  is  at  first  sight  surprising  ;  but  the 
following  remark:  "for  they  (those  five  heads) 
had  many  wives  and  sons,"  is  sufficient  to  explain 
and  justify  it,  pointing  to  an  unwonted  fruit- 
fulness  of  this  family,  and  making  it  conceivable 
that  the  grandson  of  Izrahiah  should  have  nearly 
twice  as  many  descendants  (36,000)  as  the  patri- 
arch Tola  (22,600).— Ver.  5.  And  their  brethren 
.  .  .  eighty  and  seven  thousand  teas  their  register, 

literally,  their  register  with  respect  to  all  (^rfc>). 

In  this  sum  total  of  all  the  tribes  of  Issachar  in 
the  time  of  David  are  included — 1.  The  22,600 
descendants  of  Tola  ;  2.   The  36,000  of  Izrahiah  ; 


and  3.  "Their  brethren,"  28,400  of  the  other 
families  of  the  tribe  not  mentioned  by  name. 
The  credibility  of  these  numbers  is  shown  by  the 
circumstance  that  in  the  two  enumerations  under 
Moses  the  men  of  Issachar  fit  for  service  were 
respectively  54,400  (Num.  i.  29)  and  64,300 
(Num.  xxvi.  25).  The  comparatively  slow  in- 
crease (about  23,000)  during  the  centuries  from 
Moses  to  David  is  due  to  the  desolating  troubles 
in  the  time  of  the  judges. 

2.  The  Tribe  of  Benjamin  :  vers.  6-11. — Benja- 
min: Bela,  and  Becher,  and  Jediael,  three.    A  '33 

or   ijyn  appears  to  have  fallen  out  before  >'0'33. 

If  only  three  sons  of  Benjamin  are  here  enume- 
rated, this  seems  to  contradict  Gen.  xlvi.  21,  where 
ten  sons  of  Benjamin  are  named  ;  also  Num.  xxvi. 
38.  where  at  least  five  are  named  ;  and  1  Chron. 
viii.  1  f. ,  where  at  all  events  five  are  enumerated, 
though  some  of  them  are  different  from  those  in 
Numbers.  The  relation  of  these  four  different 
registers  may  be  thus  exhibited  : — 

Gen.  xlvi.   Num.  xxvi.     1  Chr.  viii.     1  Chr.  vii. 

Bela.  Bela.  Bela.  Bela. 

Becher.  Becher. 

Ashbel.        Ashbel.  Ashhel. 

Gera. 

Naaman. 

Ehi.  Ahiraui.  Ahrah  (mnx). 

Kosh. 

Muppim.      Shephuphan. 

Huppim.     Hupham. 

Ard. 

Nochah  (nnij). 

Kaphah  (Nfi"l). 

Jediael. 

From  this  comparison,  it  appears  that — 1. 
Jediael  occurs  only  here,  and  may  be  corrupted 
from  the  Ashbel  of  the  other  three  lists,  or  a 
synonymous  by-form  of  it.  If  this  conjecture  of 
most  old  expositors  (with  whi:h  the  derivation  of 

73CX  from  7j?3t:fN    [Wellhausen,    Text    d.    B. 

Sam.  p.  31]  would  not  agree)  'verewell  grounded, 
our  text  would  give  three  sons  of  Benjamin 
agreeing  with  Genesis,  and  pass  over  in  silence 
the  remaining  seven.  2.  Becher  the  secend  son 
of  Benjamin,  is,  to  our  surprise,  wanting  in 
Num.  and  1  Chron.  viii.,  although  a  family  of 
nine  sons,  growing  into  20,200  men,  are  given 
underneath  (vers.  8,  9).  His  omission  in  those 
lists  in  Num.  xxvi.  may  arise  from  this,  that  he 
did  not  attain  to  great  numbers  in  the  time  of 
Moses,  but  only  in  the  days  of  David  and 
Solomon,  whose  enumerations  lie  at  the  basis  of 
the  data  here.  3.  Some  of  the  differences  in 
the  other  names  prove  to  be  mere  variations  of 
pronunciation  or  structure  ;  thus  Ehi,  Ahiram, 
and   Ahrah  are  one  and  the  same  ;    also  Mup- 


CHAR  VII.  7-13. 


77 


pim  (Q'BJj,    probably   written    by    mistake    for 

D'SC';  sue  on  ver.  12)  and  Shephuphani,  lluppim 

and  Hupham.  4.  Two  of  the  ten  names  in  Gen. 
xlvi.,  as  the  partly  more  correct  genealogy  in  Num. 
xxvi.  3S-40  shows,  are  not  sons,  but  grandsons  of 
Bi  iij  iinin,  Naaman  and  Aid,  who  were  sons  of 
Bela.  5.  The  two  names  in  Gen  xlvi.  that  have 
no  parallel,  Gera  and  Rosh,  appear  to  have  died 
childless,  or  to  have  not.  been  blessed  with  a 
numerous  offspring,  to  wl  ose  existence  the  later 
genealogists  were  not  1-d  to  make  any  farther 
reference. — Ver.  7.  And  the  sons  of  B'la  .  ,  . 
five,  etc.  Their  names  do  not  agree  with  the 
names  of  the  sons  of  Bela  given  in  vih.  3  and  in 
Num.  xxvi.  tu  ;  the  difference  will  rest  on  this, 
that  a  part  of  these  heads  of  father-houses  of  the 
family  of  Bela,  or  perhaps  all  of  them,  were  later 
descendants  of  their  ancestors,  and  therefore  sons 

in  a  wider  sense. —  Valiant  heroes.     Q^n  '"113; 

here  and  in  ver.  10  for  the  otherwise  usual  and 

more  concrete  ~><n  ,_li33  (vers.  2,  9,  etc.). — Ver.  8. 

And  the  sons  of  Becher,  etc.  Of  the  names  of 
these  nine  sons  of  Becher,  the  last  two,  Anathoth 
and  Alemeth,  occur  otherwise  as  cities  of  Benja- 
min ;  Alemeth  (in  the  varied  form  nO?l'),  vi.  45, 

and  Anathoth  there  and  Isa.  x.  30,  Jer.  i.  1,  both 
as  Levitical  cities. — Ver.  9.  Heails  of  their 
father-houses,  valiant  heroes.    DDi3X  IT3  'B'KI 

is  in  explanatory  apposition  with  cniiph/-  ;<»'l 
'JTI  ,— 1133  with  the  former.     The  heads  of  houses 

are,  at  the  same  time,  designated  as  heroes  of 
war.  See  a  similar  construction  in  Ezra  iii.  12. 
— Ver.  10.  And  the  sons  of  Bilhan  :  Jeush,  and 
Benjamin,  and  Ehud,  etc.  Of  these  grandsons 
of  Jediael,  the  first  is  called  in  the  Kethib 
"Jeish"  (see  Crit.  Note)  ;  the  second  bears  the 
name  of  the  patriarch,  his  ancestor  ;  the  third  is 
a  namesake  of  Ehud  the  judge  (Judg.  iii.  IS), 
who  was  of  the  family  of  Gera,  and  scarcely 
identical  with  the  present  one  (Gen.  xlvi.  21 ). 
Chenaanah,  i"l3>33,  may  incline  us  to  think  (with 

Berth.)  of  a  Canaanitish  family  incorporated  with 
the  Benjamites.  The  names  Tarshish,  otherwise 
denoting  a  precious  stone,  and  Ahishahar,  brother 
of  the  morning  blush,  point  to  the  glory  and 
fame  of  their  bearers,  and  may  be  surnames, 
which  afterward  became  personal  names.  —  Ver. 
1 1.  All  these  were  sons,  descendants,  qfJt  diael,  by 
the  heads  of  the  fathers  registered,     nnxn  VC'S"I 

stands  briefly  fi  r  ni3X  JV3  'E'tfl-  The  ■>  be- 
fore >t'}<"1  seems  to  In' redundant  ;  it  is  also  want- 
ing in  thi  Sept.,  and  is  perhaps  to  be  erased, 
though  it  may  be  dependent  on  a  oL'TlVin  (ver. 

9)  to  be  supplied  in  thought,  and  in  this  ease 
to  be  retained.  The  17,200  men  of  Jediael's 
family  fit  for  war,  with  the  20,200  men  of 
Becher's  and  22,034  of  Bela's,  make  up  59,434 
warriors  or  heads  of  houses  in  Benjamin  when 
David  made  his  census,  about  14,000  more  than 
in  the  days  of  Moses,  when  all  the  families  of 
Benjamin  presented  in  the  field  45,600  men 
(Num.  xxvi.  41).  In  weighing  the  grounds  for 
this  not  very  rapid  increase  during  a  period  of 


three  or  four  centuries,  it  is  proper  to  take  intc 
account  the  catastrophe  of  tin'  first  period  of  the 

judges,  whereby  the  whole  tribe  of  Benjamin 
was  reduced  to  600  men  (Judg.  xx.  47).  The 
number  of  2S0.000  Benjamite  warriors  given,  2 
Ohron.  xiv.  7,  for  the  time  of  Asa  is  explained 
in  this  way,  that  there,  not  heads  of  houses, 
but  individuals  fit  for  military  service,  are  in- 
eluded. 

3.  Another  (unnamed)  Tribe,  and  the  Tribe  of 
Naphtali:  vers.  12,  13. — And  Shuppim  and 
lluppim.  sons  of  I  r.  This  first  half  of  the  verse 
contains  pretty  Certainly  a  supplement  to  the 
genealogy  of  Benjamin  ;  for  the  names  Shuppim 
and  Huppim  coincide  with  those  of  two  by  the 
sons  of  Benjamin,  as  they  are  called  Gen.  xlvi. 
J]  (the  word    u'BO  there   appears,   as   has  been 

said,  corrupted  from  D'Eti')  '<  ana  that  these  two 
Benjamites,  whose  more  correct  forms  are  pre- 
served in  Num.  xxvi.  39,  appear  here  as  "Vj;  <J3, 

is  easily  reconciled  with  other  statements,  for  -py 
is  most  probably  identical  with  *~\*y  the  son  of 

Bela,  ver.  7  ;  hence  those  who  are  caUed,  Gen. 
xlvi.  and  Num.  xxvi.,  sons  of  Bela,  appear  here 
more  correctly  as  his  grandsons.  Thus  our  verse 
contains  so  far  nothing  difficult  or  enigmatical. 
—  Ihmhim,  sons  of  another,  or  "sons  of  Aher  " 
(inx).  It  is  possible  that  these  words  also  re- 
fer to  a  Benjamite  family,  for  the  name  Qgjrj, 
in  the  varying  form  D'C'in  or  Ct*TI,  is  found, 

viii.  8,  11,  among  the  Benjamites  as  the  son  of  a 
Shaharaim,  who  might  lie  hid  under  the  -ins 

of  our  passage  (so  thinks  Davidson,  Introd.  ii. 
51,  who  proposes  the  middle  form  ~int>  as  com- 
mon ground  for  "inx  an<l  D^nt')-  But  it  i* 
more  probable  that  D^n  denotes  the  only  son  of 

Dan  mentioned  Gen.  xlvi.  23,  who  is  himself  in- 
dicated by  the  mysterious  inS-  For — 1.  Both 
in  Gen.  xlvi.  and  Num.  xxvi.  Dan  immediately 
follows  Benjamin,  and  he  stands  in  the  first 
passage,  as  here,  between  Benjamin  and  Naphtali. 
2.   The  name   QniCS  which  Num.  xxvi.  42  gives 

for  the  only  son  of  Dan,  is  different  only  in  form 
from  the   CC'H  °f  our  passage  and  the   E'l-'TI 

of  Genesis  ;  we  may  suppose  a  Jxhr\  or  Brant' 
(comp.  DEirjC',  Num.  xxvi.  39)as  common  ground- 
form  for  both.  3.  Decisive  for  the  reference  ol 
ver.  126  to  the  tribe  of  Dan  is  the  i"in?3  'j3  at 

the  close  of  ver.  13,  a  note  referring  obviously, 
Gen.  xlvi.  25,  to  Dan  and  Naphtali,  the  two  sons 
of  Bilhah.  The  avoiding  to  name  Dan,  and  con- 
cealing  him   under   the   indefinite    "inX  (comp. 

Ezraii.  3D,  recall  the  former  surprising  omissions 
of  this  tribe  in  vi.  46-54,  and  appear  to  rest  like 
these  on  a  peculiar  dislike  of  our  author  to 
record  particulars  concerning  a  tribe  that  had 
early  separated  itself  from  the  theocratic  com- 
munity by  the  establishment  of  a  foreign  wor- 
ship; comp.  Judg.  xvii.  xviii.  That  the  name 
Dan  occurs  three  times  in  our  book  iii.  2,  xii.  35, 
xxvii.  22)  certainly  appears  to  stand  against  this 


78 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


hypothesis  proposed  by  Bertlieau,  and  approved 
by  other  moderns,  as  Kamph.,  BShmer  {Zur 
Lehre  vom  Antichrist,  Jahrb.  f.  deutsche  Thiol. 
1859,  p.  449),  and  to  favour  cither  the  view  of 
Ewald,  who  supposes  an  accidental  omission  of 
the  name  of  Dan  and  of  some  other  words  by  a 
corruption  of  the  text,  or  that  of  Keil,  who, 
with  the  ancients,  finds  in  the  words  "  Hushim, 
sons  of  Alier,"  only  a  Benjamite  family  (named 
viii.  8,  11).  But  that  here  again  a  corruption  of 
the  text  accidentally  art'ects  the  name  of  Dan, 
whom  we  expect  to  meet  between  Benjamin  and 
Naphtali,  is  scarcely  credible  ;  and  against  the 
addition  of  the  words  in  question  to  the  fore- 
going series  of  Benjamites  is  the  absence  of  the 
copula  1  before  D^'TI-  There  is  therefore  con- 
siderable probability  in  the  assumption  of  Berth., 
that  the  omission  of  Dan  is  as  little  accidental 
here  as  in  the  list  of  the  twelve  tribes  in  liev.  vii. 
5-8,  and  that  it  has  a  theocratic,  judicial  import, 
as  it  points  to  the  fall  of  Dan  into  idolatry. 
From  the  Rabbinical  tradition  concerning  Judg. 
xviii.  30,  where  the  name  of  Moses  is  supposed 
to  be  intentionally  changed  into  Manasseh,  that 
it  might  not  occur  in  the  history  of  the  Danite 
sanctuary,  nothing  can  be  drawn  in  support  of 
this  assumption,  as  this  is  only  an  insipid  conceit 
in  explanation  of  the  Keri  n";JD  (against 
Berth. ).  It  is  also  to  be  borne  in  mind  that 
another  tribe,  that  of  Zebulun,  is  wholly  passed 
over  in  our  series,  the  omission  of  which  may 
well  be  called  accidental  (as,  for  example,  that  oi 
the  tribes  Asher  and  Gail  in  the  list  of  tribe- 
princes,  xxvii.  16-24).  Comp.  the  evangelical- 
ethical  principles,  No.  2. —  The  sons  of  Naphtali: 
Jahziel,  and  Guni,  and  Jazer,  and  Shallum.  The 
parallel  lists,  Gen.  xlvi.  24,  Num.  xxvi.  48  f, 
give  these  names,  only  the  first  is  there  Jahzeel 
(taxrp)  an(l  the  last  Shillem  (Dj>B>).     For   the 

addition,  "  sons  of  Bilhah,"  see  on  ver.  12. 

4.  The  half-Tribe  of  Manasseh  (west  of  Jor- 
dan):  vers.  14-19. — The  sons  of  Manasseh: 
Ashriel,  whom  his  concubine  the  Aramitess  bare. 
That  here  it  is  treated  of  the  western  half  of 
Manasseh  is  understood  of  itself  after  the  former 
communications  concerning  East  Manasseh,  v.  23  f. 
Of  the  six  families  of  AVest  Manasseh  named  in 
Num.  xxvi.  30,  34,  and  Josh.  xvii.  2,  only  two 
are  mentioned  here,  Ashriel  and  Shemida  (ver. 
19).  But  Ashriel,  from  the  more  exact  accounts 
in  Num.  xxvi.  31,  is  not  a  son,  but  a  grandson,  of 
Manasseh,  by  his  father  Gilead.  Now,  as  the  fol- 
lowing sentence  referring  to  the  Aranuean  con- 
cubine of  Manasseh,  "  she  bare  Machir  the  father 
of  Gilead,"  seems  designed  to  explain  how  Ashriel 
could  be  called  a  son  of  Manasseh  and  his  concu- 
bine, it  seems  necessary  to  assume  that  he  sprang 
from  her  in  the  fourth  degree  as  the  sun  of  Gilead 
and  grandson  of  Machir.  But  this  assumption  is 
as  doubtful  as  the  Masoretic  expedient,  which 
separates  the  words  m?  ~IL"N  by  an  Athnach 
under  the  latter  from  the  following  \y\  VJ'37'3. 

and  requires  the  supplement  of  some  unmentioned 
wife  to  the  "whom  she  bare."  The  sagacious 
hypothesis  of  Movers  (assented  to  by  Berth,  and 
Kamph.)  here  commends  itself,  that  the  name 
Ashriel,  as  a  gloss  arising  from  writing  twice  the 
consonants  immediately  following  y<  ~\'£'&.  is  to  be 
erased,   and  so  the  sense  is  to  be  gained:  "the 


sons  of  Manasseh,  whom  his  Aramaean  concubine 
bare  :  she  bare  Machir,"  etc.     Comp.   the  Sept. 

OU  Gen.  xlvi.  26  :  iy'ivovro  Se  Utoi  Mtt»Ufftrr,,  oZs 
etekev    auTta    tt    iretWaxr}    v    ^.vptt. Vei*.     15.     And 

Machir  took  a  wife  for  Huppim  and  Shuppbn, 
etc.  The  whole  verse  is  so  obscure,  that  the 
assumption  either  of  interpolation  or  of  the  omis- 
sion of  some  words  seems  unavoidable.  Bertlieau 
proceeds   in   the  former  way,   rejects  the  w<  rds 

D'SK'TI   D"3r6  as  a  gloss  from  ver.   12,  and  by 

means  of  some  other  changes,  especially  the  in- 
sertion of  ver.  18a,  arrives  at  the  sense  :  "and 
Machir  took  a  wife,  whose  name  was  Maachah, 
and  the  name  of  his  sister  was  Hammolechcth ; 
and  the  name  of  his  brother  (the  second)  was 
Zelophehad."  Somewhat  less  violent  is  the 
emendation  attempted  by  Movers  (p.  89),  which 
limits  itself  to  the  change  of  inhN  before  rQJID 

into  nriNH,  and  yields  the  sense  :  "and  Machii 

took  a  wife  from  Huppim  and  from  Shuppim  (p 

standing   for  [£,   and  pointing  to  a  marriage  of 

Machir  with  two  wives  out  of  the  families  of 
Huppim  and  Shuppim,  ver.  12);  the  name  of 
the  first  was  Maachah,  and  the  name  of  the 
second  Zelophehad."  Keil  conjectures  an  omis- 
sion of  some  words,  among  these  the  name  of 
Ashriel,  the  first  son  of  Gilead,  but  at  the  same 
time  the  intrusion  of  senseless  interpolations  in 
ver.  15a;  while,  on  the  contrary,  he  regards  as 
critically  impregnable  the  words  of  the  second 
half  verse :  "  and  the  name  of  the  second  is 
Zelophehad ;  and  Zelophehad  had  daughters 
(only)."  Several  gaps  are  also  supposed  in  the 
emendations  of  older  writers,  as  in  that  of  J.  H. 
Michaelis,  who  endeavours  to  squeeze  out  the 
sense  :  "and  Machir  took  to  wife  (the  sister  of) 
Huppim  and  Shuppim,  and  the  name  of  his  sister 
i  namely  of  Huppim)  was  Maachah,  and  the  name 
of  the  second  (here  named  son  of  Manasseh)  was 
Zelophehad."  From  the  unsatisfactory  character 
of  all  these  attempts,  it  is  plain  that  a  correct 
interpretation  of  the  verse  must  be  given  up.  So 
much  only  is  clear  from  the  second  gloss,  whether 
it  be  preserved  intact  or  in  some  way  corrupted, 
that  therein  Zelophehad  was  called  the  brother 
or  near  relative  of  Machir,  and  was  the  same  who, 
Num.  xxvii.  1,  xxxvi.  Iff.,  Josh.  xvii.  3,  was  called 
the  father  of  a  great  number  of  daughters. — Ver. 
17.  The  sons  of  Maachah  here  mentioned,  Peresh 
and  Sheresh,  as  also  the  sons  c."  the  latter,  Ulam 
and  Rekem,  occur  only  here. — Ver.  17.  And  thf 
sons  of  Ulam:  Bedan.  The  Masoretic  text  names 
a  judge  Bedan,  1  Sam.  xii.  11,  where,  however, 
perhaps  p-12  is  to  be  read.  —  These  are  the  sons  of 

Gilrml,  the  son  of  Machir.  Bertlieau,  perhaps 
rightly,  proposes  here  the  change  (favoured  by 
ver.  41  and  by  ii.  21 ):  "  These  are  the  sons  of  the 
father  of  Gilead,  of  Machir  the  son  of  Manasseh." 
—  Ver.  IS.  And  his  sister  Hammolecheth  bare 
[shod.  The  Vulg.  explains  this  not  elsewhere, 
occurring  name  appellative ly:  Regma  (as  Eimchi, 
queen  of  a  part  of  Gilead).  Rightly? — The  first 
of  her  sons,  Ishod,  "man  of  fame,  of  glory,"  i-s 
otherwise  unknown ;  on  the  contrary,  the  second 
appears  to  be  identical  with  the  Abiezer  named 
Josh.  xvii.  -2,  the  chief  of  one  of  the  families  of 
Manasseh.  If  this  were  so,  he  would  have  to  pass 
for  the  ancestor  of  Gideon,  Judg.  vi.  11,  15.     But 


CHAP.  VII.  19-27. 


Abiezer  in  Joshua,   or  .liver  (ifjjs)  as  '*  >s  hi 

Num.  xxvi.  SO,  appears  as  first  s if  Manasseh 

after  Machir,  not  as  the  mere  sister's  son  of  this 
Machir,  as  here  ;  for  which  reason  the  identity  is 

douhtful.     Whether  the   following  name  npriD 

denotes  a  brother  of  these  two,  or  a  sister  (comp. 
Mahlah,  the  daughter  of  Zelophehad,  Num.  xxvi. 
38,  xxvii.  l».  is  doubtful. — Ver.  19.  And  the  sons 
of  Sh<  midah.  A  son  of  Manass.  h,  Josh.  wi.  2,  or, 
ii  ore  exactly,  of  Gilead,  Num.  xxvi.  ".'J.  Tlie 
names  of  his  four  sons,  except  Shechem,  cyf'- 

who  appears,  Josh.  xvii.  2,  as  an  immediate  son 
of  Manasseh,  but,  Num.  xxvi.  32,  as  a  son  of 
Gilead,  occur  nowhere  else  ;  for  Bertheau's  at- 
tempts to  connect  Liklii  with  Helek,  Num.  xxvi. 
SO,  and   Aniam  (nyjx)  with  nyj,  one  of  the 

daughters  of  Zelophehad,  Num.  xxvi.  33,  Josh. 
v\  ii.  Ii,  are  arbitrary. 

5.  The  Tribe  of  Ephraim:  vers.  20-29.— Shu- 
thelah,  and  /Semi  his  son,  etc.  Shuthelah  ap- 
pears also,  Num.  xxvi.  25,  as  founder  of  a  chief 
family  of  Ephraim.  This  family  is  here  traced 
through  six  generations  to  a  second  Shuthelah, 
ver.  21,  to  whom  are  then  added  Ezer  and  Elad, 
two  brothers  of  the  older  Shuthelah,  and  therefore 
sons  or  near  descendants  of  Ephraim. — And  the 
nu  a  of  Oath,  that  loen  born  in  the  land,  sit  w  tin  m, 
namely.  Ezer  and  Elad.  The.  Avim  (Avites), 
driven  by  the  Philistines  from  their  seats  between 
Hazerim  and  Gaza,  Deut.  ii.  23,  are  said  to  be 
born  in  the  land,  in  contrast  with  the  intruders. 
Hence  E\v.,  Berth.,  Kamph.  will  have  these  Avim 
to  be  here  meant,  whereas  Keil  thinks  rather  of 
the  Philistines,  whose  settlement  in  south-west 
Palestine,  in  the  district  of  Gath,  was  attested 
even  in  the  time  of  Abraham,  or  even  of  the 
Canaanites,  but  not  the  Avites,  of  whom  there  is 
no  tradition  that  they  had  spread  to  Gath.  At 
any  rate,  reference  is  here  made  to  a  very  old 
event,  as  Ephraim,  the  son  of  Jacob,  still  lived 
and  begat  other  children.  This  can  scarely  have 
taken  place  before  the  descent  into  Egypt,  as 
Ephraim  was  horn  in  Egypt,  Gen.  xlvi.  20 
(against  Ewald).  We  must  suppose  it  to  have 
occurred  during  the  sojourn  in  Egypt,  and  to 
have  been  a  warlike  expedition  from  the  land  of 
Goshen,  that  may  have  fallen  in  the  interval  from 
Gen.  1.  13-23.     The  verb  tv  is  not  absolutely 

against  this  assumption,  which  was  advocai  id  bj 
elder  expositors  (Rossi,  Kimchi,  L.  Lavater,  Grot., 
Caloy.,  etc.),  and  accepted  by  more  recent  ones, 
as  Furst  (Gesch.  d.  bihl.  Lit.  i.  318).  When  the 
Ephraimite  host  marched  from  the  wilderness  of 
Shur  or  Paran,  we  may  very  well  regard  this  as  a 
descent  upon  the  district  of  Gath  (without  directly 
identifying  Ephraim  with  Paran,  as  Hitzig  does, 
Gesch.  Isr.  p.  48). — Ver.  2-2.  And  Ephraim,  their 
father,  mourned  many  days.  Bertheau  will, 
without  ground,  take  these  words  figuratively, 
and  apply  them  to  the  whole  tribe  pf  Ephraim  ; 
the  going  in  of'Ephraim  to  his  wife,  mentioned 
ver.  23,  can  only  be  taken  literally  ;  and  as  t  lien- 
is  no  indication  that  a  younger  Ephraim  is  meant 
(as  Keil),  it  is  plainly  recorded  of  the  eld  patriarch 
Ephraim  that  he  begat  a  son,  Beriah,  alter  those 
two  sons  were  slain  by  the  Gathites.  Ewald  per- 
laps  goes  too  far,  when  he  makes  the  sens  Rephah 
and  Resbeph,  ver.  25,  he  born  to  Ephraim  in  this 
latter  period.     Rather  is  the  interwoven  historical 


notice  of  the  raid  of  Ezer  and  Elad  against  Gath 
and  its  results  to  be  regarded  as  closed  with  ver. 
28,  and  the  loll  iwing  passage  from  ver.  2-1  to  be 
taken  as  the  continuation  of  the  geneali 
Ephraim.  —  And  he  called  his  name  Beriah, 
because  it  went  i  oil  with  his  house,  "  because  there 
had  been  calamity  (njT13)  in  his  house-."     This 

etymology  of  the  name  njI'lU.  reminding  us  oi 

the  well-known  derivations  of  Genesis  (especially 
Gen.  v.  n,  29,  80),  speaks  for  the  undoubted 
antiquity  of  the  present  account.  For  the  rela 
tion  of  this  Ephraimite  to  Ins  namesake  ,,i  Benjn 
inin,  see  on  viii.  13  f. — Ver.  21.  And  his  daughter 
was  Shi  rah,  namely,  Ephraim's  daughter  I  \  er.  20), 
not  Beriah 's,  who  is  only  mentioned  by  the  way. 
The  places  Nether  and  Upper  Beth-horon  built, 
that  is,  fortified,  by  this  Sherah,  probably  a 
powerful  heiress,  correspond  I  Rohinson,  iii.  27Sff.  I 

to  the  present  Beit    Ur   et-Taehta   1    Beit    Ui 

el-Foka,  on  the  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Joppa. 
They  lay  at  the  south  border  of  the  tribe  of 
Ephraim,  on  a  strip  of  land  stretching  oat  between 
tie- tribes  of  Benjamin  and  Dan.  Uzzen-Sherah 
must  be  sought  in  their  immediate  neighbourhood. 
Tie-  name  (»K  =  |fN>  eaT)  points  to  a  like  projec- 
tion or  skirt  as  its  site. — Arers.  25-27.  Joshua's 
forefathers. — And  Rephah  his  son,  and  Resheph. 
These  two  can  scarcely  pass  for  actual  sons  of 
Ephraim  ;  comp.  Num.  xxvi.  35  f.  It  is  uncer- 
tain to  which  of  the  families  of  Ephraim  there 
mentioned  they  belonged. — And  Telah  his  son, 
that  is,  Rephah's  sort,  who  is  the  chief  person, 
while  Resheph  is  only  mentioned  by  the  way. 
The  Tahan  named  as  the  son  of  this  Telah 
appears  different  from  the  Tahan  named  Num 
xxvi.  25  as  son  of  Ephraim,  but  might  belong  to 
his  posterity. — Ver.  26.  Ladan  his  sou,  etc.  The 
name  Hjf?  occurs,  xxiii.  7  f.,  xxvi.  21,  also  as  the 
name  of  a  Levitical  family,  but  only  here  as  an 
Ephraimite.  Elishama,  the  son  of  Aumihud, 
meets  us,  Num.  vii.  48,  x.  22,  as  prince  of  the 
tribe  of  Ephraim  in  the  time  of  ibises.  His 
grandson  was  Joshua  the  son  of  Non,  or  Nun,  as 
it  is  constantly  spelled  in  the  Pentateuch  and 
Joshua.  [This episode  corresponds  in  antiquarian 
interest  with  the  notices  concerning  Caleb  ;u  eh. 
ii.  The  simplest  exposition  of  the  pass%i  is 
obtained  by  making  a  pause  after  "Shuthelah 
his  son,"  and  another  after  "Rephah  his  son." 
Ezer  and  Elad  are  then  the  second  and  third  sons 
of  Ephraim.  This  younger  but  greater  son  of 
Joseph  became  heir  to  the  portion  of  ground 
which  Jacob  had  taken  from  the  Amurile  in  the 
region  of  Shechem,  Gen.  xlviii.  22.  llenc-  ii: 
the  early  period  of  Israel's  sojourn  in  Egypt,  n« 
find  Ephraim  in  this  quarter  asserting  his  claim 
and  taking  possession  of  this  domain.  The  pre- 
sence, or  perhaps  the  aggression,  of  his  family 
provoked  the  Philistines,  and  in  a  warlike  en- 
counter these  two  sons  of  Ephraim  were  slain  by 
the  men  of  Gath.  After  this  another  son  was 
born  to  Ephraim,  of  whom  Sherah,  the  build,  r 
or  fortifier  of  towns,  and  Rephah  were  most 
I  robably  the  daughter  and  son,  though  they  are 
generally  regarded  -s  the  immediate  children  of 
Ephraim.  Then  we  have  a  fifth  son  of  Ephraim, 
Resheph,  through  whom  Jcshua  is  the  eighth  in 
descent  from  Ephraim.  After  the  exploits  of 
Sherah,  it  is  probable  that  the  tribe  lost  its  hold 
on  this  region,  and  the       ndage  in  Egypt  enr- 


40 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


rnenced.  We  learn  from  this  curious  passage  that 
there  were  nine  generations  in  the  line  of  Joshua 
during  the  sojourn  in  Egypt. — J.  G.  M.  ] — Vers.  28, 
29  attach  as  a  geographical  notice  of  the  dwelling- 
places  of  the  Ephraimites,  ver.  28,  and  West 
Manassites,  ver.  29,  to  their  genealogies,  as  the 
account  of  the  Levitical  cities,  vi.  39  ft'.,  to  the 
preceding  genealogy  of  Levi,  or  as  the  like  geo- 
graphical notice  of  the  dwelling-places  of  the 
Simeonites,  iv.  28  ft'.,  to  the  preceding  genealogy. 
— Bethel  and  her  daughters,  that  is,  the  surround- 
ing hamlets  belonging  to  Bethel.  Bethel,  now 
Beitin,  on  the  borders  of  Benjamin  and  Ephraim 
(Josh.  xvi.  2,  xviii.  15),  was  originally  assigned 
to  the  former  tribe  (Josh,  xviii.  22\  but  after- 
wards belonged  to  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes, 
and  therefore  to  Ephraim.  Our  genealogist  regards 
only  this  later  relation. — Xaaran  bears  in  Josh. 
xvi.   7  the  name  nrni'3.  lengthened  by  n  local, 

and  seems  to  be  identical  with  Neara,  north  of 
Jericho  (comp.  Joseph.  Antiq.  xvii.  13.  1). — Oezer 
(Josh.  xvi.  3)  lay  between  Bethhoron  and  the  sea, 
in  the  south-west  corner  of  Ephraim,  while  the 
next  named,  Shechem  and  Ajjah,  lay  on  the  north- 
west.    For  the  uncertainty  of  the  reading  n^y 

see   Crit.    Note.     The   only   here   occurring  n>J) 

lay  not  far  from  Shechem  (Neapolis,  Nablous), 
perhaps  in  the  region  of  Michmethah  (Josh.  xvi. 
6,  xvii.  7). — Ver.  29.  And  on  the  side  <;/'  the  sons 
of  Manasseh,  on  their  border,  and  in  their  posses- 
sion.   i*p  pjj,  as  in  vi.  16.     The  four  cities  now 

named,  Betlisbean,  Taanach,  Megiddo,  and  Dor, 
lie  properly  (like  lbleam  joined  with  them,  Josh, 
xvii.  11)  outside  the  territory  of  Manasseh,  in  that 
of  the  tribes  of  Issachar  and  Asher  bordering  it  on 
the  north.  They  were,  however,  to  be  assigned 
to  Manasseh  as  remote  dwelling-places  towards 
the  north,  and  serve  here  to  mark  the  north 
border  of  the  whole  territory  of  "the  sons  of 
Joseph,"  as  the  Ephraimite  cities  named,  ver.  28, 
determined  their  south  border. 

6.  The  Tribe  of  Asher:  vers.  30-40.  —  The  sons 
of  Asher :  Imnah,  and  Ishitah,  and  Ishui,  and 
Beriah.     So  Gen.   xlvi.  17,  whereas,  Num  xxvi. 


44  ft'.,  Ishui  is  omitted.  Beriah 's  sons  Heber 
and  Malchiel  occur  also  in  Gen.  xlvi.  and  Num. 
xxvi.,  but  the  last,  Birzajith,  only  here  (perhaps 
a  woman's  name,  see  Crit.  Note  ;  but  perhaps 
also  =  TVf  1X3,   "well  of  the   olive,"  and  so  a 

local  name). — Vers.  32-34.  Heber's  descendants 
for  three  generations.     The  name  Shomer  ("IJJIB'), 

ver.  32,  recurs,  ver.  34,  in  the  form  -rojy  (in  pausa 

"ID"'),   without  warranting  a  difference  between 

the  two.     For  the  name  Ahi  (^ns)  in  ver.   34 

i  which  is  not  to  be  taken  appellatively,  "brother,' 
as  the  following  l  shows),  comp.  v.  15,  where  a 
Gadite  is  so  called. — Vers.  35-38.  Descendants 
of  Helem,  as  it  appears,  the  son  of  Heber,  and 
brother  of  Shemer,  who  was  called  Hotliam  in 
the  third  place  after  Japhlet  and  Shomer,  ver.  32. 

One  of  the  two  names,  either  Qnin  or  rj^rj,  seems 

to  have  arisen  from  a  slip  of  the  pen,  but  which 
is  uncertain.  So  it  is  with  Ithran,  the  last  but 
one  of  the  eleven  sons  of  Zophah,  ver.  37,  who 
reappears  in  the  following  verse  under  the  name 
of  JetheV,  and  perhaps  also  with  Ulla,  ver.  39, 
which  may  be  =  Beera,  the  last  son  of  Zophah, 
on  the  supposition  of  a  very  gross  error  of  the 
pen. — Ver.  40.  All  these  were,  the  sons  of  Asher, 
etc.     This  collective   notice  is  like  that  in  ver. 

11 ;  the  plur.   C^n.  as  in  ver-  5- — Heads  of  the 

princes  (Vulg.  duces  ductim),  that  is,  captains  ot 
the  greater  divisions  of  the  army,  at  the  head  of 
which  stood  the  Q'tob'},  elati,    magnates,   ojiti- 

mates. — Ami  their  register  for  the  service  in  war, 
that  is,  not  that  of  the  whole  tribe  of  Asher,  but 
only  that  of  the  family  of  Heber,  as  the  most 
powerful  and  flourishing.  The  limitation  to  this 
one  family  explains  how  the  present  list  of 
warriors  (it  is  expressly  designated  as  such,  in 
contrast  with  registers  including  the  whole  in- 
habitants of  the  country:  comp.  ix.  22)  yields 
only  26,0C0  men  of  war,  whereas  for  the  whole 
tribe  of  Asher,  the  numbers  41,500  and  53,400 
are  given  in  Num.  i.  41,  xxvi.  47. 


2.  Again  the  Families  of  Benjamin,  especially  the  House  of  Saul:  cli.  viii. 
1.    The  Families  of  Benjamin :  vers.  1—28. 
Ch.  viii.   1.  And  Benjamin  begat  Bela  his  first-born,  Ashbel  the  second,  and  Ahrah 
2,  3  the  third.     Nohah  the  fourth,  and  Kapha  the  fifth.     And  the  sons  of  Bela 

4  were  Addar,  and  Gera,  and  Abihad.    And  Abishua,  and  Naaman,  and  Ahoah. 

5  And  Gera,  and  Shephuphan,  and  Huram. 

6  And  these  are  the  sons  of  Ehud  (these  are  the  heads  of  the  fathers  to  the 
'i    inhabitants  of  Geba,  and  they  removed  them  to  Manahath.     Even  Naaman, 

and  Ahiah,  and  Gera,  he  removed  them):  and  he  begat  Uzza  and  Ahihud. 

8  And  Shaharaim  begat,  in  the  field  of  Moab,  after  he  had  sent  them  away, 

9  Hushim  and  Baarah,  his  wives.    And  he  begat  of  Hodesh  his  wife:  Jobab,  and 

10  Zibiah,  and  Mesha,  and  Maleam.     And  Jeuz,  and  Shobiah,  and  Mirma:  these 

11  were  his   sons,  heads  of  fathers.     And  of  Hushim  he   begat  Ahitub  and 

12  Elpaal.     And  the  sons  of  Elpaal :  Eber,  and  Misham,  and  Shemer  ;  he  built 
Ono  and  Lod,  and  her  daughters. 

13  And  Beriah  and  Shema  (these  were  the  heads  of  fathers  for  the  inhabi- 

14  tants  of  Aijalon  ;  these  put  to  flight  the  inhabitants  of  Gatli).     And  Ahio,1 
16,  16  Shashak,  and  Jeremoth.    And  Zebadiah,  and  Arad,  and  Eder.    And  Michael, 

and  Ishpah,  and  Joha,  sons  of  Beriah. 


CHAP.  VIII.  1-7. 


81 


17,  18         And  Zebadiah,  and  Meshullam,  and  Hizki,  and  Heber.     And  Ishmerai, 

and  Izliah,  and  Jobab,  sons  of  Elpaal. 
19,  20         Ami  Jakim,  and  Zichri,  and  Zabdi.      And  Elienai,  and  Zillethai,  and  ElieL 

21  And  Adaiah,  and  Beraiah,  and  Shimrath,  sons  of  Shimi. 
22,  23        And  Ishpan,  and   Eber,  and  Eliel.     And  Abdon,  and  Ziehri,  and  Hanan. 
24,  25  And  Hananiah,  and  Elam,  and  Antothijah.     And  Iphdeiah,  and  Penuel,  sons 

of  Shashak. 
2G,  27         And   Shamsherai,  and   Skehariah,   and  Athaliah.     And  Jaareshiah,  and 

28  Elijah,  and  Zichri,  sons  of  Jeroham.     These  were  heads  of  fathers  in  their 

generations,  chiefs  ;  these  dwelt  in  Jerusalem. 

2.   The  House  of  Saul:  vers.  29-40. 

29  And  at  Gibeon  dwelt  Abi-gibeon  ;  and  his  wife's  name  was  Maachah. 

30  And  his  first-born  son  was  Abdon,  and  Zur,  and  Kish,  and  Baal,  and  Nadab. 
31,  32  And  Gedor.  and  Ahio,  and  Zecher.     And  Mikloth  begat  Shimah  :  and  these 

also,  beside,  their  brethren,  dwelt  in  Jerusalem  with  their  brethren. 

33  And  Ner  begat  Kish,  and  Kish  begat  Saul,  and  Saul  begat  Jonathan,  and 

34  Malchi-shua,  and  Abinadab,  and   Esh-baal.     And  the  son  of  Jonathan  was 

35  Merib-baal  ;  and  Merib-baal  begat  Micah.     And  the  sons  of  Micah  :  Pithon, 

36  and  Melech,  and  Tarea,  and  Ahaz.     And  Ahaz  begat  Jehoaddah;  and  Jehoad- 

37  dab.  begat  Alemeth,  and  Azmaveth,  and  Zimri;  and  Zimri  begat  Moza.     And 

38  Moza  begat  Binah  :  Rapha  his  son.  Elasah  his  son,  Azel  his  son.  And  Azel 
had  six  sons;  and  these  are  their  names  :  Azrikam,  Bocheru,2  and  Ishmael,  and 

39  Shehariah,  and  Obadiah,  and  Hanan  :  all  these  were  the  sons  of  Azel.  And 
the  sons  of  Eshek  his  brother  :  Ulam  his  firstborn,  Jeush  the  second,  and 

40  Eliphelet  the  third.  And  the  sons  of  Ulam  were  valiant  heroes,  archers,  and 
had  many  sons  and  sons'  sons,  a  hundred  and  fifty  ;  all  these  were  of  the  sons 
of  Benjamin. 

1  Instead  of  a  proper  nitric  VHX,  the  Sept.  read  VI1S,  aa  they  render  o  iS(>.i?oj  clZtoZ.  The  conjecture  of  Ber- 
theau,  1 1 . a t  the  appellative  is  the  original  sense,  and  that  the  name  Elpnal.  which  from  ver.  18  we  expect  here,  ha* 
fallen  out  before  this  VrlX,  so  that  the  text  was  originally  pU'"'l   VI1S    ?y3/NV  is  veT  plausible.    See  Exposition 

3  For  V133  (with  the  closing  u  of  proper  names,  conip.  iDC!!,  Veh.  vi.  6)  the  Sept.  (*[>vtotoxo;  xvto'C)  and  soma 
Hebrew  wss  rend  1")13H,  incorrectly  however,  as  six  sons  of  Azel  are  annonnctd. 


EXEGETICAL. 

Preliminary  Remark. — This  full  supple- 
ment to  the  shorter  genealogy  of  Benjamin  in 
vii.  6-11  appears  in  its  whole  plan  and  form  to 
have  been  taken  from  another  document,  when 
we  regard  the  frequent  occurrence  of  TPiii,  the 

collection  of  many  families  in  vers.  6-28,  without 
expressing  their  relation  with  the  nearest  im- 
mediate descendants  of  Benjamin;  and  lastly, 
tin'  termination  of  the  whole  genealogy,  in  a 
register  of  the  house  of  Saul,  reaching  down 
nearly  to  the  exile  (or  perhaps  quite  beyond  it, 
as  Bertheau  will  have  it).  The  latter  phenomena 
remind  us  of  ch.  iii.  and  iv.  in  relation  to  eh.  ii. , 
and  show  that  the  Chronist  had  before  him  genea- 
logical accounts  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  ami  the 
royal  house  descending  from  it,  of  the  same  ex- 
tent and  exactness  as  of  Judah  and  the  royal 
house  of  David. 

1.  Families  of  Benjamin :  vers.  1-28. — a.  Sons 
of  Benjamin  and  Beta  :  vers.  1-5. — For  the  rela- 
tion of  the  five  sons  of  Benjamin  here  mentioned 
to  those  of  the  parallel  list,  see  on  vii.  6.  Keil  is 
perhaps  right  in  supposing  that  only  those  sons 
tie  mentioned  here  who  founded  families  of 
benjamin.     That  Ahrah  =  Ahiratn,   Num.   xxvi. 


38,  and  also  =  Ehi,  Gen.  xlvi.  21,  appears  certain. 
It  is  possible  that  the  not  otherwise  occurring 
names  Nohah  and  Rapha  correspond  to  the  Slie- 
phupham  and  Hupham  of  the  parallel  li-t,  Num. 
xxvi.,  or  at  least  denote  descendants  of  these  two 
sons  of  Benjamin. — Ver.  3  If.  And  the  tons  of 
Beta  were  Addar,  and  Gera,  etc.  The  suspicion 
that  the  list  of  the  sons  of  Bela  contains  several 
errors  of  transcription,  is  raised  by  the  recurrence 
of  the  name  Gera.     -|^{<  also  appears  to  be  a  tran- 

scriptive  error  for  T1X,  Gen.  xlvi.  21,  JEiSt;'  for 
D2',St:;,  and  Q"nn  possibly  for  D2"n,  Num.  xxvi. 

39.  At  any  rate,  several  are  found  among  these 
six  sons  of  Bela,  that  appear  in  Gen.  xli.  21  and 
Num.  xxvi.  38  f.  among  the  sons  of  Benjamin  , 
in  particular,  the  first  of  the  two  Geras  is  like  the 
Gera  there;  and  Naaman  there  appears  again 
here.  Only  Abihud,  Abishua,  ami  Ahrah  occui 
exclusively  here  as  sons  of  Benjamin. 

b.  .Sons  of  Ehud:  vers.  6,  7.— And  these  nrr 
the  sons  of  Ehud.     As  Ehud  (-nnx,  union,  from 

inx)  is   radically   different    from    Ehud  (IVlKi 

mild,    from  inx,   to  be  mild),  the   well-known 

judge   Ehud,  the  sou  of  Gera,  Judg.   iii.  15,  has 


92 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


aothing  to  do  with  the  person  here  named.  —  These 
arc  the  heads  of  the  fathers  to  the  'nhabitants  oj 
Oeba.  These  words,  with  the  following  notice  of 
the  removal  to  Manahath,  area  parenthesis;  the 
names  of  the  sons  of  Ehud,  Uzzah  and  Ahihud, 
follow  at  the  close  of  ver.  7.  For  Geba,  that  is, 
"Geba  of  Benjamin,"  now  Jeba,  a  Levitical  city, 
comp.  vi.  45;  1  Sam.  xiii.  3,  16.  The  place  is 
the  same  as  "  Oibeah  of  Benjamin,"  1  Sain.  xii. 
2,  15,  sir.  2,  16  (comp.  Knobcl  on  Isa.  x.  29). 
For  Manahath,  a  place  of  uncertain  situation,  of 
which  the  inhabitants  were  partly  from  Judah, 
see  on  ch.  ii.  52  (Hazi-hammenuhoth).  The  sub- 
ject to   Dl/J'l  's  the  three  men  named  in  ver  7, 

of  whom,  as  the  sing,  {^n  shows,  the  last  must 
have  been  the  proper  originator  of  the  removal. 
Whether  this  Gera  was  the  first  or  the  second  of 
the  sons  of  Bela  so  named,  is  as  uncertain  as  the 
other  details  of  this  old  historical  event. 

c.  Descendants  of  Shaharaim:  vers.  8-12. — 
Ami  Shaharaiin  hrgat  in  tin:  tit  hi  m  Moab,  etc. 
This  Shaharaim, and  his  connect  ion  with  the  genea- 
logy of  Benjamin,  are  quite  unknown.  That  he 
was  the  same  as  Ahishahar,  vii.  10,  or  Sheohariah, 
ver.  26,  or  that  he  lies  hid  under  "ins   (=  in"')- 

— all  these  are  uncertain  conjectures.  Neither  do 
we  know  the  ground  of  his  coming  to  the  field  of 
Moab,  or  of  his  tarrying  there. — After  he  had 
sent  them  away,  (namely)  Hushim  and  Baarah, 
'lis  wives.  \Tw&  \0-  literally,  "from  his  send- 
ing;" \~h'S'-  '"/■  P'^'  retaining  the  i  and  re- 
jecting the  Dag.  f.  (Ew.  §  23S,  d).  The  stiff, 
in  DJT1X  may>   though  masc,  refer  only   to  the 

two  wives  whose  names  are  appended  (comp.  Ew. 
g  309,  c).  The  construction  is  thus  more  loose 
and  negligent  than  in  vers.  6,  7,  since  to  the 
prefixing  of  the  verb  is  added  an  enattagt  generis. 
Moreover,  the  first  of  the  two  names  has  not  a 
feminine  form  (D^n),  and  is  only  known   us 

such  by  the   following  v'J'J-  —  Ver.    P.  And  In 

begat  of  ffodesh  his  wife,  namely,  his  third,  after 
the  dismissal  of  the  two  above  named;  perhaps  a 
Moabitess,  as  the  names  of  some  of  her  sons  have 
,i  Moabitish  sound,  particularly  K^"'^  (comp.  the 

king  of  Moab,  yj'^,2  Kings  iii.),  qJ?0  (name  of 
the  idol  of  Amnion  and  Moab,  Jer.  xlix.  1,  3), 
etc.     For  p  T^in,  comp.  on  ii.   IS.— Vers.  11, 

12.  Here  follow  the  descendants  of  Shaharaim 
by  Hushim,  and  these  are  certainly,  in  contrast 
with  those  Moabites,  genuine  Israelitish  and  cis- 
jordanic,  as  the  reference  of  the  places  "no  and 
I  ,od,  west  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  to  one  of  them 
(probably  to  Elpaal,  to  whom  the  xff  appears 
io  apply,  shows.  Ono,  without  doubt  adjacent 
to  Lod,  recurs  also  in  Ezra  ii.  33,  Neb.  vii.  37, 
xi  35,  as  a  place  in  AVest  Benjamin  (properly  by 
situation  in  Dan),  and  Lod  is  certainly  Lydda, 
ifterwartU  Diospolis,  now  Ludd  or  Lidd,  north  of 
Ramleh,  near  the  road  from  Jaffa  to  Jerusalem. 
In  vers.  17,  18  follows  a  further  series  of  sons  of 
an  Elpaal,  whose  identity  with  the  present  one  is 
uncertain. 

,/.  Benj  i  n  ■■'■  Heads  of  Families  of  Aijalon,ver. 

13,  and  vf  Jerusalem  (see  ver.  28)  :  vers.  13-2S. — 
An  I  />'.  ■•;  ah  and  Shema,  etc.     Then-  is  no  visible 


genealogical  connection  of  these  and  the  next 
following  with  the  foregoing  names.  On  the 
contrary,  a  partly  genealogical  connection  seems 
to  exist  between  the  five  heads  of  families  in 
vers.  13  and  14  and  the  following  names  in  vers. 
15-27.  For  in  vers.  15,.  16  are  "  sons  ol  Berian  " 
enumerated,  in  vers.  32  25  "sons  of  Shasnak' 
(see  ver.  14)  ;  and  if  we  may  .onne.i  "  the  s_>ns 
of  Shimi  "  in  vers.  19-21  with  Shema,  ver.  13 
(because  y&&  and  1JR3J";  look  like  two  forms  of 

the  same  name),  and  discover  in  "the  sons  6 
Jeroham,"  vers.  26,  27  (by  assuming  an  error  of 
the  pen),  descendants  of  Jeremoth,  ver.  14,  it 
will  be  Still  more  natural  to  combine  "  the  sous 
of  Elpaal,"  vers.  17,  18,  with  the  fifth  of  the 
heads  of  families  in  ver.  >3  f.,  and  sup£>ose 
"Ahio,"   ver.    14  =  Elpaal,    real   ,  nt?,  with  the 

Sept..  instead  of  vnx,  and  supply  ^"27X  before 

it  i  tccording  to  Bertlieau's  proposed  emendations  : 

see  Crit.  Note).  Many  doubts,  however,  remain 
in  force  againsl  this  hypothesis,  especially  the 
circumstance  that  both  ver.  13  and  ver.  15 
(where  the  descendants  of  Beriab,  the  first  of 
the  five  heads  of  families,  are  enumerated)  begin 
with  a  mere  I  instead  of  a  more  distinct  formuh 
of  introduction  (such  as  in  ver.    6,    '\y\  r£)Nl) 

—  Tliesi  were  the  heads  of  fathers  for  the  in- 
habitants of  Aijalon  .  .  .  Oath.  A  histori  a. 
notice  in  parenthesi,  like  that  in  vers.  (J,  7. 
Aijalon,  now  Jalo,  lay  west  of  Gibeon,  in  the 
earlier  district  of  Dan,  where  also  Ono  and  Lod  as 
Benjamite  colonies  were  situated  (comp.  on  ver. 
12)  :  see  Josh.  x.  12,  xix.  42.  Because  Beriab 
and  Shema  are  here  named  as  conquerors  of  tin 
inhabitants  of  Gatb,  Bertheau  thinks  we  may 
inter  an  identity  of  the  present  fact  with  that 
mentioned  vii.  21  ft'.,  that  the  Benjamite  family 
Beriah,  after  tlie  defeat  there  recorded  (in  which 
Ezer  and  Elad  fell),  came  to  the  help  of  Ephraim 
against  the  Gathites,  overcame  and  chastised 
them,  in  gratitude  for  which  they  were  admitted 
by  the  Ephraimites  into  their  community,  whence 
Beriah  is  there  represented  as  a  late-born  son  ol 
Ephraim.  That  this  is  a  mere  fancy  is  manifest 
from  the  impossibility  of  understanding  the 
account  of  Ephraim  and  his  sons  in  vii.  21  if. 
otherwise    than    literally    (see    on    the    passage). 

.  the  name  Beriah  is  by  no  means  so  rare 
thai  th  ■  identity  of  these  persons  and  events  can 
be  inferred  from  it  alone  (comp.  for  example, 
Asher's  son  Beriah,  vii.  30).  And  »''-y  might 
not  Gath,  in  the  long  period  of  cn.:iict  betwei  n 
Israel  ami  the  Philistines,  have  been  the  object  of 
repeated   attacks  by  Israel? — Vers.  15,  lfi.   Ami 

/■I liah,   and  Arail,  and  Eder,  etc.     Of  these 

six  sons  of  Beriah  nothing  further  is  known, 
though  their  names  almost  all  occur  elsewhere  : 

h,  ver.  17,  among  Elpaal's  sons,  and  also 
xii.  7,  Ezra  viii.  8,  x.  20 ;  Michael  still  oftener, 
etc. — Vers.  17,  IS.  And  Zebadiah,  and  Meshul- 
lam,  and  Hizki,  etc.  Of  these  seven  sons  of 
Elpaal,  Bertheau  will  identify  three,  Meslmllam, 
Heber,  and  Ishmerai,  with  the  three  sons  of 
Elpaal  in  ver.  12,  Misham,  Eber,  and  Shemer,  to 
make  the  identity  of  the  Elpaal  in  both  places 
probable.  But  this  assumption  is  the  more  un- 
certain, the  more  doubtful  it  is  whether  that 
earlier  Elpaal  family  that  dwelt  in  Ono  and 
Lydd    can,    by   a   supposed   migration,    be   con- 


CHAP.  VIII.   l'J-tii. 


8:> 


nected  with  the  present  family  in  Jerusalem  (see 
ver.  28). — Ver.  19  11'.  On  Shimi,  Shashak,  and 
Jeroham,  and  their  probable  identity  with  Shonia, 
Shashak,  and  Jeremoth,  vers.  18,  it,  see  above. 
(It'  the  sens  of  these  three  heads  of  families 
given  as  far  as  ver.  27.  nothing  is  known  else- 
where, although  their  names  mostly  recur. — Ver. 
28.  Thest  were  beads  of  fathers  m  t/ieir  genera 
tions,  chiefs.     The   repetition  of  dvJ'N"i   serves 

scarcely  (as the  Vulg.,  principes  hiquam,  ami  some 
older  expositors  will  have  it)  to  lay  stress  on  the 
idea  of  heads,  which  would  be  here  quite  unmean- 
ing. The  sense  rather  appears  to  be,  "that  the 
persons  named  in  the  genealogical  lists  are  cited  as 
heads  (of  housest  ;  and  this  appears  to  be  noted, 
that  those  cited  as  suns  of  such  and  such  persons 
may  not  be  taken  for  individual  members  of 
houses  "  (Keil).  -These  dwelt  in  Jerusalem,  not 
merely  the  leads,  but  their  families,  who  cannot 
be  supposed  to  be  separate  from  them. 

2.  The  House  of  Saul :  vers.  29-40  (corap.  ch. 
is.  35 — 14,  where  this  section,  with  the  exception 
of  vers.  39,  40,  recurs). — a.  Saul's  Ancestors: 
vets.  29  32.  And  at  Oibeon  dwelt  Abi-gibeon  . 
and  his  wife's  name  was  Maaehah.  The  plur. 
tQt;;<  refers  also  to  the  sons  of  Abi-gibeon,  to   be 

named  in  the  following  verse.  Gibeon  is  now 
el  Jib,  two  and  a  hall  nours  north-west  of  Jeru- 
salem; comp  Rob.  ii.  351.  The  here  appellatdvely- 
named  Abi-gibeon,  that  is  fathei  (founder)  ol 
Gibeon  (comp.  the  like  remarks  in  ii.  42  if.), 
bears  in  ix.  35  the  name  Jeiel  or  Jeuel  (p^{lV, ; 
KetMb   ?X^y).      His  descent  from  Benjamin  is 

not  given,  and  he  occurs  only  here  ;  and  so  it  is 
with  Maachah   his  wife,  whose  name,  however,  is 

of  frequent  anrence  (comp.  on  ii.  48).— Ver. 

30.  And  his  first-born  son  was  Abdon,  etc.  In- 
stead of  the  eight  sons  of  Abi-gibeon  here  named, 
eh.  ix.  36  f.  enumerates  ten  ;  and,  !n  fact,  the 
names  of  two  seem  to  have  fallen  out  ol  oui 
passage,  namely  Ner  (between  Baal  and  Nadab) 
and  Mikloth  (at  the  end  of  the  series,  vet 
their   descendants    are    given    in   the   following 

versus.  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  names  pya 
and  213  at  the  close  of  our  verse  are  to  be  com- 
bined into  one,   3"ljpj)3  (as  Wellh.,  Text  d.  B. 

Sam.  p.  31,  will  have  it).  In  chap.  ix.  37  we 
find  Zechariah  in  place  of  the  present  -Qf. — Ver. 

32.  And  Mikloth  begat  Shimah.  In  ix.  38  he  is 
called  Shimam. — And  these  also,  namely  Shimah 
and  his  family,  besidt  their  brethren,  dwelt  iit 
Jerusalem  with  their  brethren.  "These  also" 
perhaps  points  only  to  Mikloth's  family  as  like- 
wise dwelling  in  Jerusalem.  The  "brethren  " 
!i|  these  descendants  of  Shimah  arc  the  remaining 
Benjamites,  in  the  first  phrase  ("beside  their 
brethren")  perhaps  those  dwelling  outside  of 
Jerusalem  to  the  west  and  north,  and  in  the 
second  ("with  their  brethren")  those  settled  in 
Jerusalem  itself. 

h.  The  Family  of  Ner,  and  the  House  of  Saul : 
vers.  33-45. — And  S<  rbegat  Kish,  and  Kish  begat 
Haul.  As  in  1  Sam.  ix.  i,  xiv.  51,  the  father  of 
Kish  is  called  Abie],  Ner  is  an  earlier  ancestor, 
perhaps  the  lather  or  grandfather  of  the  Uriel. 
Pi  ssibly,  indeed,  there  was  originally  in  the 
text,  "And  Ner  bcg.it  Abcer  (comp.  1  Sam.  xiv. 


51),  and  Kish  begat  Saul  ;"  for  it  is  scarcely  con- 
ceivable that  the  celebrated  general  Abner,  the 
uncle  of  Saul,  should  be  originally  wanting  in 
this  genealogy  (comp.  Berth,  and  Karnph.). — And 
Saul  begat  Jonathan  .  .  .  and  Embaal  In- 
stead of  these  four  sons  of  Saul,  1  Sam.  xiv.  4'.' 
names  only  three — fonathan,  Ishui,  and  Malchi- 
shua.  liut.  Ishui  is,  as  appears  from  1  Sam. 
xxxi.  2  and  1  Chron.  x.  1,  only  another  name  for 

Urinadab  ;   and    thus   the   three,    wl <•   the 

three  that  fell  with  Saul,  quite  agree  with  the 
first  three  of  those  here  named.  But  Eshhnal 
is  no  other  than  Ishbosheth,  the  well-known 
rival   of  David    2   Sam.  ii.  8  If.      The  1  I, 

the   second,    element   of   this   name    (pyjj)    into 

ni"3,  "shame,  idol,"  expressing  abhorrence  and 

contempt,  may  be  compared  with  Jerubbaal, 
Judg.      vi.      32,      changed     into     Jerubbesheth 

ir,'.""').   2  Sam.  xi.  21,  or  with  the  name  ••;' 

the  sen  of  Ishbosheth,  who  is  here  called  Merib- 
baal  (so,  with  a  slight  difference  in  orthography, 

Pl'IT'-lD,  ix-   40),  but  in  2  Sam-   iv.   4,   xxi.   7, 

Mephibosheth   (or  perhaps  nE'h'IDi   as  at  least 

Berth,   thinks;  but  comp.  Wellh.,   Der  Text  <I. 

/:.  Sam.  p.  311  — Ver.  :;;..  The  sons  of  Micah, 
the  sen  of  the  lame  Meribbaal,  are  four  in  num- 
ber, the  same  as  in  ix.  41,  42,  only  that  the  last 
but    one    is    called    Tahrea    (jnriFl)    instead    of 

Tares    (jflNPl).  — Ver.    36.     And     Ahaz    leyat 

Jehoaddah.  The  descendants  of  this  Ahaz  are 
traced  through  ten  generations.  For  nil'lP' 
(rnyv)  stands  in  ix.  42    nil'*,  by  a  mistake  01' 

1  for  7.  Of  the  two  following  names,  Alemeth 
occurs  (with  a  slight  variation)  in  ix.  45  as  a 
Benjamite  place,  and  Azmaveth  twice,  xi.  3S 
and  xii.  3,  as  a  Benjamite  person. — Ver.  37. 
1         1  i  of  Kapha  (NS1),  the  parallel  ix    43  has 

the  longer  and  more  original  form  Rephaiah 
(rPS"))- —  Ver.   3S.    For  the  name   Bocheru,   the 

nd  of  the  sons  of  Azel,  comp.  <  1  it.  Note. — 

Ver.  40.  And  the  sons  of  Ulam  wen  valiant 
heroes,  archers.  For  the  expression,  comp.  v.  18. 
For  the  thing,  namely,  the  warlike  prowi  ss  <.l  the 
tribe  of  Benjamin,  comp.  Judg,  xx.  HI,  Gen. 
xlix.  27. — And  had  many  sons  and  sons'  sons,  a 
hundred  and  fifty.  For  D*anD,  properly  "mul- 
tiplying" sons,  comp.  vii.    4,   Lev.   xi.   -12.     As 

g Isons  of  Ulam  and  grand-nephews  ol   Azi  \ 

(who was  the  thirteenth  in  descent  from   Said', 
the  hundred  and  fifty   here  mentioned  were 
fifteenth  generation  from  Saul.     If  we  ri  1  ki  n    01 
every  generation  a  maximum  average  "I  thirty 

years,    the  resulting  sum  of  4."jO   years  Ii the 

time  of  Saul  (1095-1055)  would  terminate  in 
middle  or  second  half  of  the  7th  century  B.C., 
and  therefore  in  the  time  before  the  exile. 
Against  Bertheau's  attempt  to  assign  tin  sons 
grandsons  of  Ulam  to  the  time  after  the  exile, 
Kcil  justly  remarks  en  tin-  whole  :  "  This  reckon- 
ing is  too  high.  Sixty  years  cannol  be  allowed 
liir  Saul  and  Jonathan,  as  Jonathan  fell  in  the 
year  1055,  and  his  son  Meribbaal  was  then  only 
five  years  old,  and  therefore  born  in  1060.  iii 
the    following  generations   also   not    more   than 


Si  I.  CHRONICLES. 


twenty-five  years  on  an  average  (?)  can  be  allowed. 
Accordingly,  the  grandsons  of  Ulani's  sons,  who 
were  the  twelfth  generation  from  Micah  (son  of 
Meribbaal),  may  have  come  into  the  world  about 
760  B.C.,  have  grown  into  the  host  of  150  grand- 
sons of  Ulam  about  760-700.  But  even  if  thirty 
years  be  reckoned  for  each  generation,  the  last-    ber   150    with  the  numbers  of  some  families  in 


tioned  vers.   8-10  with  th»  "princes  in  Moab  " 
(3X10  fins)  named  in  Ezri  ii.  6,  viii.  4,  x.  30, 

Neh.  iii.  11,  vii.  11,  the  form  vo'3  correspond- 
ing with  lO"'3.  t'ie  near  agreement  of  the  num. 


named  generation  of  150  grandsons  and  great 
grandsons  of  Ulam  would  have  lived  in  the 
period  from  660-600,  and  therefore  before  the 
exi".3,  at  least  before  the  first  great  deportation  of 
the  people  under  Jehoiachin,  599  B.C."  More- 
over, the  traces  of  a  representation  of  the  relations 
of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  after  the  exile  which  he 
has  endeavoured  to  show  in  our  chapter, — for 
example,  the  occurrence  of  several  names  of 
places  and  persons  of  our  section  in  the  history 
of  the  times  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  the  connec- 
tion of  the  Beujamites  in  the  land  of  Moab  men- 


Ezra  and  Nehemiah  (comp.  Ezra  ii.  1S-30,  viii. 
3  ft'.),  etc., — would  only  render  it  probable  that 
the  present  genealogical  account  extends  beyond 
the  exile,  if  we  were  entitled  to  suppose  that  a 
number  of  links  had  fallen  out  in  the  S'-ries  of 
generations  from  Saul  to  Ulam  and  his  grandsons. 
The  possibility  of  such  assumption  is  as  un- 
deniable as  it  is  precarious  to  take  it  for  granted 
without  any  sufficient  ground. — All  these  were  of 
the  sons  of  Benjamin.  "  All  these  "  goes  oack  to 
ver.  1,  and  includes  the  whole  of  the  names  in 
our  section. 


/.  The  Inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  till  the  Times  of  the  Kings,  with  a  Repetition 
of  the  Genealogy  of  Saul. — Ch.  ix. 

1.   The  Inhabitants  of  Jerusalem:  vers.  1-34. 

Ch.  IX.  1.  And  all  Israel  was  registered;  and,  behold,  they  are  written  in  the  book 
of  the  kings  of  Israel ;  and  Judah'  was  carried  away  to  Babel  for  his  trans- 

2  gression.       And   the   former   inhabitants,  that   were  in  their   possession  in 

3  their  cities,  were  Israel,  the  priests,  the  Levites,  and  the  Nethinim.  And  in 
Jerusalem  dwelt,  of  the  sons  of  Judah,  and  of  the  sons  of  Benjamin,  and  of 
the  sons  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh. 

4  Uthai  the  son  of  Ammihud,  the  son  of  Omri,  the  son  of  Imri,  the  son  of 

5  Bani,*  of  the  sons  of  Perez  the  son  of  Judah.     And  of  the  Shilonites  :3  Asaiah 

6  the  first-born,  and  his  sons.  And  of  the  sons  of  Zerah :  Jeuel  and  their 
brethren,  six  hundred  and  ninety. 

7  And  of  the  sons  of  Benjamin  :   Sallu  the  son  of  Meshullam,  the  son  of 

8  Hodaviah,  the  son  of  Hassenuah.  And  Ibneiah  the  son  of  Jeroham,  and 
Elah  the  son  of  Uzzi,  the  son  of  Michri,  and  Meshullam  the  son  of  Shephatiah, 

9  the  son  of  Reuel,  the  son  of  Ibnijah.  And  their  brethren  in  their  generations, 
nine  hundred  and  fifty  and  six ;  all  these  men  were  chiefs  of  their  father- 
houses. 

1 0,  1 1         And  of  the  priests  :  Jedaiah,  and  Jehoiarib,  and  Jachiu.     And  Azariah 
the  son  of  Hilkiah,  the  son  of  Meshullam,  the  son  of  Zadok,  the  son  of 

12  Meraioth,  the  son  of  Ahitub,  a  prince  of  the  house  of  God.  And  Adaiah  the 
son  of  Jeroham,  the  son  of  Pashhur,  the  son  of  Malchijah,  the  son  of  Maasai, 
the  son  of  Adiel,  the  son  of  Jahzerah,  the  son  of  Meshullam,  the  son  of 

13  Meshillemith,  the  son  of  Immer.  And  their  brethren,  heads  of  the  father- 
houses,  a  thousand  and  seven  hundred  and  sixty,  able  men  for  the  work4  of 
the  service  in  the  house  of  God. 

14  And  of  the  Levites:  Shemaiah  the  son  of  Hashub,  the  son  of  Azrikam, 

15  the  son  of  Hashabiah,  of  the  sons  of  Merari.  And  Bakbakkar,  Heresh,  and 
Galal.  and  Mattaniah  the  son  of  Micah,  the  son  of  Zicri,  the  son  of  Asaph. 

16  And  Obadiah  the  son  of  Shemaiah,  the  son  of  Galal,  the  son  of  Jeduthun, 
and  Berechiah  the  son  of  Asa,  the  son  of  Elkanah,  who  dwelt  in  the  villages 

17  of  the  Netophathites. — And  the  porters  :  Shallum,  and  Akkub,  and  Talmon, 

18  and  Ahiman.  and  their  brethren  ;  Shallum  the  head.  And  hitherto  he  was  in 
the  king's  gate  eastward  ;  these  are  the  porters  for  the  camps  of  the  sons  of 

19  Levi. — And  Shallum  the  son  of  Kore,  the  son  of  Ebiasaph,  the  son  of  Korah, 
and  his  brethren,  for  the  house  of  his  father,  the  Korhites,  were  over  the  work 
of  the  service  of  the  keepers  of  the  thresholds  of  the  tents  ;  and  their  fathers 

20  in  the  camp  of  the  Lord  were  keepers  of  the  entry.     And  Phinehas  the  son 

21  of  Eleazar  was  formerly  prince  over  them;  the  Lord  with  him.     Zchariah5 


rllAI'.    IX.  H:> 

22  the  son  of  Meshelemiah  was  porter  at  the  door  of  the  tent  ol  meeting.  All 
these  that  were  chosen  to  be  porters  at  the  thresholds   were  two  hundred 

and  twelve;  they  were   registered   in   their  villages:  David  and   Samuel  the 

23  seer  had  ordained  them  in  their  trust.     And  they  and  their  sons  were  over 

24  the  gates  ot  the  house  of  the  Loud,  at  the  house  of  the  tent,  by  wards.     To 

25  the  four  winds  were  the  porters,  to  the  east,  west,  north,  and  south.  And 
their  brethren  in  their  villages  were  to  come  in  seven  days  from  time  to  time 

26  with  them.  For  they  were  in  trust,  the  four  head  keepers  of  the  gates,  these 
Levites,  and   were"  over  the  chambers  and  treasuries  of  the  house  of  God. 

27  And  they  Lodged  around  the  house  <>t'  God  ;  for  on  them  was  the  charge,  and 

28  they  had  to  open  every  morning.     And  some  of  them  were  over  the  vessels 
T.)  of  service,  for  they  brought  them  in  and  out  by  tale.     And  some  of  them 

were  appointed  over  the  vessels,  even  over  all  the  holy  vessels,  and  over  the 

30  flour,  and  the  wine,  and  the  oil,  and  the  frankincense,  and  the  spices.  And 
of  the  sons  of  the  priests  some  were  compounders  of  the  ointment  of  the  spices. 

31  And  Mattithiah  of  the  Levites,  who  was  the  first-born  of  Shallum  the  Korhite, 

32  was  in  trust  over  the  baking  in  pans.    And  of  the  Kohathites  their  brethren, 

33  some  were  over  the  shew-bread,  to  prepare  it  every  Sabbath.  And  these  the 
singers,  heads  of  the  fathers  for  the  Levites,  were  free7  in  the  chambers;  for 
they  were  over  them  in  the  service  day  and  night. 

34  These  are  the  heads  of  the  fathers  for  the  Levites,  heads  in  their  genera- 
tions ;  these  dwelt  in  Jerusalem. 

2.  Register  ofSavTs  Family  repeated:  vers.  35—44. 

35  And  in  Gibeon  dwelt  the  father  of  Gibeon,  Jeiel;8  and  his  wife's  name  was 

36  Maachah.     And  his  first-born  son  Abdon,  and  Zur,  and  Kish,  and  Baal,  and 
87,  38  Ner,  and  Xadab.     And  Gedor,  and  Ahio,  and  Zechariah,  and  Mikloth.     And 

Mikloth  begat  Shimam  ;  and  they  also,  beside  their  brethren,  dwelt  in  Jeru- 
salem with  their  brethren. 

39  And  Ner  begat  Kish,  and  Kish  begat  Saul,  and  Saul  begat  Jonathan,  and 

40  Malchi-shua,  and  Abinadab,  and  Eshbaal.      And  the  son  of  Jonathan  was 

41  Merib-baal:  and  Merib-baal  begat  Micah.     And  the  sons  of  Micah:  Pithon, 

42  and  Melech,  and  Tahrea.     And"  Ahaz  begat  Jarah;  and  Jarah  begat  Alemeth, 

43  and  Azmaveth,  and  Zimri ;  and  Zimri  begat  Moza.     And  Moza  begat  Bina, 

44  and  Rephaiah  his  son,  Elasah  his  son,  Azel  his  son.  And  Azel  had  six  sons; 
and  these  are  their  names:  Azrikam.  Bocheru,  and  Ishmael,  and  Sheariah,  and 
Obadiah,  and  Hauan  ;  these  were  the  sons  of  Azel. 

1  The  Sept ,  the  Vulg..  and  Luther  attach   miiTI  to  the  foregoing  words  (tmv  $turi\ion  'lrtfav.X  xeci  'UZZot),  with  an 
arbitrary  Interpretation  of  the  following  'ljl  ^3H  (/uric  tJ.  i-ruxicBimn  A  &x£v/.S>x,—iranslati</ue  swit  in  Ikibyl.). 

2  For  the   Kethib  yj^T\0'^'2.'\2.  is   doubtless  to  bo  read  the  Km    '_33")P   'JS'P   (cornp.  the  name  '33  in  vi. 
SI.  among  the  Merarites). 

3  For  ^j^u'it-  since  n"/*C  (JVC)  is  a  city  of   Ephraim,  must  apparently  have  been  read,   according  to  Gen. 

xxvi,  20,  *j^L;'i"I  (the  Shelanites,  descendants  of  Shelah  third  son  of  Judah).  The  incorrect  pointing  *3/*E'n 
appears  to  have  arisen  from  the  Kriptio  plena:  ^T^UTl.  Comp.  Neh.  xi.  5,  where,  instead  of  ^!Vtpn.  we  should 
also  perhaps  point  *3^t;'n. 

*  Before  J"DX7D  a   '    (in  consequence  of  the   P  at  the  end  nf  7*T\)  seems  to  have  fallen  out.     Comp.  tit  tpymwtmt 
tf  the  Sep*.,  and  ch.  vii.  2,  xii.  11  'also  F.  Boucher,  Xeue  ejreg  krtt.  Aehrtnlese,  ili.  223). 

*  Before  IT"1D?   a  ^  seems  to  have  fallen  out. 

*  For  Vm    Cri?H    rjrr.  the  original  text  seems  to  have  been  V«T    DS1?H   jO^;   comp.  ver.  14. 
'  Ktthib:   D'I'CS-     Ken:    D^IBS- 

'  So  the  Kin.     Tlie  A'.Crt  is  ?WJp. 


«t 


I.  CHRONICLES 


EXEGETICAL. 

PicELiiiiNAi:v  Remark. — Of  the  two  unequal 
sections  into  which  our  chapter  tails,  the  second, 
vers.  35-44,  coincides  almost  literally  with  viii. 
29-38,  and  so  presents  only  a  repetition  of  the 
register  of  Saul  and  his  house  there  given,  pre- 
liminary to  the  narrative  of  the  fall  of  his  dynasty 
following  in  ch.  x.  The  first  section,  vers.  1-34, 
presents  in  its  first  half,  containing  a  list  of  the 
heads  of  families  dwelling  in  Jerusalem,  vers. 
4-17,  several  points  of  contrast  with  a  similar 
list  in  Neh.  xi.  3-19.  The  plan  of  both  lists  is 
at  all  events  the  same  ;  and  if,  with  Bertheau,  of 
the  three  chiefs  of  Judah,  vers.  4-6,  we  put  Uthai 
beside  Athaiah  (Neh.  xi.  4),  and  Asaiah  beside 
Maaseiah  (ver.  5)  (so  that  only  the  third  name, 
Jeuel,  has  nothing  corresponding  to  it  in  Nehe- 
miah);  if  we  consider  the  recurrence  of  the  Benja- 
niite  chiefs  Sallu  and  Hodaviah  in  Neh.  xi.  7-9 
(where,  certainly,  the  remaining  names  are  want- 
ing); if  we  compare  the  six  chiefs  of  the  priestly 
divisions  with  those  corresponding  in  number  and 
mostly  in  name  in  the  list  of  Nehemiah,  ami  find 
here  (vers.  10-13)  the  series:  Jedaiah,  Jehoiarib, 
Jachin,  Azariah,  Adaiah,  Masai,  there  the  series  : 
Jedaiah,  Joiarib,  Jachin,  Seraiah,  Adaiah,  Ama- 
sliai;  if  we  observe  among  the  chief  of  the  Levites 
two,  Shemaiah  and  Mattaniah,  verbally  identical, 
and  a  third,  Obadiah  (=Abda  in  Nehemiah). 
approximately  so;  if,  lastly,  we  perceive  at  least 
two  of  the  four  chiefs  of  the  porters,  Shallum  and 
Akkub,  common  to  both  lists, — a  pretty  general 
agreement  even  in  names  appears  to  prevail  be- 
tween  the  two  registers.  It  seems  natural,  also, 
either  with  Zunz  (Gottesdienstl.  Vortrage  der 
Juden,  p.  31  ;  also  Herzfeld,  Gesch.  p.  298)  to 
conceive  our  list  modelled  after  that  of  Nehemiah, 
or  both  drawn  from  one  source,  and  in  like  manner 
referring  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  after  the 
exile,  as  Movers  (p.  2341,  berth.,  Kampli.,  etc., 
do.  But  if  both  lists  are  based  upon  one  common 
document,  relating  to  the  times  of  Ezra  and  Nehe- 
miah, and  arising  from  them,  we  should  expect  a 
more  complete  agreement  with  regard  to  all  tie- 
names.  The  accordance  of  the  names  in  only  half 
of  the  whole  number  given,  and  the  resemblance 
in  place  (giving  first  the  sons  of  Judah,  then  the 
sons  of  Benjamin,  then  the  priests,  and  then  the 
levites  and  porters),  are  sufficiently  explained  by 
supposing  a  general  continuity  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Jerusalem  before  and  alter  the  exile,  and  laying 
the  diversities  of  the  two  lists  to  the  account  of 
the  altering,  disturbing,  ami  partly  destroying 
effects  of  the  exile,  and  the  similarities  to  that  of 
the  endeavour  of  those  returning  with  Zerubbabel 
and  Ezra  to  restore  as  far  as  possible  the  former 
state  of  things.  The  following  exegetical  treat- 
ment of  the  passage  will  prov?  that,  with  this 
picsupposition,  the  assumptioi  of  the  origin  of 
cur  present  list  before  the  exile,  in  contrast  with 
the  obvious  reference  of  Nehemiah's  list  to  the 
times  after  the  exile,  has  nothing  of  m<  ment 
against  it,  and  is  even  demanded  by  ver.  2  and 
other  indications. 

1.  Vers.  1-3.  Transition, from  the  Genealogical 
Registers  of  the  Twelve  Tribes  to  the  Enumeration 
of  the  Inhabitants  of  Jerusalem. — And  all  Israel 
was  registered;  nvd,  behold,  they  are  written  in 
the  book  a/  ih,'  kings  of  Israel;  and  Judah  was 
carried  away.  By  the  Masoretie  accentuation, 
which    plainly   separates    nUil'l    from    the    fore- 


going words,  and  makes  it  the  subject  of  a  ncv 
sentence  (eouip.  Crit.  Note),  the  first  sentence 
appears  to  treat  of  Israel  in  the  narrow  sense, 
that  is,  of  the  northern  kingdom,  and  its  kings 
in  particular  (so  Berth.,  Kamph.,  etc.).  But  the 
phrase  "all  Israel  "  makes  it  mole  natural  here 
to  think  of  the  people  of  the  south  as  wed  as  of 
the  north  ;  and  it  is  also  in  favour  of  this,  that 
the  expression  :  "  the  book  of  the  kings  of  Israel, '' 
is  in  2  Chron.  xx.  34  manifestly  of  like  import 
with  "the  book  of  the  kings  of  Judah  and 
Israel,"  or  "Israel  and  Judah,"  as  well  as  that 
the  universal  sense  of  the  term  "  Israel  "  is  found 
at  the  beginning  of  the  second  verse.  Keil 
therefore  justly  remarks:  "The  antithesis  of 
Israel  and  Judah  is  analogous  to  that  of  Judah 
and  Jerusalem  ;"  that  is,  Israel  denotes  the  wdiole 
covenant  people,  Judah  a  part.  To  understand 
the  name  Israel  of  the  whole  people  is  also 
demanded  by  the  position  of  our  verse  at  the 
end  of  the  genealogies  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel, 
and  not  merely  of  the  ten  northern  tribes.  That 
ver.  1  effects  the  transition  from  the  genealogies 
to  the  following  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Jerusalem,  and  so  forms  properly  the  close  of 
the  genealogies  in  ch.  ii-— viii.,  is  so  obvious,  that 
Bertheau  has  not  been  able  to  bring  forward  a 
single  tenable  ground  for  his  counter  assertion, 
that  "the  verse  forms  obviously  a  new  begin- 
ning." For  the  affirmation,  that  "  w.  perceive  in 
it  a  brief  introduction  to  the  historical  accounts 
of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  or  of  the  Israelites  after 
the  exile, "  can  furnish  no  ground  lor  this,  be- 
cause it  not  only  contradicts  the  assertion  that 
Israel  is  to  be  understood  of  the  northern  king- 
dom, but  cannot  be  reconciled  with  the  letter  of 
the  verse  (that  begins  with  the  connective  i). 
The  same  exegete  justly  declares  against  the 
further  assertion  of  Berth.,  that  ver.  1  cannot  be 
written  by  our  historian  himself,  but  must  have 
been  taken  literally  from  his  source,— an  assertion 
which  is  ilcvoid  of  all  solid  ground. — For  their 
transgression:  so  ch.  v.  25  f. ,  41.  —  Ver  2.  And 
th>  former  inhabitants,  that  were  in  tlieir  posses- 
Hon  in  their  cities.  Movers,  Berth.,  and  Kamph., 
who  find  in  the  following  list  the  inhabitants  ol 
Jerusalem  after  the  exile,  in  the  time  of  Nehe- 
miah, will  understand  by  these  "former  inhabi- 
tants "  those  citizens  of  Jerusalem  who  dwelt 
there  in  the  time  of  Zerubbabel  and  his  imme- 
diate successors,  before  Jerusalem  was  newly 
[copied  from  the  surrounding  districts.  It  is 
much  more  natural,  with  almost  all  old  exposi- 
tors, and  with   Keil,   to  refer  C'jiU'Nin   here  to 

the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  before  the  exile  , 
for,  in  that  ease,  "the  inhabitants  in  their  pos- 
session in  their  cities"  are  in  no  way  opposed 
as  former  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  to  the  later, 
but  both  appear  so  placed  side  by  side  that  this 
opposition  is  excluded.  The  parallel  Neh.  v.  15, 
quoted  by  Bertheau,  where  the  governors  from 
Zerubbabel    to    Ezra    are    opposed    as    ninsn 

CJi'J'Nin  to  Nehemiah  as  the  later  nri2,  proves 

indeed  the  possibility  of  understanding  the  pre- 
dicate CSlt^JOn  in  the  sense  of  "before  the 
exile,"  but  not  the  necessity.  And  from  the 
dwelling  "in  their  cities"  (comp.  Ezra  ii.  70, 
Neh.  vii.  23,  xi.  1  f. )  nothing  can  be  concluded 
in  favour  of  this  interpretation. —  Wen  Israt  I.  the 
priests,  tin  Levitts,  and  tin  Nethinim.     "Israel" 


CHAP.  IX.  3-18. 


87 


denotes  here  obviously  the  lay  element  of  the 
citizens,  that  which  is  otherwise  designated  by 
ay  beside  ;nb   (Isa.  xxiv.  2;  Hos.  iv.  9).     For 

the  notion  and  name  of  the  Nethiniui,  properly 
the  "bestowed,"  that  is,  the  temple  ministers, 
comp.  Num.  viii.  19;  Josh.  ix.  27;  1  Sum.  i.  11; 
Ezra  ii.  43,  viii.  17,  20,  and  elsewhere — Ver.  3. 
And  in  Jerusalem  dwelt  of  the  sons  of  Judah,  ete. 
These  winds  are  not  a  superscription  of  the  lisi 
of  those  dwelling  ii  Jerusalem  :u  contrast  with 
those  living  in  other  cities  (ad  Berth.,  etc.). 
The  list  rather  begins  with  these  words,  so  that 
thus  the  verse  i  n  es  to  introduce  the  coni 
of  the  greater  pari  of  our  chapter  (to  ver.  34), 
and  corresponds  to  ver.  35.  Tins  close  connec- 
tion of  our  verse  with  the  following  special  enu- 
meration of  the  families  of  Jerusalem  o'er,  4  11.), 
and  the  mention  of  "the  sons  of  Epnraim  and 
Manasseh"  as  fellow-citizens  with  them  in  Jeru- 
salem (comp.  2  Chron.  xxxiv.  9),  are  against 
referring  the  present  list,  to  the  time  after  the 
exile.  The  hook  of  Nehemiah  (xi.  3)  announces 
its  list  corresponding  to  ours  in  quite  another 
way,  so  that  th  ir  no  doubt  at  all  remains  of  its 
exclusive  reference  to  conditions  and  relations 
after  the  exile.  Moreover,  the  circumstance  that 
the  following  list  contains  no  names  of  Ephraim- 
ites  and  Mauassites  in  Jerusalem,  is  simply  ex- 
plained by  this,  that  of  the  former  only  a  very 
few  families  dwelt  in  Jerusalem,  while  the  Jews 
and  Benjamites  formed  the  bulk  of  its  popula- 
tion. On  t  e  evangelical  and  theocratic  import 
of  the  association  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh  with 
Judah,  Benjamin,  and  Levi  in  the  citizenship  of 
Jerusalem,  comp.  below,  evangelical  and  ethical 
principles,  No.  1. 

2.  Vers.  4-17.  Special  Enumeration  of  tlte  In- 
habitants of  Jerusalem,  and  first,  of  tlte  Heads  of 
Families  of  Judah  and  Benjamin,  of  the  Priests 
and  Levites:  vers.  4-6. — Three  heads  of  families 
out  of  the  three  chief  branches  of  Judah,  those  of 
Perez,  Shelah,  and  Zerali  (comp.  ii.  3,  4). — 
('thai,  the  son  of  Ammihud  .  .  .  of  the  sons  of 
Perez.  The  name  Uthai  might  be  etymologically 
equivalent  to  that  of  the  Athaiah  dTJfi')  men- 
tioned Neh.  xi.  4  as  a  heal  of  a  family  of  the 
sons  of  Perez  ;  for  yflP=iVJT|Vi  "  wnom  Jehovah 

helps,"  might,  if  we  n-gard  the  somewhat  obscure 
root  nnj)  as  a  by-form  of  J-nj?>  nave  ^K  wMn'- 
meaning  as  rpny.     But  to  the  still  diverse  form 

is  to  be  added  the  quite  different  series  of  ances- 
tors that,  connect  Athaiah  with  Perez  (Ozziah, 
Eechariah,  Amariah,  Shephatiah,  Mahalalel,  in- 
stead of  the  present  Ammihud,  Omri,  lmri, 
Bani).  It  seems  therefore  very  doubtful  whethel 
Uthai  he  the  same  with  Athaiah.  For  the  defec- 
tive reading  concealing  the  name  Bani,  see  the 
L'rit.  Note.— Ver.  o  Andofthe Shilonites,  Asaiah 
Ike  first-born,   etc.      It  seems  pretty  certain  that 

»35tT'"l  should  be  read  here  instead  of  ^'{-'n.  :ls 

in  Neh.  xi.  "..  We  expect  to  find  the  descend- 
ants of  Shelah  (Num.  xxvi.  20;  comp.  1  Chron. 
ii.  3,  iv.  21)  mentioned  between  the  sons  of  Perez 
and  those  of  Zerah.  Moreover,  it  is  doubtful 
whether   the   Shelanite   Asaiah    (,TL"i'.   "whom 

Jehovah  has  made")  is  to  be  at  once  taken  as 
identical  with  the  Maaseiah  (n'CTD.  "Jehovah's 


work"),  as  both  names  aic  of  frequent  o  cum  nc« 
(comp.  for  Asaiah,  iv.  36,  vi.  15,  xv.  6,  11,  2 
Kings  xxii.  12,  14,  and  for  Mas  ei  18,  20, 

2  Chron.  xxiii.  1,  Jer.  xxi.  1,  xxix.  21).  The 
existence  of  an  Asaiah  as  lead  ol  a  house  in  the 
family  of  Shelah  before  the  exile  does  not  preclude 
the  appearance  of  a  Maaseiah,  son  of  Baruch,  sou 
of  Col  liozi  o,  son  of  Hasaiah,  etc.,  as  head  of  this 
family  alter  the  exile.— Ver.  6.  And  of  the  tons 
of  Zerah:  Jeuel  and  their  brethren,  sixhundred 
and  ninety.  This  number  refers,  as  the  plur. 
sun,  in  anTIX  shows,  not  to  Jeuel  alone,  but  to 

the  three  chiefs  named  in  vers.  I  6,  and  to  their 
brethren,  the  remaining  heads  of  houses  of  sub- 
ordinate  import.  So  it  is  also  with  the  number 
956  in  ver.  9.  Moreover,  the  name,  .(curl  (7Siy). 
or  its  variant  (?K'Jp),  occurs  elsewhere;  for  ex- 
ample, v.  7,  2  Chron.  xxvi.  11.  In  Neh.  xi.  no 
descendants  of  Zerah  are  given. — Vers.  7-9.  Four 
Benjamite  chiefs:  Sallu,  Ibneiah,  Elah,  Meshul- 
lam,  of  whom  the  first  (and,  as  here,  the  son  ,,t 
Meshullam)  occurs  also  Neh.  xi.,  but  the  other 
three  not  ;  see  the  Preliminary  Remark. — Ver.  9. 
A  ad  their  brethren,  etc.;  comp.  on  ver.  6 — All 
these  men  were  chief s  of  their  father-houses.  This 
remark,  which  naturally  refers,  not.  to  tin  brethren 
numbered,  but  to  the  chiefs  named,  applies  to  all 
that  are  named  from  ver.  4,  both  Jews  and 
Benjamites.  It  serves  thus  to  close  the  list  of 
family  chiefs,  and  lead  to  the  following  one  of  the 
priests  and  Levites. —Vers.  10-13.  The  priests  of 
Jerusalem. — Jedaiah,  and  Jehoiarib,  and  Jachin, 
The  names  of  these  three  priestly  classes  dwelling 
in  Jerusalem  (comp.  xxiv.  7,  17)  arc  found  also 
in  the  parallel  list  in  Neh.  xi.  10  If.  (supposing 
that  there,  by  a  change  of  "pT'V'p  into  a'TirP, 

the  true  reading  is  restored). — Ver.  11.  And 
Azariah  the  son  of  Hilkiah  .  .  .  a  prince  of  the 
house  of  God.  Instead  of  this  prince  or  president 
of  the  temple,  Azariah  ben  Hilkiah,  certainly  the 
same  who,  v.  40,  was  named  as  grandfather  of  the 
Jehozadak  who  was  carried  to  Babel  (comp.  also 
2  Chron.  xxxi.  13),  Neh.  xi.  11  names  rathera 
Seraiah  son  of  Hilkiah.  Yet  the  identity  of  this 
Seraiah  with  the  Azariah  of  our  passage  is  pro- 
bable, as  the  other  ancestors  of  both  up  to  Ahitub 
(Meshullam,  Zadok,  Mcraioth,  Ahitub)  are  quite 
the  same.  Seraiah  might  indeed  be  a  descendant 
of  Azariah  ben  Hilkiah  alter  tin-  exile.  —Ver.  12. 
And  Adaiah  the  .son  of  Jeroham,  etc.  This 
priestly  chief  Adaiah  (belonging  to  the  class  of 
Malchijah;  comp.  1  Chron.  xxiv.  9)  is  given  in 
Neh.  xi.  12  in  the  same  form  and  with  the  same 
in  e.  up  to  Malchijah,  as  here.  The  following 
Maasai  cL"i"^).  belonging  to  the  class  of  Immer 

(1  Chron.  xxiv.  14).  is  called  in  Nehemiah 
Amashai  (^DE'DJ?).  an'l  appears  there  connected 

b  another  line  with  Immer.  Another  priestlj 
chief  given  by  Nehemiah,  Zabdiel,  son  ol  Hagge- 

dolim,  who  is  designated  the  president   vei 

si  er  of  the  last-named  priestly  family  (that  of 
Amashai),  is  wanting  here. — Ver.  IS.  And  their 
brethren,  loads  of  the  father-houses,  1760.  This 
number  cannot  possibly  refer  to  the  heads;  it 
rather  denoti  s  dike  the  number!  192  in  Nehemiah) 
that  of  the  brethren  or  the  heads  of  houses  st  aid- 
ing under  the  heads  of  the  great  complex  of 
families.     The  phrase  appears  thus  inexact;  per- 


S8 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


liaps,  <»ith  Keil,  a  transposition  of  the  words  is  to 
be  ajs&raed,  in  such  a  way  that  "  heads  of  lather- 
houoes"  is  placed  before  and  drawn  to  ver.  12 
as  closing  formula,  while  "and  their  brethren  " 
(DnTIS'i)    's    immediately    connected   with    the 

number  1760.  Moreover,  that  all  the  priests 
dwelling  in  Jerusalem,  or  the  priestly  families  of 
the  six  classes  named,  amount  in  our  passage  to 
1760,  and  in  Nchein;ah  only  to  1192,  tends  to 
confirm  our  view  of  the  present  list  as  belonging 
to  the  period  before  the  exile  ;  we  expert  for  the 
priesthood  of  Jerusalem  after  the  exile,  about  150 
years  after  the  restoration  of  the  city  and  temple, 
not  so  great  a  number  as  here. — Able  men/or  the 
work  of  the  service  in  the  house  of  God.  Before 
J"DX^D,  which  may  not  be  a  mere  accusative  of 

reference  ("able  meu  with  respect  to  the  work  "), 
the  word  I'tj'j)  (comp.  xxiii.  24;  Neh.  xi.  12),  or  per- 
haps a  mere  •>  (which  might  easily  be  overlooked 
after  ~>T[),  appears  to  have  fallen  out  ;  see  Ciit. 

Note. — Vers.  14-16.  The  Levites  of  Jerusalem. — 
Shema'wli  the  son  of  Hashuh,  etc.  This  Merarite 
Shemaiah,  as  the  descendant  of  Asaph  (therefore 
Gershouite)  Mattaniah  named  in  ver.  15,  recurs 
in  Neh.  xi.  15,  and  with  substantially  the  same 
line  of  ancestors.  Bakbakkar,  Heresh,  and  Galal 
(ver.  15a)  are  wanting  there  ;  for  the  first  name 
would  have  to  be  identified  with  Bakbukiah,  Neb. 
xi.  17,  of  which  there  are  grave  doubts,  as  "ipspa 

(  =  -;nn  p3p3)  seems  to  mean  "destruction  "I 
the  hill  ;"  but  rpp3p2,  "desolation  from  Jeho- 
vah." Ami  of  the  names  of  Levites  in  ver.  16, 
only  Obadiah  can  be  identified  with  Abda,  Neh. 
xi.  17  (as  Jeduthun  appears  as  the  ancestor  of 
both).  Berechiah  is  wanting  in  Nehemiah  :  and 
the  latter  has  two  names,  Shabbethai  and  Jozabad, 
which  are  foreign  to  our  text.  —  And  Berechiah, 
the  son  of  Asa,  the  son  of  Elkanah,  and  so  a 
Kohathite,  as  the  name  Elkanah  is  native  in  this 
family;  comp.  vi.  1S-23. —  Who  dwelt  in  tin 
milages  of  the  Netophathites,  thus  near  Beth- 
lehem ;  comp.  Neh.  vii.  26.  This  clause  refers, 
not  to  Berechiah,  whose  dwelling  is  in  Jerusalem, 
but  to  his  ancestor  Elkanah.  It  is  impossible  to 
determine  what  the  Kohathite  so  called  in  vi. 
18  If.  was  to  this  Elkanah.  —  Ver.  17.  And  thi 
porter*:  Shallum,  and  Akkub,  end  Talmon,  ami 
Ahiman,  mid  their  brethren;  Shallvm  tin  head. 
The  four  here  named  (of  whom,  in  Neh.  xi.  19, 
only  two,  Akkub  and  Talmon,  recur)  are  to  be 
regarded,  as  appears  from  the  particulars  follow- 
ing (vers.  24,  26),  not  as  common  porters,  but  as 
captains  of  the  four  companies  of  porters,  who 
were  to  keep  guard  on  the  four  sides  and  gates  of 
the  temple  :  they  are  designated,  ver.  26,  as 
"  head  keepers  of  the  gates,"  a  phrase  reminding 
us  ol  the  ffrpaTnyoi  rou  U.iov  in  Luke  xxii.  52. 
The  number  of  all  the  doorkeepers,  which  is 
stated  to  be  172  in  Neh.  xi.  19,  is  wanting  here, 
where  it  would,  like  that  of  the  priests,  have  been 
considerably  higher,  because  Jerusalem  before  tin- 
exile  must  have  had  a  much  more  numerous  staff 
of  officers  in  every  respect  than  that  after  the 
exile,  to  which  the  catalogue  of  Nehemiah  refers. 
From  all  this,  the  correspondence  of  the  two 
similar  lists  in  the  personal  matters  is  only 
partial,  and  by  no  means  such  as  to  be  inconsis- 
tent with  the  origin  of  the  one  before  the  exile 


and  of  the  other  aftei  it.  The  resemblance  and 
even  sameness  of  the  names  in  two  or  three 
generations  do"S  not  of  itself  prove  the  identity 
of  the  persons,  because  we  learn  from  the  genea- 
logy of  Aaron  (v.  29  ff. )  that  tin-  series Amariah, 
Ahitub,  Zadok  repeats  itself  at  different  times 
(comp.  vers.  33  f.  and  37  f. ).  In  general,  the  same 
names  recur  very  often  in  genealogies,  because  it 
was  the  custom  to  give  the  children  the  names  of 
their  ancestors  ;  comp.  Luke  i.  59  ;  Winer,  Healw. 
ii.  133;  Havernick,  AW.  ii.  1,  179  If  But  if  the 
likeness  of  names  in  the  two  lists  furnishes  no 
necessary  ground  for  the  identity  of  the  lists, 
and  in  no  way  warrants  us  to  identify  the  like 
sounding  names  by  the  assumption  of  errors  of 
the  pen,  we  must,  on  account  of  the  great 
diversity  in  all  points,  understand  our  list  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  before  the  exile,  espe- 
cially as  the  following  remarks  on  the  functions 
of  the  Levites  demand  this,  because  they  relate 
throughout  to  the  time  before  the  exile. 

3.  Vers.  18-34.  The  Ministerial  Functions  of 
the  Levites,  and  first  (vers.  18-26a),  of  the 
Levitical porters. — And  hitherto  (he  was,  namely 
Shallum,  who  is  called  in  ver.  17  the  head  of  the 
porters)  in  tin-  king's  gate  eastward  :  that  is,  till 
the  present  time  the  family  of  Shallum  had  to 
keep  the  guard  at  the  east  gate  of  the  temple, 
that  chief  entrance  to  the  inner  court,  by  which 
the  king  alone  entered  (comp.  2  Kings  xvi.  18; 
Ezek.  xlvi.  1,  2).  The  "hitherto"  scarcely  gives  a 
hint  of  the  time  when  the  present  list  was  com- 
posed.  It  may  point  as  well  to  a  time  before  the 
exile  as  after  it,  as  Shallum  is  here  obviously 
named  as  a  hereditary  name  of  a  house  or  col- 
lective personality,  which  Keil  contravenes  un- 
necessarily. For  the  circumstance  that  a  pedigri  e 
of  Shallum  is  given,  not  yet  in  ver.  18,  but  at 
length  in  ver.  19,  shows  that  in  this  latter  pas- 
sage the  person  of  the  patriarch  of  the  leading 
house  of  doorkeepers  is  first  distinguished  from 
his  descendants  ;  see  also  after. — 'These  are  the 
porters  for  the  camps  of  ihe  sons  of  Levi.  This 
expression,  having  an  antique  ring,  and  remind- 
ing us  of  the  wanderings  of  the  people  under 
Moses  iNum.  iii.  21  ff.),  proves  no  more  than  the 
many  other  designations  of  this  kind  ("tent," 
ver.  20;  "tent  of  meeting,"  ver.  21  :  "house  ot 
the  tent, "  ver.  23a)  that  our  list  was  composed  be- 
fore Solomon  or  near  the  time  of  Moses  ;  comp. 
"camp  of  Jehov#h"  of  Solomon's  temple,  2 
C'hron.  xxxi.  2. — Ver.  19.  And  .shall inn  the  son 
of  Ko'-e,  the  son  of  Ebiasaph,  the  son  of  Kordh. 
This  reference  of  Shallum  to  Korah,  the  grandson 
of  Kohath  (v.  7),  comes  so  close  upon  the  an- 
cestry of  Shelemiah  or  Meshelemiah,  the  Korhite 
appointed  by  David  over  the  east  gate,  1  Chron. 
xxvi.  1,  14,  that  the  Shallum  ot  our  passage  .an 
scarcely  be  different  from  him.  It  is  also  highly 
probable  that  the  name  of  ep'3N.  the  father  or 

ancestor  of  Korah,  should  be  restored  there  (seeCrit. 
Note),  so  that  the  identity  of  the  two  persons  and 
the  merely  formal  diversity  of  their  names  (D1?t.". 
requital ;    MiTOPt'D.  whom  Jehovah   requites)  is 

almost  certain  ;  and  the  Meshelemiah,  ver.  21, 
must  be  held  to  be  identical  with  the  Shallum 
belonging  to  the  time  of  David  :  for  there,  as  in 
xxvi.  2,  a  son  Zeehariah  is  ascribed  to  him.  Thus 
the  record  goes  back,  as  in  ver.  20  to  Phineha* 
the   contemporary   of  Joshua,   so   in   ver.    21   at 


CHAP.  IX.  18-26. 


89 


least  to  a  contemporary  of  David  ;  and  the  guard 
at   the   east    gate   (the   king's    gate),    as   it   was 

hereditary  in  the  family,   is  referred  to  a  i ii- 

nation  liy  King  David.  The  then  mentioned 
brethren  of  Shallum,  of  the  house  of  his  father, 
the  Korhites,  are  the  heads  of  the  other  three 
families  of  porters,  Akkub,  Talinon,  and  Ahiman, 
living  in  the  time  of  David,  ver.  18. —  II '<  n  o»  i 
the  work  of  the  si  rvice  of  the  keepers  of  the 
thresholds  of  the  tent.  This  specifies  the  service 
performed  by  these  Levites  at  the  temple  ;  they 
were  threshold  or  gate  keepers  ;  comp.  2  Kings 
xii.  10;  2  Chron.  xxiii.  4.     The  genit.  "of  the 

tent  "  (here  expressed  l>y   ^  before  pnN*  hecause 

the  pree.  ding  word  having  the  article  cannot  be 
in  the  construct  state)  applies  to  the  tent  in 
Jerusalem  erected  by  David,  without,  however, 
expressing  any  contrast  to  the  temple  of  Solomon 
(which,  in  ver.  23,  seems  clearly  to  be  included 
ill  the  term  "tent  ")  ;  comp.  on  ver.  18. — And 
their  fathers  in  tin-  camp  <ff lie  Lord  were  h  epers 
of  the  entry,  namely,  in  the  time  of  Moses,  to 
which  there  is  reference  here  as  in  the  following 
verse.  "In  the  Pentateuch  there  is  no  mention 
of  the  Korhites  keeping  guard  in  the  time  of 
Moses  ;  but  as  the  Kohathites  to  whom  they  be- 
longed were  the  first  servants  of  the  sanctuary, 
Num.  iv.  4  ff.,  and  especially  had  the  charge  of 
the  tabernacle,  it  is  in  itself  probable  that  they 
had  to  keep  the  entrance  to  the  sanctuary  (comp. 
Num.  iv.  17-'J(H;  and  therefore  we  cannot  doubt 
that  our  statement  follows  an  old  tradition" 
(Berth. ).  —  Ver.  20.  And  Phinehas  the  son  of 
ISleazar  was  formerly  prina  over  them,  over  the 
porters  of  the  Korhite  family.  Phinehas  cannot 
have  been  invested  witli  this  oversight  of  the 
Korhite  porters  when  lie  was  high  priest,  but  only 
under  the  high-priesthood  of  his  father  Eleazar  ; 
as  also  Eleazar,  as  child'  over  the  chiefs  of  Levi, 
N  um.  iii.  32,  under  the  presidency  of  Aaron,  had 
the  oversight  of  the  keepers  of  the  sanctuary. — 
The  Lord  with  him.  This  clause  might  be  meant 
as  a  historical  remark,  and  so  completed  by  a 
iTTI,   "was,"  in  which  case  the  copula  i  was  to 

be  expected  before  niiT,  as  in  xi.  9.     It  is  more 

natural  to  see  in  the  two  words  a  blessing,  "  * ; ■  > .  1 
I-  with  him,"  and  to  compare  the  German 
phrases,  "God  blesshim,"  "Of  blessed  memory." 
We  may  remember  also  God's'covenant  of  peace 
with  Phinehas  ami  his  posterity,  Num.  xxv  11  ff. 
[This  goes  to  prove  that  the  historical  is  the 
correct  meaning,  and  not  one  that  is  nearly 
akin  to  an  error  of  doctrine.  — J.  G.  M.J—  Ver. 
21.  Zechariah  tin  son  if  Meshelemiah,  that  is, 
Shallum:  st  e  oil  ver.  19.  The  designation  of 
this  Shallum  (hefore  whose  name  we  miss  the 
copula  i ;  sec  (rit.  Note)  as  porter  at  the  door  of 
the  tent  of  meeting  has  something  indefinite 
needing  explanation.  But  we  can  find  nothing 
either  from  the  present  passage  or  from  ch.  xxvi. 
2  to  clear  up  this  difficulty,  or  account  lor  the 
prominence  given  to  this  Zechariah. — Ver.  22  n  - 
turns  to  the  description  of  the  service  of  the 
porters,  which  was  interrupted  by  the  historic. d 
digression,  vers.  19-21.  What  is  now  stated  be- 
longs to  the  time  of  the  author  of  the  list,  with 
the  exception  of  the  remark  applying  to  the 
time  of  David,  ver.  226.  —  All  these,  thai  inn 
chosen  to  be  porters  at  the  thresholds.    On  D^"iii2. 


"chosen,"  comp.  vii.   In,   xvi.   41  ;  for  construe' 

tion  with    ^    xxv.    1.     The   Dumber   212  as  the 

total  of  the  porters  agrees  neither  with  the  time 
of  David,  in  which  (xxvi.  8-11)  93  porters  in 
all  officiated  at  the  tabernacle;  nor  with  that  of 
Zerubbabel,  for  which  Ezra  ii.  42  gives  the  num- 
ber 139;  nor,  lastly,  with  that  of  Nehemiah,  for 
which,  Neh.  xi.  19,  the  number  172  is  set  down. 
But  it  suits  the  time-  before  the  exile,  to  which 
also  the  numbers  of  the  families  and  priests  in 
vers.  6,  9,  13  most  probably  point. —  They  were 
registered  in  their  villages.  They  dwelt,  there- 
fore,  in  villages  (C^IVn,    as  vi.    41    11.)   around 

Jerusalem,  and  came  to  it  on  the  days  of  their 
service,  as  the  singers  in  the  time  alter  the  exile, 
Neh.  xii.  29  f. — David  ami  Samuel  ihe  seer 
(ancient  designation  for  prophet,  S'23  ;  comp.  1 

Sam.  ix.  9)  had  ordained  them  in  their  trust. 
Cn^DX3.  "  in  their  trust,"  official  trust  or  duty  ; 

comp.  the  same  term  without  suffix,  vers.  26,  31; 
2  Kings  xii.  16,  xxii.  7;  2  Chron.  xxxi.  12.  The 
naming  of  Samuel  with  David  (and  after  him, 
against  the  order  of  time  ;  comp.  Hcb.  xi.  321  the 
Chron ist  no  doubt  found  in  his  source,  and  it  is 
explained  by  the  fact  that  the  agency  of  Samuel 
in  the  religious  institutions  of  Israel  prepared 
the  way  lor  the  reforms  of  David,  and  were 
therefore  usually  mentioned  along  with  them. 
And  perhaps  some  arrangement  regarding  the 
Levitical  porters  was  made  by  Samuel  which  laid 
the  foundation  for  that  of  David,  though  we 
have  no  information  concerning  this  beyond  the 
present  passage. — Ver.  23.  And  they  and  their 
suns,  the  porters  of  the  tine-  of  David  ami  after 
it.  The  following  phrase  also,  "at  the  house  of 
the  tent"  (comp.  on  vers.  18,  19),  is  chosen,  be- 
cause the  present  statement  applies  to  both — 
the  tent-sanctuary  before  Solomon,  and  the  stone 
temple  built  by  him. — Ver.  24.  To  the  four 
winds  (quarters  of  the  heaven  ;  comp.  Job  i.  19; 
Matt.    xxiv.   31)  were  the  porters,  "pry,   that  is, 

according  to  the  arrangement  of  David  (xxvi. 
14  If.). — By  wards,  rynO'J'D  of  persons,  as  Neh. 

xii.  9,  iv.  3,  16. — Ver.  25.  Were  to  come  in  serin 
days,  the  seventh  day  from  time  to  time,  that  is, 
on  the  Sabbath  of  the  week,  on  which  every 
family  was  in  their  rank  to  perform  the  service 

(b  '"  Ni2^.  to    denote   obligation,   as   v.    1). — 

With  them   (n?N   DJj),    along  with  the  heads  or 

chiefs  of  the  divisions,  ver.  17,  who  dwelt  in 
Jerusalem  itself,  and  to  whom  the  notice  in  ver. 
26a  refers. — For  they  v:ere  in  trust,  the  four  /mi,/ 
keepers  of  the  gates;  comp.  on  ver.  17. -Vers. 
266-32  report  on  the  duties  of  the  other  Levites 
besides  the  porters.  —  Tin  si  Levites,  and  were, 
etc.  It  has  been  remarked  in  tin-  (lit.  Note 
that  for  this  we  are  most  probably  to  read 
(according  to  ver.  14),  "  And  of  the  Levites  were." 
At  all  events,  the  duties  enumerated  in  the  fol- 
lowing passage  (exclusive  of  ver.  27)  belong  to 
the  Levites  in  common,  and  not  to  the  porters. 

Accordingly,  the  words  Qsfjn  CHI  .must  be  re- 
garded either  as  a  suvscription  to  the  whole  pre- 
ceding paragraph  from  ver.  14  (so  Berth.),  or 
amended    (with   Keil)   in    the   way    indicated. — 


}(J 


I.  CHKOXICLES. 


Over  the  chambers  and  treasuries  of  the  house  of 

God.     These   chambers   (ni3'Cv)    au(l  treasuries 

(DilVX)    were    ln    the    side    buildings    of    the 

temple,  over  which  the  Levites  presided  ;  eomp. 
Ezek.  xl.  17,  xlii.  1  ff.;  Neb.  x.  38  ;  and  Keil, 
Iliht.  Arch.  i.  pp.  121,  124.— Ver.  27.  Ami  then 
lodged  around  the  house  of  God.  This  notice, 
referring  again  to  the  porters,  with  the  sub- 
joined statement,  that  they  had  to  open  every 
morning  (lit.  "were  set  over  the  keys  ;  "  eomp. 
riFIBD,  Judg.  iii.  25;  Isa.  xxii.  22),  is  strange  in 

the  present  place :  it  had  its  place  perhaps 
originally  after  ver.  26a. — Ver.  28.  And  some 
of  them  were  over  the  vessels  of  service,  the  more 
valuable  vessels  of  gold  and  silver,  with  the 
sacrificial  bowls  (xxviii.  13  f. ;  Dan.  i.  2,  v.  2  ff. ), 
which  required  careful  keeping,  and  as  they  were 
to  be  taken  out  of  the  treasuries  for  the  public 
worship  an  exact  "tale." — Ver.  29.  Over  the 
vessels,   even  over  all  the  holy  vessels,  and  over 

the  flour,  and  the  wine,  etc.     As  the  term  Q»^3 

is  used  here  as  in  ver.  2S,  the  difference  between 
the  vessels  here  and  there  mentioned  seems  to 
depend  on  the  articles  which  are  here  named  in 
connection  with  the  latter,  namely,  flour  (rbo, 

Lev.  ii.  1  ff.),  wine,  oil,  frankincense,  and  spices 
(□,DE'a,  as  Ex.  xxx.  23).  They  may  be,  there- 
fore, the  more  ordinary,  less  costly  vessels  used 
in  the  daily  incense,  meat  and  drink  offering 
(eomp.  on  Ex  xxv.  6).  For  njD,  "order, 
appoint,"  in  the  Piel,  eomp.  Dan.  i.  5,  10,  11; 
the  partie.  Pi.  only  here. — Ver.  30.  And  of  the 
sons  of  tin-  priests,  etc.  To  them  belonged,  Ex. 
xxx.  23  ff.,  the  preparation  of  the  holy  anointing 
oil,  by  the  compounding  of  several  spices.  This 
notice  referring  to  the  priests  does  not,  strictly 
taken,  belong  to  the  functions  of  the  Levites. 
The  division  of  things  has  here  for  the-moment 
overruled  the  division  of  persons.  [The  priests, 
however,  were  Levites.] — Ver.  31.  And  Matti- 
thiah of  the  Levites,  who  was  the  first-born  of 
Shallum  the  Korhite :  thus  an  elder  brother  of 
that  porter  Zechariah,  ver.  21,  if  this  is  actually 
to  pass  for  the  son  of  the  Shallum  here.  But 
certainly,  in  ch.  xxvi.  2,  Zechariah  is  directly 
called  first-born    ("1133)    of  Meshelemiah  ;    and 

hence,  to  maintain  the  identity  of  this  Meshele- 
miah with  Shallum,  we  must  assume  "that  in 
our  passage  Mattithiah  bears  the  honourable 
title  of  first-born  only  in  an  improper  sense, 
because  he  ranks  high  among  the  descendants 
of  Shallum  on  account  of  his  office"  (Berth.). 
S  sitting  further  is  known  to  us  concerning  the 
oerson  or  time  of  Mattithiah. —  Was  in  trust  ,,r,  >■ 
tht  baking  in  pans.     The  term  DTUnn,  a  baking 

.'.  pans   (eomp.  rQTO,  an  iron  pan,  Lev.  ii.  5, 

ri.  14  :  1  C'hron.  xxiii.  29;  Ezek.  iv.  3),  is  used 
>nly  here.— Ver.  32.  And  of  the  Kohathites  their 
brethren,  the  brethren  of  the  last-mentioned 
Levites,  at  whose  head  was  the  Korhite  Matti- 
thiah. For  the  way  of  laying  on  the  shew-bread, 
see  Lev.  xxiv.  0  ff. — Every  Sabbath.  For  the 
phrase  ri3E'  ~3*J'  (the  first  with  Pattach  in  the 

ast  syllable,  tor  euphony),  eomp.  Bertheau. — Ver 


33.  And  these  the  singers,  loads  of  the  fatheri 
for  the  Levites,  ivene  free  in  the  chambers.  This 
is  usually  regarded  as  a  first  subscription  to  the 
foregoing,  from  ver.  14,  to  which  a  second  still 
more  general  subscription  is  added  in  ver.  34. 
Yet  in  the  mention  of  the  singers  (the  familiea 
of  which  had  been  reported  in  vers.  14-16),  the 
enumeration  of  the  ministerial  functions  of  the 
several  classes  of  the  Levites,  which  had  begun 
ver.  266,  is  rather  continued  ;  and  therefore, 
instead  of  "these  are  the  singers,"  the  rendering 
is  rather  " these  singers,  etc.,"  and  thus  a  fore, 
extending  to  a  rather  remote  point  (ver.  141,  is 
to  be  assigned  to  the  demonstrative  (Kamph 
justly).  The  "being  free"  in  their  chambers  is 
set  forth  very  naturally,  because  their  exclusive 
occupation  with  their  art  was  to  be  indicated. 
C'omp.  Kashi's  and  Kirnchi's  interpretation  ol 
Cj^tOSi  innnunes  ab  oinni  alio  ofiicio. — For  they 

were  over  them  in  the  service  day  and  night. 
This    literal    rendering    of    the    Masoretic    text 

(raxfea  nrp?y)    seems   to   express   the  sense  . 

"they  were  placed  over  them,  the  subordinate 
singers,  had  to  superintend  them"  (Berth.). 
But  the  comparison  of  the  somewhat  different 
passage,  2  Cliron.  xxxiv.  12,  is  insufficient  tc 
justify  this  view.     It   is  more  natural  to   take 

DDvJJ  to  mean  :   "it  lay  upon  them;"  but  ther. 

H3xi>S3  would  have  to  be  changed  into  ri3}OEr" 

(ver.  27),  and  so  the  suitable  sense  restored  :  "for 
by  day  and  night  their  service,  their  singing 
function,  was  incumbent  on  them." — Ver.  34. 
These  are  the  heads  of  the  fathers  for  the  Levites, 
etc.  Comp.  the  similar  subscription,  viii.  28. 
Since  this  precedes  the  first  genealogy  of  Saul, 
as  here  the  repetition  of  this  genealogy  imme- 
diately follows,  Movers  (p.  S2  f .  I  conjectured 
that  it  had  its  place  here  originally,  but  was 
taken  by  an  old  transcriber  erroneously  for  the 
beginning  of  the  following  genealogy  of  Saul, 
and  therefore  transposed  with  this  (as  he  en 
deavoured  to  point  out  a  more  suitable  place, 
as  he  thought,  for  it  at  the  close  of  the  genealogj 
of  Benjamin,  viii.  1-27)  to  that  previous  place, 
and  thereby  somewhat  altered.  This  assumption 
would  only  be  plausible  if  the  double  position  of 
the  genealogy  of  Saul  must  be  regarded  as  resting 
on  a  mistake,  and  contrary  to  the  plan  of  the 
writer,  for  which  there  is  uo  manner  of  ground. 
He  rather  repeated  this  genealogy  intentionally 
here  to  form  a  proper  transition  from  his  genea- 
logical section  to  his  following  (introducing  the 
historical  section)  account  of  the  fall  of  Saul's 
house.  This  simple  consideration  removes  all 
that  was  formerly  adduce!  in  the  way  of  doubts, 
conjectures,  ami  highly  absurd  and  superfluous 
reflections  on  the  supposed  ground  of  this  repe- 
tition, as.  according  to  Mar  Sutra  in  Tr.  Pesa- 
ehim  62'-,  400  (or  in  another  report,  1300) 
camel-loads  of  explanations  are  forthcoming  on 
this  repetition  and  on  the  present  section;  comp. 
Herzfeld,  Gesch.  p.  299. 

4.  Repeated  Genealogy  of  Saul:  vers.  34-44. — 
On  the  deviations  of  this  list  from  viii.  29-3S, 
see  on  that  passage,  where  it  has  been  already 
stated  that  onr  present  passage  seems  to  present 
the  older  ami  more  correct  text  with  respect  to 
the  forms  of  the  names, 


CHAl'.   I.-IX. 


91 


EVANGELICAL  ANli  ETHICAL  REFLECTIONS  ON" 
OH.   I.-IX. 

There  is  in  many  respects  the  impression  "l 
wandering  in  a  wilderness,  of  walking  among 
the  stones  in  a  graveyard,  ranged  in  long  rows, 
and  more  or  less  weathered,  remaining  on  the 
mind  after  the  exegetical  examination  of  the 
genealogical  contents  of  these  chapters.  But  as 
in  the  wil.ls  of  Ilauran,  [dumsea,  and  Arabia 
Petrtea,  bristling  with  innumerable  hare  rocks, 
there  is,  notwithstanding  all  the  drought  and 
»aste,  a  mysterious  charm  that  acts  with  irre- 
sistible attraction  nn  all  Christian  travellers 
animated  by  the  spirit  of  biblical  research;  or 
ts,  to  use  another  but  kindred  figure,  the  laby- 
rinthine windings  of  the  old  Christian  catacombs 
of  Rome,  with  their  thousands  of  sarcophagi, 
and  the  ever-varying  inscriptions  and  manifold 
symbolic  figures  on  them,  prepare  for  the  Chris- 
tian antiquarian  walking  through  them,  not 
weariness,  but  an  inexhaustible  charm  and  ever 
new  satisfaction  :  even  so  do  the  seemingly  so 
dry  and  unrefreshiiig  names  of  these  nine  chapters 
act  upon  the  searchers  of  Scripture,  not  only  the 
Jewish,  but  also  the  Christian.  For  it  is  from 
beginning  to  end  holy  ground  through  which  we 
here  pass.  They  are  the  grave-stones  of  the 
people  of  God,  the  monuments  of  a  thousand 
years  of  the  old  covenant  people,  between  the 
rows  of  which  the  Chronist  leads  us.  They  are 
the  cities  and  places  of  the  holy  land,  the  origins 
of  which  are  here  presented  to  us  in  greatei  01 
briefer  extent.  And  the  same  mysterious  attrac- 
tion that  yearly  impels  thousands  of  Christian 
pilgrims,  of  all  countries  and  confessions,  to  that 
land,  in  which  not  merely  Israel  after  the  fli  sh, 
but  also  the  confessors  of  Christ,  have  to  seek  a 
right  of  home,  insensibly  influences  every  reader 
of  this  section  who  is  led  by  a  Christian  and 
scientific  interest.  The  same  home-longing  thai 
comes  upon  us  on  beholding  every  chart  of  the 
country  of  the  twelve  tribes,  on  examining  every 
plan  and  picture  of  Jerusalem,  e  en  on  reading 
the  plainest  and  simplest  of  the  innumerable 
books  of  travels  with  which  the  present  luxuriant 
literature  of  Palestine  constantly  floods  us,  seizes 
with  irresistible  power  the  biblical  inquire]  who 
turns  his  attention  to  these  opening  chapters  of 
our  work;  it  sweetens  in  many  ways  the  hard 
labours  that  are  occasioned  by  the  deciphering 
of  the  often  illegible  text,  the  pondering  on  the 
import  of  so  many  isolati  d  names,  the  reconciling 
of  so  many  contradictory  statements  concerning 
places,  persons,  and  genealogical  lists.  Considered 
in  detail,  there  are  four  chief  aspects  in  winch  the 
deeper  significance  of  the  history  of  salvation  in 
our  chapters  is  presented,  and  on  which  the 
attention  of  the  historical  inquirer,  moved  by 
higher  motives  than  mere  profane  history  and 
criticism  can  yield,  will  be  concentrated. 

1.  The  grouping  and  arrangement  ol  the  genea- 
logical material,  with  all  tin-  complication,  seem- 
ing inconnectior.  and  a  bitrariness  i  f  the  con- 
siderations involved,  is  highly  attractive,  as  it 
affords  a  deep  insight  into  the  organic  arrange- 
ment of  the  tribes  of  God's  people,  and  the  parts 
they  are  destined  to  perform  in  the  history  of  the 
theocracy.  The  fundamental  principle  of  division 
is  neither  purely  genealogical  nor  politico-theo- 
cratic but  has  reference  to  all  these  relations. 
The  enumeration   of  the   tribes  is  not  arranged 


genealogically,  according  to  the  ages  of  the  twelve 
sons  of  Jacob:  otherwise  it  would  have  begun 
with  Reuben  and  ended  with  Benjamin,  It 
proceeds  not  according  to  the  political  relatione 
of  the  time  of  the  divided  kingdom  ;  otherwise 
.ludah  and  Benjamin  would  have  stood  first,  and 
Ephraim  would  have  followed  a1  the  lead  of  the 
northern  kingdom.  It  follows  not  exclusively 
the  geographical  principle  :  for  if  it  starts  with 
Judah.  the  chief  tribe  of  the  south,  and  passing 
over  the  seats  of  the  Simeonites,  extending  far 
to  tic-  south,  bends  round  to  the  three  eastern 
tribes,  and  enumerates  them  from  south  to  north, 
in  order  to  pass  on  to  the  remaining  tribes  of 
middle  and  northern  Canaan,  in  the  enumeration 
of  the  latter  it  abandons  all  geographical  order, 
as  the  southern  Benjamin  and  probably  Dan  are 
annexed  to  the  northern  Issachar,  and  then 
follows,  not  Ephraim,  the  more  southern  of  the 
tribes  of  Joseph,  but  the  more  northern  Manasseh, 
next  to  Naphtali ;  and  lastly,  after  Ephraim  and 
Asher,  Benjamin  reappears.  In  the  midst  of 
this  not  very  geographical  enumeration  falls  the 
copious  genealogical  details  of  Levi,  to  whom  a 
definite  territory  was  wanting,  on  account  of  its 
distribution  over  all  the  tribes.  And  yet  in  this 
apparently  ungeographical  and  unhistorical  order 
there  lies  a  deeper  sense.  The  author,  as  a  strict 
theocratic  legitimist,  subordinates  all  the  others 
to  the  two  chief  tribes,  Judah  and  Benjamin, 
forming  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  and  adhering  to 
the  legitimate  national  sanctuary,  as  well  as  the 
tub  of  Levi  remaining  in  natural  mutual  con- 
uection  with  them.  As  he  otherwise  ignores,  as 
far  as  possible,  the  northern  kingdom,  that  bad 
revolted  from  the  legitimate  worship,  and  sub- 
ordinates the  tribes  belonging  to  it,  on  every 
occasion,  to  the  orthodox  tribes  of  the  south, 
and  regards  them  as  mere  dependencies  of  tin-, 
latter  (comp.  ix.  3,  where,  along  with  Jewa, 
IVnjaniites,  and  Levites,  those  belonging  to  the 
tribes  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh  are  named  as 
belonging  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem;  also 
the  quite  similar  passage,  2  Chron.  xxxtv.  9,  and 
our  remarks  on  it),  here  also  is  all  that  do  s  not 
belong  to  the  kingdom  ol  Judah  treated  as  acci  s- 
sory,  and  not  only  more  briefly  despatched  (none 
of  the  tribes  belonging  to  the  north  is  given  as 
fully  as  the  tribe  of  Simeon  belonging  to  Judah  ; 
some,  as  I 'an  and  Naphtali,  are  almost  wholly, 
and  one,  Zebulun,  wholly  omitted),  but  pushed  in 
as  subordinate,  rilling  up  between  the  tribes  of 
Judah,  Levi,  and  Benjamin,  forming  the  beginning, 
the  middle,  and  the  end.  What  is  especially 
conspicuous  anil  beautiful  is  the  central,  all-pel - 
vading,  embracing,  and  connecting  position  of 
the  priestly  tribe  of  Levi.  "Over  the  whobi 
distribution  of  the  tribes  is  spread  out  as  a  con- 
necting network  the  uniformly- distributed  tribe 
of  Levi,  as  the  priestly  mediator  between  God 
and  His  people,  in  its  forty-eight  cities,  that 
belonged  to  all  the  tribes,  but  are  not  to  be  re- 
garded as  exclusively  inhabited  by  Levites  (comp. 
our  remarks  on  vi.  65);  whereby,  according  lo 
Josh.  xxi.  land  our  eh.  vi.),  a  peculiar  crossing 
of  the  families  of  Levi  took  place,  partly  in  the 
cast  and  partly  in  the  north  of  Palestine,  so  that 
those  akin  in  family  appear  removed  as  far  asunder 
as  possible  (Kohathites  in  Judah  and  Simeon,  but 
also  in  Ephraim  and  West  Manasseh  ;  Meraritea 
in  Hi  liken  and  Gad,  but  also  in  Zebulun,  etc.). 
It  is  as  if  this  tribe,  provided  it  remained  at  the 


92 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


height  of  its  destiny,  and  the  consciousness  of 
God's  people  clung  to  it,  should  represent  the 
strong  sinews  and  muscles  running  through  the 
body  of  the  people,  which  bind  the  members  into 
a  living  and  moving  whole"  (Hoffmann,  Blicke  in 
die  friiheste  Geschichte  des  yelobteu  La/ides,  p. 
99  f.). 

2.  Prominent  in  this  arrangement,  with  regard 
to  the  history  of  grace,  is  the  passing  over  of  two 
tribes  in  silence.  That  Dan  is  only  indicated, 
not  named,  in  vii.  12.  can  only  be  conceived  as  a 
critical  judgment  on  this  tribe,  that  early  and 
almost  wholly  fell  into  idolatry  (see  on  the  pas- 
sage, and  comp.  xxvii.  IS  If.,  where  there  is  not 
so  much  an  overpassing  of  the  name  as  a  trans- 
position of  it  to  the  end  of  the  twelve  tribes,  by 
which  the  same  theocratico-critical  judgment  is 
passed  upon  it).  On  the  contrary,  it  may  be 
accidental  that  no  mention  is  made  of  the  tribe 
of  Zebulun  in  giving  the  genealogy  of  the  twelve 
tribes,  though  it  occurs  in  the  enumeration  of  the 
Levitical  cities  (vi.  48,  62).  Yet  a  certain  signi- 
ficance for  tlie  history  of  salvation  cannot  be 
denied  to  this  accidental  omission,  as  it  was 
certainly  tht  relative  smallness  of  the  tribe,  the 
low  number  of  famous  and  populous  families,  that 
occasioned  its  disappearance  from  the  genealogical 
traditions  of  the  later  time.  Yet  this  so  small 
and  obscure  tribe1  it  was  that  included  Nazareth, 
the  dwelling  -  place  of  the  earthly  parents  of 
Jesus.  Zebulun,  with  its  neighbour  Naphtali, 
was,  according  to  prophetic  announcement  (Isa. 
ix.  1;  Ps.  lxviii.  28),  to  prove  to  be  "the  people 
walking  in  darkness,"  the  land  overshadowed 
with  heathen  gloom,  that  was  to  see  the  great 
light  of  salvation  go  forth  from  its  midst.  In 
this  contemporaneous  omission,  then,  of  Dan,  the 
tribe  typically  pointing  to  the  Antichrist,  and  of 
Zebulun,  the  tribe  serving  as  the  earliest  scene  of 
tlie  earthly  living  and  working  of  the  Saviour, 
there  is  in  our  registers  a  certain  significance  for 
the  history  of  salvation,  that  even  if  it  rests  upon 
accident,  points  to  a  higher  guidance  and  a  provi- 
dential arrangement. 

3.  The  investigator  of  all  that  is  significant  for 
the  history  of  salvation  and  the  defence  of  the 
truth,  will  take  no  less  interest  in  the  many 
historical  and  archaeological  notices  that  are  inter- 
woven in  the  genealogical  text.  With  their  now- 
scanty,  now  copious,  contributions  to  the  special 
history  of  the  tribe,  their  details,  often  truly  sur- 
prising by  the  epic  grandeur  and  dramatic  life  of 
the  narrative  (to  which  belong,  in  particular,  the 
records  of  the  conquests  of  the  Simeonites,  the 
successful  raids  of  the.  three  trans-jordanic  tribes 
against  the  north  Arabian  Beduin,  and  the  slay- 
ing of  the  two  sons  of  Epliraim,  Ezer  and  Elud, 
by  the  primeval  inhabitants  of  Gath),  their  highly 
ancient  colouring  both  in  style  and  deed,  which 
prompts  us  almost  to  generalize  the  remark  once 
added  by  the  author:  "these  are  ancient  things," 
and  apply  it  to  the  whole  of  these  accounts,2  these 
notices  delight  us  as  petrifactions  from  the  grey 

1  That  Zebulun,  in  the  limes  of  Moses,  and  even  David. 
Bent  into  the  field  an  army  of  50.000  men  (see  xii.  33).  is  not 
in  contradiction  with  its  insignificance  ill  the  later  times  be- 
fore and  after  the  exile,  and  is  historically  quite  conceivable. 

2  Thus  J.  Kiiist  (flwcA  der  tilil.  Lit.  i  p.  3181  conjec- 
tures that  the  raid  of  E'ad  arid  Ezer,  the  sons  of  Ephraim, 
against  (i:ith,  narrated  vii.  21.  is  probably  taken  fro n  ''the 
old  accounts  (Q'pTIJ?  D'IST)  mentioned,  iv.  22,  which 
Hie  Chionist  had  before  him,"  but  without  adducing  any 
lii«ct  proof  for  it. 


foretime  imbedded  in  the  strata  of  genealogical 
series  ;  they  resemble  scattered  gems  or  medals  of 
antique  stamp  shining  through  the  rubbish  of 
ages,  that  give  us  accounts  of  otherwise  unknown 
events  of  theocratic  history,  and  open  to  us  per- 
spective views  into  remote  epochs  of  the  develop- 
ment of  God's  people,  on  which  the  dtrkness  of 
absolute  oblivion  would  otherwise  have  rested. 
From  each  of  these,  now  shorter,  now  longer, 
documents  concerning  the  older  and  oldest  his- 
tory of  the  tribe,  goes  forth  the  testimony  of  an 
unusually  rich  and  many-sided  individual  impress 
of  tlie  Israelitish  spirit,  reminding  us  almost  of 
the  German  nation  in  the  multiplicity  of  its  tribes, 
of  a  fresh  but  rude  native  power  as  a  heritage 
more  or  less  proper  to  each  of  the  twelve  tribes, 
and  to  each  in  peculiar  modification,  and  thereby 
of  a  divine  providence  guiding  and  governing  the 
life  of  the  several  tribes  and  of  the  whole  nation 
with  uninterrupted  fatherly  love  as  well  as  judi- 
cial integrity. 

4.  Of  pre-eminent  importance  is  finally  the 
appearance,  more  or  less  (dear  in  every  tribe,  of 
a  preponderating  repute  and  influence  of  one 
family  over  the  rest.  In  the  tribe  of  Judah,  it 
is  the  family  of  Hezron  the  son  of  Perez,  and 
grandson  of  Judah,  that  by  its  growth  and 
power  casts  all  the  rest  into  the  shade.  In  the 
tribe  of  Levi,  the  Kohathites  predominate;  in 
that  of  Benjamin,  it  is  the  house  of  Jeuel,  or 
Abi-gibeon,  the  ancestor  of  Saul  (viii.  29,  ix. 
35  11'.),  that,  obscuring  all  the  rest,  rises  to 
kingly  worth  and  power,  and  even  in  its  late] 
offshoots,  especially  the  sons  of  Azel  and  the 
bold  archers  of  Ulam  (viii.  38-40),  remains  great 
and  renowned.  Among  the  Simeonites,  Shimei, 
the  descendant  of  Shan],  the  last  of  the  five  sons 
of  Simeon,  becomes  the  ancestor  of  the  most 
flourishing  family  (iv.  26  f.).  Among  the  Reu- 
benites,  the  family  of  Joel  is  conspicuous  (v.  4  f., 
8  f . );  among  the  Gadites,  that  of  Buz  (v.  14); 
among  the  Manassites,  that  of  Machir  the  father 
of  Gilead  (vii.  14  ff. );  among  the  Ephraimites, 
that  of  Resheph  the  ancestor  of  Joshua  (vii.  25) ; 
among  the  sons  of  Issaehar,  that  of  Izrahiah  the 
son  of  Uzzi,  the  son  of  Tolah  (vii.  3) ;  among  the 
sons  of  Asher,  that  of  Heber  the  son  of  Beriah 
(vii.  32  ff. ).  It  13  obvious  enough  to  explain  this 
remarkable  phenomenon  naturally,  and  regard  it 
as  preservation  and  completion  of  the  strong 
families  in  "the  struggle  for  existence,"  or,  if 
you  will,  as  natural  training.  The  statement  of 
Palgrave,  the  English  traveller,  regarding  the 
division  of  all  the  Arab  tribes  into  two  kinds  of 
families,  the  townsmen  or  peasants,  and  the 
nomads  or  beduin,  of  which  the  former  are  the 
stronger  and  more  developed,  the  latter  the 
weaker,  though  patriarchally  the  more  simply 
constituted,  and  therefore  better  fitted  for  hand- 
ing down  faithfully  their  genealogical  recollec- 
tions, should  perhaps  be  regarded  as  pointing  to 
a  partial  explanation  of  the  present  interesting 
phenomenon.'       Neither    of    these    two    purely 

]  Palgrave,  Central  Arabia,  1.  p.  35:  ''Ara't  nationality 
is  and  always  has  heen  based  on  the  divisions  of  families 
aid  clans  These  clans  were  soon  by  the  nature  of  the  l*nd 
itself  divided  each  and  every  one  into  two  branches,  corre- 
lative indeed,  but  of  unequal  size  and  importance.  The 
greater  section  remained  as  townsmen  or  peasants  in  the 
districts  best  susceptible  of  culture  and  permanent  occupa- 
tion, where  they  still  kept  up  much  of  their  original  clannish 
denominations  and  forms,  though  often  blended,  and  oven 
at  times  obliterated,  by  tlie  fusion  inseparable  from  civil 
and    social   organization.      The   ether   and    lesser   portion 


CHAP.  X. 


93 


natural  attempts  at  explanation  can  he  called 
satisfactory.  The  last  and  deepest  ground  of 
the  rise  of  one  family  or  tribe  to  a  physically, 
ethically,  or  intellectually  distinguished  pre- 
eminence, and  to  :ni  illustrious  name,  obscuring 
kindred  tribes  or  families,  is  the  secret  of  the 
divine  election,  that,  without  respect  to  character 
or  conduct,  raises  and  glorifies  the  one  people  or 
family,  and  leaves  the  other  to  lowness  and  obli- 
vion, according  to  the  words,  "JaeoD  have  I 
loved,  but  Esau  have  I  hated;"  and,  "1  will 
have  mercy  on  whom  I  will  have  mercy,  and  I 
will  have  compassion  on  whom  I  will  have  com- 
passion" (Rom.  ix.  13,  15;  Mai.  i.  2  f .  ;  Ex. 
xxxiii.  19).  As  in  the  life  of  nations,  so  is  this 
elective  grace  visible  in  the  development  of  single 
tribes,  clans,  and  families,  and  often  in  a  way 
that  directly  contradicts  the  normal  mode  of 
growth  and  self-development,  especially  the  law 

devoted  themselves  to  a  pastoral  life.  They,  too,  retained 
their  origini*]  clannish  ami  family  demai  cations,  bu'  un- 
softened  by  civilization,  and  unblended  by  the  links  ol  close- 
drawn  society;  so  that  in  this  point  they  have  continued  to 
be  the  faithful  depositaries  of  primeval  .Ar.ib  tradition,  and 
ennsritute  a  sort  of  standard  rule  for  th»*  whole  nation 
Hence,  when  genealogical  doubts  and"  questions  ot  descent 
arise,  as  they  often  do  anion u  the  rixe-i  inhabitants,  recourse 
is  ofren  had  to  the  neighbouring  beduins  for  a  decision 
unattainable  in  the  complicated  records  of  the  town  liic." 
Wellhaus-en  (De  gentibus  etfamiliis  Jud.,  etc..  p.  24  f.),  setting 
out  from  the  mainly  correct  presupposition,  that  these  obser- 
vations of  Palgrave  on  the  Arabs  apply  mutatis  mutandis  to 
the  tribes  of  ancient  Israel,  has  desciibed  the  family  of 
Caleb  (ii.  18  ff..  4_'  ff.)  as  an  example  of  a  Jewish  family 
dwelling  in   towns  and  tilling  the   ground,   and  therefore 


6f  the  prevalence  of  the  strong  over  the  weak  in 
"the  struggle  for  existence,"  and  lather  proceeds 
according  to  the  Pauline  saying  :  "God  hath  chosen 
the  weak  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the 
things  which  are  mighty;  and  base  things  of  the 
world,  and  things  which  ar«-  despised,  h  th  God 
chosen,  and  things  which  are  not,  to  bring  to 
nought  things  that  are,  that  no  flesh  should  glory 
in  His  presence"  (1  Cor.  i.  27-29).  Above  all, 
in  the  development  of  the  forefathers  of  *  hiist, 
before  David  as  well  as  after,  in  the  times  of  the 
rise  as  in  those  of  the  decline,  this  election  by 
grace  has  repeatedly  asserted  itself,  and  operated 
as  the  pre  per  principle  and  inmost  motive  of  that 
blessed  historical  process,  embracing  many  thou- 
sands of  years,  which,  as  the  divine  education  of 
the  human  race,  is  the  counterpart  of  all  natural 
training,  and  the  ideal  archetype  of  all  human 
education. 

widely  spread,  but  certainly  difficult  to  reduce  to  a  genea- 
logy:  and,  on  the  contrary,  that  of  his  brother  Jerahmeei, 
ii.  25-41,  a.s  an  example  of  a  n-mart  family,  remaining  cer- 
tainly smaller  and  less  renowned-  but  also  provided  with  far 
more  precise  and  correct  genealogical  recollections  Etenim 
cam  "•■!)  factum  est,  he  thinks,  with  reference  to  ii.  'J5-41, 
quod  nusquam  txcultior  invenitur  artievtatio  corporis  ethno- 
' ■-/'■  i  quatn  >ii  i/'l  Jet  achmee  em  fmnw  ut  mo*  itie  tChematt 
genealogico  deptngtndi  res  genWicias  Jluxtt  prirnarie  e  tali 
sod t'ate  ova  magnse  famUix  erat  simtJior  quam  artifieiota 
at  contorts  structut  x  civi>atis  gme  recti  did  potest  ita  postea 
etiam  ibi  sine  dubio  tnaxime  tigvit.  ubi  antiqua  pab  iarcharum 
fidehus  urvabatur  vitse  consuetudo,  sic  quidem  <-t  sanguinis 
vis  jungens  et  dii  nm  ru  eetet  it  omnibus  catuCi,  quibus  homines 
solent  conciliari  et  nbalienari.  aut  revtra  prsBvetferet  out  cert* 
secundum  comdentiam  popuiarem  prmvaiere  Judical  etur,  etc 


§  2.  HISTORY  OF  THE  KINGS  IX  JERUSALEM  FROM  DAVID  TO  THE 
EXILE. — 1  Chron.  x.-2  Chron.  xxxvi. 

1.  DAVID.— 1  Chron.  x.-xxix. 

a.  Intkodoction  :  Fall  of  the  House  of  Saul. — Ch.  x. 


Ch.  X.   1.  And   the  Philistines  fought  against  Israel;  and  the  men  of  Israel  fled 

2  before  the  Philistines,  and  fell  down  slain  in  Mount  Gilboa.  And  the  Philis- 
tines pursued  Saul  and  his  sons  ;  and  the  Philistines  smote  Jonathan  and 

3  Abinadab  and  Malchi-shua,  sons  of  Saul.     And  the  battle  went  sore  against 

4  Saul,  and  the  archers  found  him,  and  he  trembled  for  the  archers.  And  Saul 
said  to  his  armour-bearer,  Draw  thy  sword  and  thrust  me  through  therewith, 
lest  these  un  circumcised  come1  and  insult  me;  but  his  armour-bearer  would 
not ;  for  he  was  sore  afraid  :  and  Saul  took  the  sword  and  fell  upon  it.  And 
his  armour-bearer  saw  that  Saul  was  dead,  and  he  also  fell  on  the  sword  and 
died.  And  Saul  died,  and  his  three  sons,  and  all  Ids  house  died  together. 
And  all  the  men  of  Israel  that  were  in  the  valley  saw  that  they  fled,  and 
that  Saul  and  his  sons  were  dead  ;  and  they  forsook  their  cities  and  fled,  and 
the  Philistines  came  and  dwelt  in  them. 

8  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  morrow  that  the  Philistines  came  to  strip  the  slain, 

9  and  they  found  Saul  and  his  sons  fallen  in  Mount  Gilboa.  And  they  stripped 
him,  and  took  his  head  and  his  armour,  and  sent  into  the  land  of  the  Philistines 

10  around,  to  bear  tidings  to  their  idols  and  to  the  people.     And  they  put  his 

armour  in  the  house  of  their  god,  and  fastened  his  skull  in  the  house  of  Dagon. 

11,  12  And  all  Jabesh-gilead  heard  all  that  the  Philistines  had  done  to  Saul.     And 

all  the  valiant   men  arose,  and  took  the  body  of  Saul  and  the   bodies  of  his 


94 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


sons,  and  bnmght  them  to  Jabesh,  and  buried  their  bones  under  the  oak  in 
Jabesh,  and  fasted  seven  days. 

13  And  Saul  died  for  his  transgression  which  he  committed  against  the  Lord. 
for  the  word  of  the  Lord  which  he  kept  not,  and  also  for  asking  a  necromancer 

14  to  inquire.2     And  inquired  not  of  the  Lord  ;  and  He  slew  him,  and  turned  the 
kingdom  to  David  the  son  of  Jesse. 


i  Keihib:  my-       Keri:  Wny- 

2  After   C1"H7  the  Sept.  gives  the  superfluous  addition:  xct)  kttxpivct™  ctiiTu  Soiu 


■>,\  o  Tp6?v,-m.     Comp.  Sir.  xlvi.  20 


EXEGETICAL. 

Preliminary  Remark. — This  account  of  the 
downfall  of  Saul  anrl  his  house  agrees,  except  in 
subordinate  details,  literally  with  1  Sara.  xxxi. 
1-13  ;  only  the  vers.  13,  14  are  an  addition  of 
the  Chronist,  designed  to  mark  the  history  of  the 
fall  of  Saul's  family  as  the  transition  to  the  fol- 
lowing history  of  David,  that  forms  the  proper 
centre  of  the  whole  work  of  our  historian.  For 
to  this  history  of  David  points  all  that  precedes, 
the  whole  of  the  genealogies  in  the  first  nine 
chapters,  with  their  emphatic  elevation  of  the 
tribe  of  Jndah.  And  if  these  genealogies  are  so 
disposed  that  they  close  with  the  register  of  the 
Benjamite  house  of  Saul,  this  serves  to  prepare 
for  the  contents  of  our  chapter,  which  on  it,^  put  is 
preparatory  to  the  following  special  history  of  the 
reign  of  David,  the  ancestor  and  founder  of  the 
legitimate  line  of  kings. 

1.  Saul's  Defeat  and  Death  in  the  Battle  with 
the  Philistines  on  Mount  Gilhoa  :  vers.  1-12 
(comp.  1  Sam.  xxxi.  1-12). — Ami  t/ie  men  of 
Israel  fled  before  the  Philistines.  The  fuller 
statement  of  the  books  of  Samuel  (1  Sam.  xxix, 
1 ;  com]),  xxviii.  4)  shows  that  this  flight  of  the 
defeated  Israelites  was  directed  from  tit-  plain  of 
Jezreel,  as  the  proper  field  of  battle,  to  Mount 
Grilboa,  their  former  post. — Ver.  2.  And  the 
Philistines  pursuer!  Saul  and  his  sons;  properly. 
"clung  to  Saul,"  a  fit  expression  for  the  incessant 
and  vehement  pursuit  (Sept. :  rovi-rrouri  r«  1'a^X: 
Luth. :  "hingen  sich  an  Saul").  The  abridged 
form  *p3"V|,  for  Ip'ai'V  as  in  1  Sam.   xiv.   '22, 

xxxi.  2.  On  Jonathan.  Abinadab,  and  Malehi- 
shua,  see  ch.  viii.  33. — Ver.  3.  And  the  arelurs 
found  him,  overtook  him  (as  ver.  S  ;  comp.  1  Sam. 

xxx.  11). — And  he  trembled  for  the  arelurs.    Spl'l. 

fut.    apoc.    Kal   of  p^n,   torqueri,   tremere  ;   so 

1  Sam.  xxxi.  3  ;  comp.  jsnni.  Ps.  xcvii.  4.     The 

present  terror  of  Saul  corresponds  with  that  in 
1  Sam.  xxviii.  5.  It  is  unnecessary  here  to 
prefer  the  reading  of  the  Sept. :  *ai  Wiivtvi*  ccra  tuv 

t«£<kv  (iT«vs<r£v,  perhaps  resting  on  a  7f"l'l.  from 
r6n,  "»»!"»),  and  so  render  (with  Kamph.),  "and 

he  was  pressed  by  the  archers."  For  the  irpxu- 
ft&rlirt*!,  "  he  was  wounded,"  of  the  Sept.  in  the 
parallel  1  Sam.  xxxi.  3,  comp.  Berth,  and 
Willli. ,  Text  der  Biicher  Sam.  p.  147,  who 
perhaps  unnecessarily  assumes  that  the  Chronist 

may   have   read  ">rn.  "and   he   was   wounded" 

\\iph.  of  jprj)i  an(I  therefore  omitted  "1NO.  which 

did  not  suit  this  verb.  The  omission  of  this 
adverb  is  sufficiently  acce  inted  for  by  the  abbre- 


viating habit  of  the  author,  on  which  also  the 
omission  of  the  pleonastic   D^'JX  after  Q'nian 

(1  Sam.  xxxi.  3)  rests,  as  also  that  of  iqj;  at  the 

close  of  ver.  5,  etc. — Ver.  4.   Lest  these  uncircum- 

need   come   and   insult  me.       Before   '^"^CHJjnm 

(comp.  Jer.  xxxviii.  19;  1  Sam.  vi.  6)  the  parallel 
text  in  Samuel  exhibits  a  <j-ip-pi,   which   perhaps 

■lid  not  originally  stand  in  the  text,  but  seems  to 
be  repeated  by  mistake  from  the  foregoing  imper. 
'"HpTl.  so  that  the  word  is  rightly  omitted  by 

1 1 1 •-  <  hronist :  comp.  Berth,  and  Weill]. — Ver.  6 
.1  ad  all  his  house  died  together.  Again  an  abbre- 
viation for.  "and  his  armour-bearer,  and  all  his 
men  on  that  day  together,"  in  Sam.  xxxi.  The 
design  of  this  abbreviation  was  scar-ely  to  remove 
the  strong  "  exaggeration  "  (YVellh  )  contained  in 

VSMtOa    D3.    on    account    of    which    the    Sept. 

perhaps  left  these   words   untranslated  ;  for  the 

ilV3"731  "f  our  author  contains  a  like  exaggera 

tion,  ns  Saul's  whole  house  did  not  fall  in  this 
battle,  as  the  author  (ix.  35  ft'. )  knew  very  well. 
The  expression  is  general  and  excessive,  as  the 
longer  one  in  1  Sam.  xxxi.  also. — Ver.  7.  And  all 
the  nan  of  Israel  that  were  in  the  eulleu,  or  on 
the  plain.  More  exactly,  1  Sam.  xxxi.,  "the 
men  of  Israel  that  were  beyond  the  valley  and 
beyond  the  Jordan,"  tint  is,  that  dwelt  west  and 
east  of  Mount  Oilboa.  That  our  writer  had  a 
defective  text  (Thenius)  is  not  to  be  assumed  : 
rather  the  same  process  of  abbreviation  is  f/und 
here,   as  immediately  after,   where  the  req  dred 

subject  ^Xlb"'  'l'jX  is  omitted  after  icj  *3- — 

Ver.  9.  Anrl  they  stripped  him.  and  took  his  head 
and  Ids  armour.  Instead  of  this,  1  Sam.  xxxi.  9 
has,  "  and  they  cut  off  his  head  and  stripped  ofl 
his  armour."  The  beheading,  understood  of  itself 
(comp.  Goliath,  1  Sam.  xvii.  54),  our  author  leaves 
unmentioned. — And  sent  into  the  land  of  the 
Philistines  around,  namely,  these  trophies,  Saul's 
head  and  armour  (comp.  Judg.  xix.  29  1'.).  Ac- 
cordingly, the  Sept.  in  1  Samuel  has  translated  r.a.1 
uToeri\\ovi;iv  olItci,  where  perhaps  "messengers*1 
(D'l'V-  D'-iCOD)    is  to   be  supplied  ;  see  Then. 

and  Vellh.  —  To  their  idols  and  to  the  people. 
For  D,T2VimX  (where  J-|JC=with,   before),    the 

text  in  Samuel  has  'vy  JV3,   "  in   the   house  of 

their  idols, "a  reading  not  confirmed  by  the  Sept., 
which  seems  to  owe  its  origin  to  the   following 

verse  {rjn,nt?N"n,3)' — Ver.  10.  And  then  put  his 

armour  in   tin    house  of  their  god  :   according  to 


CHAP.  XI.  1-9. 


95 


1  Saiii.  xxxi.  10,  in  tlie  temple  of  Astute.  Foi 
the  Ashtaroth,  the  same  deity  as  the  "queen  of 
heaven"  of  the  Canaanites,  .ler.  vii.  18 ff.,  or  the 
Alilat  of  the  Aral's,  Herod,  iii.  8  (perhaps  also 
-_ilie  Phenician  mother  of  gods,  Astronoe  ol 
Damascius  [rit.  Isid.  302;  comp.  Dollingcr, 
Judenth.  p.  143],  and  the  Spartan  Venus  hastata 
nictrix  of  Cythera),  was  the  chief  deity  of  the 
Philistines,  that  'a^bSith  oJ;«v.«  whose  ancient 
ami  wealthy  sanctuary  at  Askelon  is  mentioned 
by  Herodotus  i.  108.  We  are  perhaps,  therefore, 
to  understand  this  Astarte  temple  at  Askelon,  as 
the  next  named  temple  of  Dagon,  the  second  chief 
divinity  of  the  Philistines,  will  be  that  mentioned, 
1  Sam.  v.  3rt'.,  at  Ashdod,  which  was  especially 
frequented  in  the  times  of  Saul  (comp.  Vaihinger, 
Art.  "  Philisti  r  "  in  Herzog's  Encycl.  xi.  576  f.). 
That  "their  god"  and  "Dagon"  could  not  be 
opposed,  as  Wellh.  thinks,  is  "too  much  to  assert. 
Rather  was  the  Astarte  of  the  Philistines  a  kind 
of  androgynous  being,  that  formed  with  Baal  a 
syzygy  or  a  supreme  divine  principle,  and  cer- 
tainly one  fundamentally  different  from  the  fish 
god  Dagon  (because  the  latter  was  both  younger 
and  less  esteemed).  Comp.  Bollinger,  p.  397  ff. ; 
Mttller,  Astarte,  a  contribution  to  the  mythology 
of  oriental  antiquity,  Wien  18H1  (in  which  also 
the  Cretan  Europa  [=n3"l,  the  strong]  is  iden- 
tified with  Astarte),  Vaihinger,  as  above. — And 
fastened  his  skull  in  the  house  of  Dagon.  These 
words  are  wanting  in  1  Sam.  xxxi.,  where,  on  the 
contrary  (ver.  10),  is  found  the  following  notice: 
•'  and  they  fastened  his  body  to  the  wall  of  Bi  tli 
shean. "  Here  we  must  choose  between  the  as- 
sumption, that  our  text  arose  from  a  corruption 
of  this  reading  of  Samuel  (Weill).),  and  such 
harmonizing  attempts  as  that  of  Ewald  and 
Thenius,  who  assume  that  originally  after  the 
words,  "  his  skull  in  the  house  of  Dagon,"  stood 
the  following,  "  and  they  fastened  his  body  to  the 
wall  of  Bethshean,"  but  they  fell  out  on  account 

of  the  similarity  of  tffo&j  J-|X1  and  irVU  HN1 ; 
Hi-  that  of  Bertheau,  who  explains  the  omission  of 
the  notice  of  the  fastening  of  the  body  to  the 
wall  of  Bethshean  as  an  intentional  one,  thai 
to  be  judged  in  the  same  way  as  the  other  abbre 
viations  of  our  writer.  The  latter  assumption  is 
the  most  probable,  because  in  ver.  12  there  is  no 
mention  of  fetching  the  body  from  Bethshean. — 
Ver.  11.  And  all  Jabesh-gilead:  1  Sam.  xxxi.: 
"and  the  inhabitants  of  Jalri  sh-gilead.  '  Accord- 
ing to  Berth.,  the  *2"~"  before  'j'2'  i  amc  into  the 


text  on  account  of  the  plur.  !U»'VJ"1  :  bu'  lier< 
again  the  easier  supposition  is  that  the  Clironist 
has  abbreviated  the  tex    <<i  Samui  I      Besides,  it 

« as  gratitude  for  the  deliverance  wrought  lot  them 

by  Saul  (1  Sam.  xi.  >  that   moved   ih.  i  ' 

Jabesh  to  this  pious  care  for  his  burial.  —  Ver.  12. 
Ami    tool    tin'    linilii    of   Soul.        nguj    i.   a    later 

phrase,  usual  in  Aramaic,  occurring  only  here  in 
the  0.  T.  for  the  rMJ  of  Samuel.     Wiener  tl,, 

body  was  fetched,  and  what  was  done  with  it  (for 
example,  its  incremation,  1  Sam.  xnxL  12),  oil! 
author,  true  to  his  abbreviating  habit,  omits. 

2.  Closing  Reflection  on  the  Fall  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Saul:  vers.   13,   14.  —  And  Soul  died  for  hi* 

transgression.  Wherein  this  transgression  isj,"; 
unfaithfulness,  apostasy;  comp.  v.  25,  ix.  1  :  L  v 
v.  5)  consisted,  is  added — 1.  In  not  following  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  that  is,  His  command  to  destroy 
Amalek  (1  Sam.  xv.  11;  comp.  xxviii.  1-  ;  2.  In 
inquiring  of  the  necromancer. — For  the  nurd  of 
'In  Lord  which  he  kept  not.  Besides  1  Sam.  xv., 
we  are  to  understand  here,  also,  that  earlii  r  case 
of  disobedience  in  1  Sam.  x.  8,  x  ii.  13,  mil  also 
1  Sam.  xxii.  18  f. — And  also  for  asking  thi  m  cm- 
mancer  to  inquire,  to  seek  an  oracle,  a  revelation  ; 
comp.  1  Sam.  xxviii.  7,  where  "J""n  is  used  in  the 
same  pregnant  sense.  On  the  quite  superfluous 
gloss  of  the  Sept.,  comp.  Crit.  Note. — Ver.  14. 
A  ml  inquired  not  of  the  Lord,  sought  not  informa- 
tion. This  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  fact  that, 
1  Sam.  xiv.  37,  xxvi.  6,  Saul  had  inquired  of  the 
Lord,  but  without  effect  (because  the  Lord  had 
departed  from  him,  xxviii.  15).  It  rests  rathe] 
on  the  certainly  correct  and  historical  presupposi- 
tion, that  Saul  had  neglected  to  seek  the  favour  ol 
Jehovah  with  the  proper  zeal,  and  then  inquire 
of  Him.  Comp.  Starke  :  "  he  sought  Jehovah  not 
uprightly  and  in  due  order,  and  put  not  his  trust 
in  the  Lord,  in  the  order  of  true  repentance  ; — 
he  did  not  continue  his  inquiry  of  the  Lord, 
when  God  refused  him  an  answer  on  account  of 
his  sins,  to  the  confession  and  entreaty  for  pardon 
of  which  he  had  not  brought  himself,  but  betook 
himself  forthwith  to  the  soothsayer." — Ami  He 
si  w  him  (in  the  battle,  after  Samuel's  spirit  had 
announced  to  him  his  doom,  1  Sain,  xxviii.  19), 
and  turned  the  kingdom  to  David.  On  3D'V 
comp.  xii.  23;  2  Sam.  xiii.  12.  On  the  signifi- 
cance of  tire  present  small  section  for  the  history 
of  salvation,  comp.  the  evangelical  and  ethical 
reflections  on  eh.  x.-xxxix.,  No.  1. 


h.  David's  Elevation'  to  the  Kingdom;  Fixing  of  his  Residence  at  Jerusalem;  Wars 
am)  Numbering  of  the  1  'i  <  n.i.-i'n.  xi.-xxi. 


a.    Tin  Anointing  of  David  in  Hebron,  and  his  Itemoval  thence  to  Jerusalem:  eh.  xi.  1-9. 

VlT.  XI.  1.  And  all  Israel  gathered  to  David  unto  Hebron,  saying.  Behold,  we  are  fnv 

2  hone  and  thy  flesh.  Also  heretofore,  even  when  Saul  was  king,  thou  wast  he 
that  led  Israel  out  and  in  :  and  the  LORD  thy  God  said  unto  thee.  Thou  shall 

3  feed  my  people  Israel,  and  thou  shalt  be  prince  over  my  people  Israel.  And 
all  the  elders  of  Israel  came  to  the  king  to  Hebron  :  and  David  made  a  i  o\  e 
nant  with  them  in  Hebron  before  the  LORD,  and  they  anointed  David  over 
Israel,  according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord  by  Samuel. 

*         And   David  went   and  all  Israel  to  Jerusalem,  that  is,  Jehus  ;  and  there 


96  I.  CHRONICLES. 


5  the  Jebusites  were  the  inhabitants  of  the  land.    And  the  inhabitants  of  Jebus 
said  to  David,  Thou  shalt  not  come  hither ;  and  David  took  the  castle  of 

G  Zion  :  this  is  the  city  of  David.     And  David  said,  Whosoever  smiteth  the 
Jebusites  first  shall  be  chief  and  captain  ;  and  Joab  the  son  of  Zeruiah  went 

7  up  first,  and  became  chief.     And  David  dwelt  in  the  castle  ;  therefore  they 

8  called  it  the  city  of  David.     And  he  built  the  city  around,  from  Millo  to  the 

6  circuit ;  and  Joab  repaired  the  rest  of  the  city.     And  David  became  greater 
and  greater ;  and  Jehovah  Zebaoth  was  with  him. 

/3.  List  i if  David's  Hemes:  ch.  xi.  10-47. 

10  And  these  are  the  chiefs  of  the  heroes  of  David,  who  held  fast  to  him  in 
his  kingdom,  with  all  Israel,  to  make  him  king,  by  the  word  of  the  Lord  con- 

1 1  cerning  Israel.  And  this  is  the  number  of  the  heroes  of  David  :  Jashobam 
son  of  Hachmoni,  the  chief  of  the  thirty;1  he  lifted  his  spear  against  three 

12  hundred   slain   at   one    time.       And  after  him  Eleazar  son   of  Dodo2   the 

13  Ahohite  ;  he  was  among  the  three  heroes.  He  was  with  David  at  Pas-dam- 
mim,  and  the  Philistines  were  gathered  there  for  battle,5  and  there  was  a 
plot  of  ground  full   of  barley ;  and  the  people  fled  before  the  Philistines. 

14  And  they  stood  in  the  midst  of  the  plot,  and  defended  it,  and  smote  the 
Philistines ;  and  the  Lord  granted  them  a  great  salvation. 

15  And  three  of  the  thirty  chiefs  went  down  the  rock  to  David,  to  the  cave 
of  Adullam  ;  and  the  camp  of  the  Philistines  was  in  the  valley  of  Rephaim. 

16  And  David  was  then  in  the  hold,  and  a  po?t  of  the  Philistines  was  then  at 

17  Bethlehem.     And   David  longed,  and  said,  Who  will  give  me  drink  of  the 

18  water  of  the  well  of  Bethlehem,  that  is  at  the  gate!  And  the  three  brake 
through  thu  camp  of  the  Philistines,  and  drew  water  out  of  the  well  of  Beth- 
lehem, at  the  gate,  and  took  and  brought  it  to  David  ;  but  David  would  not 

19  drink  it,  but  poured  it  out  to  the  Lord.  And  said,  My  God,  forbid  it  me 
that  I  should  do  this  thing  ;  shall  I  drink  the  blood  of  these  men  at  the  risk 
of  their  lives?  for  at  the  risk  of  their  lives  they  brought  it:  and  he  would  not 
drink  it ;  these  things  did  the  three  heroes. 

20  And  Abshai,  Joab's  brother,  he  was  chief  of  the  three;  and  he  lifted  up 
his  spear  against  three  hundred  slain,  and  had4  a  name  among  the  three. 

21  Above  the  three  he  was  honoured  among  the  two,  and  was  their  captain ;  but 

22  he  attained  not  to  the  three.  Benaiah  the  son  of  Jehoiada,  son  of  Ish-hail, 
great  in  deeds,  from  Kabzeel ;  he  smote  two  [sons]  of  Ariel  of  Moab,  and  he 

23  went  down  and  smote  a  lion  in  a  pit  in  a  snowy  day.  And  he  smote  the 
Egyptian,  a  man  of  stature,5  of  five  cubits;  and  in  the  hand  of  the  Egyptian 
was  a  spear  like  a  weaver's  beam,  ami  he  went  down  to  him  with  a  staff,  and 
plucked  the  spear  from  the  Egyptian's  hand,  and   slew  him  with  his  own 

24  spear.     These  things  did  Benaiah  the  son  of  Jehoiada,  and  had  a  name  among 

25  the  three  heroes.  Before  the  thirty,  behold,  he  was  honoured;  but  he  attained 
not  to  the  three  ;  and  David  set  him  over  his  guard. 

26  And  the  heroes  of  war  were  Asahel  the  brother  of  Joab,  Elhanan  the  son 
27,  28  of  Dodo  of  Bethlehem.     Shammoth  the  Harorite,"  Helez  the  Pelonite.     Ira 

29  the  son  of  Ikkesh  the  Tekoite,  Abiezer  the  Antothite.     Sibbechai  the  Husha- 

30  thite,  Ilai  the  Ahohite.     Maharai  the  Netophathite,  Heled  the  son  of  Baanah 

31  the  Netophathite.      Ithai  the  son  of  Ribai  of  Gibeah,  of  the  sous  of  Benjamin, 

32  Benaiah    the   Pirathonite.       Hurai   of    Nahale-gaash,    Abiel    the   Arbathite. 
3  3  34  Aztnaveth  the  Baharumite,  Eliahba  the  Shaalbonite.     The  sons  of  Hashem 

35  the  Gizonite,  Jonathan  the  son  of  Shageh  the  Hararite.     Ahiam  the  son  of 

36  Sacar  the  Hararite,  Eliphal  the  son  of  Ur.     Hepher  the  Mecherathite,  Ahijah 
37,  38  the  Pelonite.      Hezro  the  Carmelite,   Naarai  the  son  of  Ezbai.      Joel   the 

39  brother  of  Nathan,  Mibhar  the  son  of  Hagri.     Zelek  the  Ammonite,  Naharai 

40  the  Berothite,  the  armour-bearer  of  Joab  the  son  of  Zeruiah.     Ira  the  Ithrite, 
41,  42  Gareb  the  Ithrite.     Uriah  the  Hittite,  Zabad  the  son  of  Ahlai.     Adina  the 

son  of  Shiza  the  Reubenite,  a  chief  of  the  Reubenites,  and  thirty  with  him.' 


CHAP.  XI.   1-1. 


tu,  44  Hanan  the   son  of  Maachah,   and    Joshaphat   the    ivlithnite.      Uzziah   the 

45  Ashterathite,  Sharaa  and  Jeiel  the  sons  of  Hothan  the  Aroerite.      Jediaci 

46  the  son  of  Shiinri,  and  Joha  his  brother,  the  Tizite.     Eliel  the  Mahavim,8  and 

47  Jeribai  and  Joshaviah  the  sons  of  Elnaam,  and  Ithmah  the  Moabite.     Eliel, 
and  Obed.  and  Jasiel  of  Hammezobaiah.9 

:  For  the  Keri  D,C";>ti>n,  the  KeMb  DVPtS'n  is  to  be  retained ;  comp.  vera.  15,  25,  xii.  4,  18,  xxvii.  6. 
»  For  ilil~|3  the  Sept.  seems  to  have  read  'IITJS ;  comp.  xxvii.  4. 

*  For  the  not  unimportant  eap  here,  see  Exeg.  Expl. 

«  For  N?1  Is  to  be  read  PI,  one  of  the  fifteen  cases  in  which  this  form  occurs  in  the  Masoretic  text,  as  Ex.  xxl.  10 
Isa.  lxiit.  9.  etc. 

8  For  rnD  must  apparently  be  read,  with  the  Sept.  (.a.vo'pa.  opa.ro*),   H!OD- 

6  Instead  of  •"rili'lil  read,  2  Sam.  xxiii.  25,  'linn,  and,  as  there,  supply  '"I'lnn  Np  vS-  For  the  furthei 
conjectural  corruption  of  the  text  till  ver.  41,  comp.  Exetr.  Expl 

'  The  Sept.  and  VuIr  appear  to  have  read  D^tlPCTI  lPl'V  like  the  Masoretic  text,  but  the  Syr.  D'UvBVl  7J? ; 
for  it  renders  thus:  "  and  even  he  (Adina)  was  a  prince  over  thirty  heroes." 

•  For  Dnn?3n  the  Sept.  gives  o  M«W,  the  Vulg.  Mahumittt.    The  corruption  of  the  name,  under  which,  perhaps, 

'^injSn  is  concealed,  seen  s  indubitable. 

9  n»3VSn  is  at  all  events  corrupt.    Sept.  i  Mrw.,3.'*,  Vulg.  dt  Uasobia;  comp.  Exeg.  Expl. 


EXEGET1CAL. 

Preliminary  Remark. — In  the  history  of 
Da%-id,  the  author  dwells  chiefly  on  the  bright 
and  prosperous  side  of  the  Davidie  kingdom  ;  the 
troubles  and  disorders  of  his  glorious  career, 
occasioned  by  misfortune  and  his  own  guilt,  lie 
passes  over  as  much  as  possible  (comp.  Introd. 
S  4,  p.  11).  Hence  the  mention  of  his  anointing  at 
Hebron,  vers.  1-3,  and  yet  the  entire  omission  of 
the  rival  kingdom  of  Ishbosheth  at  Mahanaim, 
to  which  there  is  not  even  an  indirect  all.ision  in 
stating  the  seven  years'  duration  of  David's  resi- 
dence at  Hebron.  An  account  of  the  taking  of 
Jerusalem,  and  the  valour  of  Joab  therein  dis- 
played, vers.  4-9,  is  then  followed  by  a  list  of 
the  other  famous  warriors  of  David,  vers.  10-47, 
wherein  again  a  shadow  in  the  bright  picture, 
the  unprincipled  and  barbarous  conduct  of  Joab 
(the  murderer  of  Aimer,  Uriah,  Absalom,  etc.), 
is  passed  over  in  silence.  And  after  this  list,  the 
appendix  in  eh.  xii. ,  containing  the  heroes  de- 
voted to  David  during  the  reign  of  Saul,  and  the 
proceedings  in  his  elevation  to  the  throne  at 
Hebron,  makes  no  reference  to  the  rival  kingdom 
of  Ishbosheth,  though  many  occasions  of  doing  so 
were  presented  :  so  that  it  appears  almost  as  if  the 
statement  in  x.  6,  that  Saul  and  all  his  house 
together  had  fallen  in  the  battle  of  Gilboa,  were 
meant  by  the  author  to  be  literally  true.  But 
besides  the  conscious  tendency  to  glorify  as  much 
as  possible  the  kingdom  of  David,  as  the  proto- 
type of  all  theocratic  excellence,  his  propensity 
to  communicate  long  lists  and  mere  enumerations, 
his  statistical  rather  than  historical  mode  of  re- 
presentation, also  contributes  more  or  less  to  the 
one-sidedness  of  his  narrative.  This  method  leads 
him  to  place  the  list  of  heroes,  which  in  the  books 
of  Samuel  (at  least  in  its  greater  part ;  see  2  Sam. 
xxiii.  S-39)  stands  at  the  end  of  David's  history, 
at  the  very  head  of  it.  Besides,  not  only  this 
list,  of  which  the  closing  verses  only  (41-47) 
are  peculiar  to  Chronicles,  but  also  the  account  of 
the  anointing  at  Hebron,  has  its  parallel  in  the 
books  of  Samuel.  2  Sam.  v.  1-10.  The  agree- 
ment between  the  two  is  tolerably  exact ;  comp. 


vers.  1-3  with  2  Sam.  v.  1-3,  and  vers.  4-9  with 
2  Sam.  v.  6-10.  Yet  the  note  of  the  length  of 
David's  reign,  2  Sam.  v.  4,  5,  is  wanting  in  our 
I  text,  not  from  an  oversight  of  the  Chronist 
(Then.  I,  but  because  he  preferred  to  introduce  it 
at  the  end  of  his  report,  xxix.  27. 

1.  The  Anointing  of  David  at  Hebron:  ver6. 
1-3. — And  all  Israel  gathered  to  David  vnto 
Hebron.  The  phrase  "all  Israel"  (comp.  Ezra 
ii.  70)  includes  the  northern  and  trans-jordanic 

;  tribes  ;  it  is  therefore  not  the  earlier  anointing 
',  of  David  in  Hehron  by  the  tribes  of  Judah  only, 
j  2  Sam.   ii.    4,   which  is  here  reported,  but  that 
|  which  was  performed  after  the  deaths  of  Abner 
I  and  Ishbosheth  by  all  the  tribes  together,  2  Sam. 
i  v.  1  ft".,  to  which  there  is  a  still  fuller  reference 
in  xii.  23  ff. — Behold,  we  are  thy  bone  and  thy 
\  flesh,   thy  relatives  by  tribe   and  blood  ;  comp. 
Gen.  xxix.  14. — Ver.  2.   Aim  heretofore,  literally, 
"yesterday  and  ere  yesterday,"  that  is,   a  long 
time  since  ;  comp.,  besides  2  Sam.  v.  2,  also  Gen. 
xxxi.  2 ;  2  Kings  xiii.  5. — That  led  Israel  out  and 
in,  out  to  the  battle,  and  home  after  the  victory  ; 
com]).  1   Sam.  xviii.  13,  16. — And  the  Lord  thy 
God  said  unto  thee,  by  the  mouth  of  Samuel  the 
prophet ;  comp.  1  Sam.  xvi.  1-3 ;  2  Sam.  iii.  9, 18, 
etc. — Ver.  3.  And  all  the  elders  of  Israel  came,  as 
the  representatives  of  the  people,  to  establish  the 
rights  of  the  kingdom  (1  Sam.  viii.  11,  x.  25)  by 
contract    (by    making    a    covenant    or    elective 
treaty). — According  to  the  word  of  the  Lord  by 
Samuel.       These   words,    wanting   in  the  corre- 
sponding place  in  2  Sam.  v.  3,  appear  to  be  an 
explanatory  addition  of  our  author  ;  for  it  is  not 
probable  that  they  originally  stood  in  the  text  of 

Samuel,  and  fell  out  by  i^onrU.  (^S"lC" — 7WDB0; 
comp.  ver.  10  with  2  Sam.  xxiii.  8  (against 
Then.).  On  the  absence  of  the  date  here  ap- 
pended in  the  parallel  text  2  Sam,  v.  4  f.  as  in- 
tentional on  the  part  of  the  writer,  who  reserves 
it  for  xxix.  27,  comp.  Preliminary  Remark. 

2.  The  Taking  of  Zion,  and  the  Change  of  Re- 
\sidence  to  Jerusalem  :  vers.  4-9.  —  To  Jerusalem, 

!  that  is,  Jebus  ;  and  there  the  ,h  busttes  irere  the 
|  inhabitants  of  the  land.     For  this  circumlocution 

Q 


38 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


2  Sara.  v.  6  gives  more  briefly :  "  to  Jerusalem,  to 
the  Jebusites,  the  inha*  .utnis  of  the  land." 
That  the  latter  reading  has  been  obtained  by  cor- 
ruption of  the  text  from  the  former  (Berth., 
Then.)  it  is  by  no  means  needful  to  assume  ;  the 

D'D'  NTI   after    QX'lT    seems  rather   to   be  an 

addition  of  the  Chronist,  serving  a->  a  transition 
from  "Jerusalem"  to  the  Jebusites,  which  then 
furtber  necessitates  the  insertion  of  the  notice: 
"and  there  the  Jebusites  were"  (properly,  the 
Jebusite  was);  comp.  Wellh.  p.  162  f.  —  Ver.  5. 
And  the  inhabitants  of  Jehus  said  to  David,  Thou 
fhaU  not  comt  hither.  Only  the  close  of  this 
threat,  given  in  full  in  2  Samuel,  is  here  recorded, 
after  the  abbreviating  manner  of  the  author. — 
Ver.  6.  ]Vhosoever  smitetk  the  Jebusites  first. 
Only  these  first  words  of  David's  speech  occur 
in  2  Sam.  v.  S,  where  something  quite  different 
is  given  as  spoken  by  him.  "The  highly  peculiar 
iceount  in  2  Sam.  v.  8,  clearly  resting  on  strictly 
historical  recollection,  is  obviously  the  more 
original  and  exact.  It  may  well  be  conceived 
that  in  other  accounts  of  the  conquest  of  Jehus, 
the  great  captain  of  David,  Joab  (in  like  manner 
js  Othniel,  Judg.  i.  12  ft'.,  in  the  conquest  of 
Kiriath-sepher),  was  mentioned;  and  a  celebrated 
saying  of  David  in  the  siege  was  referred  to  Joab, 
not  from  clear  recollection,  but  from  a  conjecture 
which  might  rest  on  the  account  of  Joab  in  ver. 
8.  Thus  two  different  accounts  of  this  saving 
might  arise  ;  the  simpler,  presenting  apparently 
no  difficulties,  found  its  way  into  Chronicles." 
Such  is  Bertheau's  view,  at  all  events  more 
probable  than  that  of  Then,  on  2  Samuel,  who 
makes  the  Chronist  complete  a  critically  corrupt 
text  on  the  ground  of  tradition  by  conjecture. — 
And  Joab  the  son  of  Zeruiah  (comp.  ii.  16)  went 
up  first  and  becarm  chief.  That  this  "becoming 
chief"  is  only  a  confirmation  of  Joab  in  his  pre- 
vious office  is  shown  by  2  Sam.  ii.  3.  —  Ver.  7. 
And  David  dwelt  in  the  castle.     "TSD,  the  same  as 

miSD  in  ver.  5  ;  comp.  xii.  8, 16. — Therefore  they 

called  it  the  city  of  David.  According  to  2  Sam. 
v.  9,  David  himself  gave  it  this  name  ;  but  the 
one  does  not  exclude  the  other. — Ver.  8.  And  he 
built  the  city  around,  from  Millo  to  the  circuit,  be- 
ginning from  Millo,  and  return ing  to  it  in  a  cir- 
cuit. Somewhat  different  is  2  Sam.  v.  9  : 
"  around  from  Millo  and  inward  :  "  that  is,  from 
the  circumference  to  the  centre.  For  the  fortress 
Millo,  situated  probably  on  the  north-west  corner 
of  Zion,   comp.    Thenius  and   Ba.hr  on  1   Kings 

ix.  11.     The  name  }{i;>D  signifies  filling  ;  that  is, 

probably  not  wall  or  sconce,  but  a  strong  tower 

bastion,  castle)  ;  comp.  frti^s  JY3.  -  Kings,  xii. 

21  and  2  C'hron.  xxxii.  5. — And  Joab  repaired 
the  rest  of  the  city,  properly,  "quickened,  made 
alive  ; "  comp.  n\"l  in  the  same  sense,  Neh.  iii. 
11,  as  the  similar  expression  "heal,"  1  Kings 
i.iii.  30.  On  account  of  the  supposed  trace  of 
ancient  style  contained  in  the  use  of  n'n  for 
nj3,  "  rebuild,  Wellhausen,  p.  164,  declares 
this  addition  peculiar  to  the  Chronist  regarding 
Joab's  co-operation  in  the  building  of  Jerusalem, 
■  specially  its  fortification,  to  be  not  even  histori- 
cally credible.  Cut  that  rrn  in  this  sense 
occurs  only  here  and  in  Nehemiah  docs  not  prove 


the  lateness  of  this  usage  ;  and  the  circumstatio 
that  David's  field-marshal  took  part  in  the  forti- 
fication of  the  capital  is  so  far  from  being  im- 
probable, that  the  statement  seems  a  genuine 
trace  of  ancient  history.  Wherefore  Kennicott's 
emendation,  accepted  by  Thenius,  is  unnecessary 

TJjn  Itlv  iViT  3XVV  "and  Joab  became  governor 
of  the  city." — Ver.  9.  And  David  became  greater 
and  greater.  The  constructic^  "v:*"h  n^>n  is  like 
that  in  Gen.  -iii.  3,  5,  xii.  9,  xxvi.  13,  Judg.  iv. 
24  ;  comp.  Ew.  §  280,  6.  On  /;,  comp.  ix.  20. 
The  general  remat.ks  of  the  verse  prepare  very 
suitably  for  the  tol'owing  list  of  the  numerous 
heroes  of  David. 

3.  List  of  David's  Heroes  :  vers.  10-47  ;  and 
first  of  Jashobam,  Eleazar  (and  Shammah) :  vers. 
10-14. — And  these  are  the  chiefs  of  the  heroes  oj 
David.  By  these  words,  peculiar  to  the  Chronist 
(the  parallel  text  2  Sam.  xxiii.  8  opens  the  list 
merely  with  the  clause;  "and  these  are  the  names 
of  the  heroes  of  David  "),  the  communication  ot 
the  following  list  is  justified,  as  standing  in  rela- 
tion with  David's  elevation  to  the  kingdom  and 
confirmation  in  it.  Hence  the  designate  n : 
"chiefs  of  the  heroes,"  chief  heroes,  heroes  of 
the  first  rank. —  Who  held  fist  t.;,  him  in  his 
kingdom,  who  stood  bravely  by  him  (in  common 
with  him)  during  his  reign,     qj;  p?nnn.    as  in 

Dan.  x.  21. — To  mah  him  king.  Rightly  Keil- 
"lSvDni'  is  not  to  be  limited  to  the  appoint- 
ment to  the  kingdon,  but  includes  also  confirma- 
tion in  it  ;  for  of  the  men  named,  heroic  deeds 
are  mentioned,  which  they  performed  in  the 
wars  which  David  as  king  waged  with  his  foes, 
to  maintain  and  extend  his  sway." — By  the  word 
of  the  Lord  concerning  Israel.  Comp.  on  vers.  2 
and  3  ;  for  the  same  word  of  God  in  and  by 
Samuel  is  meant  here  also,  as  there. — Ver.  11. 
And  this  is  the  number  of  the  heroes  of  David. 
In  2  Sam.  xxiii.  8  :  "  and  these  are  the  names  of 
the  heroes  of  David."     The  term  "I2DO  instead 

of  niOU'   is  n°t  surprising,   especially  after  the 

plur.  n^X-  H  ISDO  be  the  original,  the  ex- 
pression must  mean:  "that  these  heroes  at  first 
formed  a  corps  definite  in  number  (the  thirty)  " 
(Keil).     Moreover,  Bertheau's  conjecture,  -irOC 

for  "I2DO  ("and  this  is  the  choice,  the  ilite,  of 
the  heroes  "),  deserves  all  attention. — Jashobam 
son  of  Backroom,  the  chief  of  the  thirty.  After  the 
perhaps  right  reading  here  is  to  be  cccrected  the 
corrupt  ^conn  rQC'3  3B",  2  Sam  xxiii.  S.  It 
remains  doubtful,  however,  in  this  respect,  '.hat 
Jashobam  in  rxvii.  2  is  called  son  of  Zabdiel,  not 
of  Hachmoni,  and  that  the  mss.  of  the  Sept. 
differ  surprisingly  in  the  vriting  of  the  name, 
inasmuch  as  cod.  Alex,  presents  'ItfiaAu  (or 
'U&nifj.,  xxvii.  2),  but  Vatic,  the  fterf  .ime,  xi.  11. 
'l£,r«/3aSa,  the  second  time,  xxvii.  2,  'IirfinaJ. 
Hence  'Wellhausen  (p.  212)  might  possibly  be 
right  in  his  conjecture,  that  the  true  name 
may  have   been  "  Ishbosheth  the  Hachmonite  " 

OMounn  rvj'au''').  ancl  tliat  tlie  DV2V  °f  ouI 

verse  is  corrupted  from    7l?2"'\  *ne  well-known 

by-form  or  rather  primitive  form  of  the  name 
Ishbosheth.      The    "head    of    the     thirty"    (serf 


CHAP.  XI.   12-20. 


99 


Crit.  Note)  is  given  as  an  epithet  to  .Tashobam  as 
leader  of  the  thirty  heroes  of  second  rank  who 
are  set  down  by  name  in  ver.  26  ti'. — He  lifted  his 
spear  against  three  hundred  slain  at  one  lime. 
The  same  heroic  deed  is  recorded,  ver.  20,  of 
Ahshai  ;  whence  Thenius,  Keil,  and  Wellh., 
starting  from  the  supposition  that  Jashobam  was 
i  greater  hero  than  Ahshai,  wish  to  correct  our 
passage  after  2  Sara,  xxiii.  8,  where  the  number 
of  those  slain  at  once  by  Jashobam  is  set  down 
as  800  (otherwise  Ew.  Gesch.  ii.  p.  603,  who 
defends  the  number  300  for  both  places  ;  while 
Bertheau  gives  no  decision). — Ver.  12.  And  after 
him  Eleazar  son  of  Dodo  the  Ahohite.      Tlinsn 

is  the  correct  reading,  as  appears  from  xxvii.  4, 
not  Tins  |2.    ^    Sam.    xxiii.    9.       Whether  the 

name  inn  is  to  be  changed,  with  the  Sept.  (as  in 
eh.  xxvii.  4),  into  i"lH  appears  less  certain.  —  He 

was  among  the  three  heroes,  among  the  three 
warriors  of  the  first  rank,  Jashobam,  Eleazar,  and 
Shamma,  of  whom  the  name  of  the  third  has 
fallen  out  of  the  middle  of  ver.  13,  as  the 
parallel  2  Sara,  xxiii.  11  shows.  On  the  sur- 
prising but  still  grammatically  admissible  com- 
bination C133"  nB'iPB'3  instead  of  n.^'J" 
'jn  (comp.  v.  19),  see  Berth.,  who  justly  re- 
jects as  unnecessary  the  emendation  of  Thenius: 
m'Bjn  vJ"b"'3.    "  among   the    knights   (Shali- 

shim)  of  the  heroes." — Ver.  13.  He  was  with 
David  at  Pas-dammim,  and  the  Philistines. 
These  words  refer  still  to  Eleazar  ;  see  2  Sam. 
xxiii.  9.  Pas-dammim,  or  Ephes-dammim,  1 
Sam.  xvii.  1,  is  a  place  between  Socho  and 
Azekah,  not  otherwise  known  ;  in  2  Sam.  xxiii. 
the  name  is  wanting,  from  the  great  corruption  of 
the  text,  which  is  otherwise  fuller  than  our  text 
here,  as  it  describes  more  exactly  the  heroic  deed 
of  Eleazar.  It  is  there  said,  vers.  9,  10,  at  the 
close  of  the  sentence  :  "  and  the  Philistines  were 
gathered  there  for  battle:"  "and  the  men  of 
Israel  were  gone  away  (to  the  mountain,  fleeing 
before  the  Philistines);  and  he  stood  and  smote 
the  Philistines,  until  his  hand  was  weary  and 
clave  unto  the  sword  ;  and  the  Lord  wrought  a 
great  victory  that  day  ;  and  the  people  returned 
after  him  only  to  spoil.  And  after  him  wis 
Shammah  the  son  of  Age  the  Hararite  ;  and  the 
Philistines  were  gathered  for  battle,"  etc.  This 
not  inconsiderable  gap  in  our  text,  by  which  that 
which  follows  in  ver.  136  and  ver.  14  seems  to  be 
a  description  of  a  heroic  deed,  not  of  Shammah, 
hut  of  Eleazar,  appears  to  have  been  occasioned 
by  the  eye  of   the   transcriber  wandering   from 

El"  1SDS3  D'DC^Sn,  2  Sam.  xxiii.  9,  to  12DN'1 
D'n'J'^S-  ver-  U- — ^"^  there  teas  a  plot  of 
ground  full  of  barley.  For  barley  (anUT')-  'n 
2  Sam.  xxiii.  11,  the  plot  is  said  to  be  full  of 
lentiles  (D^'ty)  ;  which  is  the  original  reading 

';t  is  hard  to  decide,  but  it  may  be  a  mere  slip  of 
the  pen  (Movers,  Wellh.). — And  they  stood  in  the 
midst  of  the  plot.  More  correctly  2  Sam.  xxiii. : 
"and  he  stood,"  namely,  Shammah.  The  two 
following  verbs  also,  "defended"  and  "smote," 
ire  to  be  changed  into  the  sing.,  as,  according  to 


2  Samuel,  the  one  Shammah  clearly  achieved  the 

su ssful  defence  of  the  plot.     The  three  plurals 

have  come  into  our  text  after  the  lines  referring 
to  Shammah  had  fallen  >ut. 

4.  Continuation.  Thu  Three  Ilc-oes  who  fetched 
Water  to  David  from  Bethlehem  :  vers.  15-19 
(comp.  2  Sam  xxiii.  13-17). — And  three  of  the 
thirty  chiefs  went  down:  three  otlter  than  those 
already  named.  The  thirty  chiefs  or  captains  are 
those  mentioned  ver.  11  and  given  by  name  in 
ver.  26  ff. — The  rock  to  Dav'ui,  to  the  rave  of 
Adullam.  This  cave  must  have  been  either  in 
the  rock  itself  or  in  its  immediate  neighbour- 
hood. On  the  rock  itself,  however,  stood  the 
hold   (miVO)   mentioned  ver.   16.       The  valley 

of  Rephaim  (valley  of  giants.  *»i?.i;  ruv  Tiytiv 
tuw  ;  Joseph.  Antiq.  vii.  4.  1),  mentioned  as  the 
camping  ground  of  the  Philistines,  lie*,  according 
to  Robinson,  "between  the  present  convent  Mar- 
Elias  and  Jerusalem  :  is  wide,  hounded  on  the 
north  by  a  small  ridge  of  rock,  that  forms  thi 
margin  of  the  valley  of  Hinnom.  and  sinks 
gradually  to  the  south-west"  (Winer,  fl<  alw&rtt  eh. 
ii.  322); "comp.  Josh.  xv.  8,  xviii.  16;  2  Sam.  v. 
18,  22. — Ver.  16.  And  a  post  of  the  Philistines 
was  then  at  Bethlehem,  which  is  therefore  to  !»• 
conceived  as  not  far  from  Adullam  and  the  valley 
of  Rephaim. — Ver.  17.  Of  the  well  of  Bethlehem,  at 
the  gate.  On  the  dried-up  cistern  situated  one- 
quarter  hour  north-east  of  Bethlehem,  whirl: 
tradition  gives  as  the  well  of  our  passage,  s.> 
Robinson,  ii.  378,  and  Berth.— Ver.  18.  And  th 
three  brake  through  the  camp  of  the  Philistines, 
namely,  not  through  the  main  camp,  but  thai  i 
the  post  before  Bethlehem. — But  pound  it  out  to 
the  Lord,  made  a  libation  to  God  by  pouring  it  on 
the  ground;  comp.  1  Sam.  vii.  6. — Ver.  19.  My 
God  forbid  it  -me.  The  same  construction  as  in 
1  Sam.  xxiv.  7,  xxvi.  11,  1  Kings  xxi.  3,  etc.— 
Shall  I  drink  the  blood  of  these  men  at  the  risk  of 
their  lires,  literally,  "in  their  souls;"  comp.  Gen. 
ix.  4;  Lev.  iii.  17,  vii.  26,  xvii.  lu  ti'.,  xix.  26 ff., 
especially  xvii.  14.  "  As  blood  and  soul  are  here 
made  equal,  the  blood  as  the  seat  and  bearer  of 
the  soul,  the  soul  as  moving  in  the  blood,  so 
David,  according  to  our  report  of  his  words, 
makes  the  water  which  those  heroes  had  brought 
at  the  price  (or  risk)  of  their  souls  equal  to  their 
souls,  and  the  drinking  of  the  water  brought  by 
tiiriii  equal  to  the  drinking  of  their  souls,  and  the 
souls  equal  to  the  blood,  in  order  to  express  his 
abhorrence  of  such  drinking.  So  that  we  may 
express  the  meaning  thus  :  Should  I  drink  in  the 
water  the  souls,  that  is,  the  blood,  of  these  men  ■ 
ior  they  have  fetched  the  water  at  the  I 
their  souls?"  (Keil).  Moreover,  DDlC'SUa  ap- 
pears to  be  put  down  twice  only  by  an  oversight  ; 
in  the  parallel  2  Sam.  xxiii.  17  it  stands  only 
once,  which  is  perhaps  the  original  form  of  the 
text.  That  David  pours  the  water  out  instead 
of  drinking  has  its  ground  in  this,  that  it  was 
become  blood  in  his  eyes  ;  for  blood,  if  it  cannot 
be  put  on  the  altar,  must  be  "poured  on  the 
earth  as  water,"  Dent.  xii.  16  (Berth.).  With 
the  Levitical  prohibition  of  the  use  of  blood,  the 
saving  of  David  has  evidently  nothing  to  do. 

5.  Abshai  and  Benaiah  :  vers.  20-25  (comp.  2 
Sam.  xxiii.  18-23). —  And  Abshai,  Joah's  la-other, 
he  »-os  chief  of  the  three.  Abshai  or  Abishai 
(2  Samuel),  one  of  the  three  sons  of  Zeruiah 
(ii.  16),  is  here  designated  .as   chief,  and   in  the 


100 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


following  verse  as  captain,  of  the  three,  while  it 
is  said  of  him:  "but  he  attained  not  to  the  three." 
This  enigmatical  saying  has  been  explained  in 
various  ways  :  1.  So  that  two  groups  or  classes 
of  three  are  distinguished  :  those  mentioned  vers. 
15-19,  whose  head  or  ruler  Abshai  may  have 
been  and  the  three  heroes,  Jashobani,  etc.,  men- 
ti-.ied  before  in  vers.  11-14,  to  whom  he  was  not 
so  related  (so  in  particular  the  ancients,  and 
Starke).  2.  So  that  it  is  sought  to  unite  both,  the 
being  chief  of  the  three  and  standing  after  them 
(in  bravery),  as  possibly  co-existent,  though  the 
same  three,  Jashobajn,  Eleazar,  and  Shammah, 
are  still  referred  to;  that  is,  Abshai  has  taken, 
along  with  Joab  the  field-marshal,  the  first  place 
among  Davids  captains  ;  is  therefore,  as  having 
a  higher  command,  the  chief  and  leader  of  the 
three  heroes,  while  they  excel  him  in  personal 
bravery  and  famous  deeds    (Keil).       3.   So  that 

HK'i^ti'n  in  vers.  20  and  21  is  taken  in  two  diffe- 
rent senses,  in  that  of  the  number  three  (so  ver. 
21),  and  in  this  of  the  abstract  substantive,  "body 
of  thirty,  Sheloshah-company"  (so  the  three  first 
times), — a  sense  that  necessarily  results  from  the 
comparison  of  ver.  21  with  ver.  25,  and  of  2  Sam. 
xxiii.  19  with  2  Sam.  xxiii.  23  (Berth. ).  We  shall 
have  the  choice  between  these  three  modes,  unless 
we  prefer  the  three  first  times  (ver.  20  and  ver.  21  a) 
to  read  the  pi.  D'C'ii'C'n  for  nt'6t?n,  as  Well- 

hausen  (supported  by  the  numerous  cases  in  which 
these  like  numbers  are  exchanged;  see  pp.  20,  81, 
214  ff.  of  his  work)  declares  to  be  necessary  in  the 
parallel  2  Sam.  xxiii. — And  he  lifted  up  his  spear 
against  three  hundred  slain  ;  comp.  on  ver.  11. — 
Ver.  21.  Above  the  three,  he  was  honoured  among 
the  two.  These  enigmatical  words  in  the  present 
form  can  neither  be  explained,  with  the  Vulg. : 
"Of  the  three  of  the  second  class"  (inter  tres 
se.cundos),  nor,  with  the  Sept. :  "  Of  the  three, 
above  the  two  was  he  honoured  "  (i-ro  r*»  rptui  vvip 
TDVi  Siio  itSilfs).     If  the  D'JU'a  is  to  be  retained 

as  genuine,  it  must  be  taken,  with  Ewald  (Lehrb. 
§  269,  6)  and  Keil,  in  the  sense  of  "twofold, 
doubly,"  and  so  rendered :  "  above  the  three 
doubly  honoured,  he  became  their  chief"  (Keil). 
Or  we   may  read,  with   Berth.,  "Qn  for  D^C'a, 

according  to  2  Sam.  xxiii.  19  (comp.  2  Sam.  ix.  1; 
Gen.  xxvii.  36,  xxix.  15),  and  render:  "Among 
the  Sheloshah-company  certainly  hewas  honoured, 
and  became  their  captain."' — Ver.  22  if.  Benaiah's 
Hsroic  Deeds  (comp.  xviii.  17,  xxvii.  6). — Benaiah 
the  son  of  Jekoiada,  the  son  of  Ishhail.     So,  if 

we  retain  n  before  ^n"t:"{<.     There  is  much, 

however,  for  its  erasure  (Berth.,  "Wellh.,  Kamph.), 
in  which  case  the  sense  comes  out:  "  Benaiah  the 
son  of  Jehoiada,  a  valiant  man  of  ;rreat  deeds." 
For  the  home  of  this  Benaiah,  Kaozeel  in  the 
south  of  Judfth,  comp.  Josh.  xv.  21;  Neh.  xi.  25. 
— Be  smote  two  (sons)  of  Ariel  of  Moab,  the  king 
of  Moab,  who  bore  the  epithet  ^K,_IK.  "lion  of 

God,"  as  a  title  of  honour.  Before  ^S'lK  *s  to  be 
inserted,  with  the  Sept.,  133;  comp.   Then,   and 

Wellh.,  2  Sam.  xxiii.  20. — And  he  went  down 
and  smote  a  lion.  This  feat  of  Benaiah,  which 
happened  on  a  snowy  day,  and  therefore  in  winter, 
may  have  been  performed  during  the  great  war  of 


David  with  the  Moabites,  2  Sam.  viii.  2. — Ver. 
23.  And  he  smote  the  Egyptian,  a  man  of  stature, 
or  probably,  according  to  the  Sept.,  "a  man  oi 
repute."  The  following  particulars  of  the  suc- 
cessful combat  of  Benaiah  with  the  giant  nearly 
coincide  with  those  of  the  conflict  of  David  with 
Goliath,  though  the  differences  are  not  to  be 
overlooked  (there  a  Philistine,  here  an  Egyptian  ; 
there  a  stature  of  six  cubits  and  a  span,  here  of 
five  cubits  ;  there  the  weapons  are  a  staff  and  a 
sling,  here  only  a  staff  ;  there  the  slaying  of  the 
fallen  with  his  own  sword,  here  with  his  own 
spear).  If,  with  the  Sept.,  in  2  Sam.  xxiii.  21  be 
substituted  for  the  weaver's  beam  a  "bridge- 
beam"  {fcv\ov  S*a/3afya;),  as  an  object  of  comparison 
to  show  the  thickness  of  the  spear,  the  difference 
of  the  two  narratives  would  be  still  greater.  But 
even  without  this,  the  similar  feats  are  only  so 
related  as  Shamgar's  heroic  deed  to  that  of 
Samson  (comp.  Judg.  iii.  31  with  xv.  15),  or  as 
Jashobam's  valiant  deed  (with  the  right  reading 
800  in  ver.  11)  to  that  of  Abshai.— Vers.  24,  25. 
For  "among  the  three  heroes"  and  "above  the 
thirty  "  Berth,  would  in  both  eases  read  "among 
the  Sheloshah-company;"  comp.  on  ver.  20. — And 
David  set  him  over  his  guard,  literally,  "over 
his  obedience,"  that  is  (abstr.  pro  concr.),  over 
his  obedient,  his  trusty  men  ;  comp.,  besides 
2  Sam.  xxiii.  23,  also  1  Sam.  xxii.  14;  Isa.  xi.  14. 
According  to  Bertheau's  not  improbable  conjec- 
ture, by  this  guard  of  David  is  meant  the  corps  of 
the  Cerethi  and  Pelethi  (see  2  Sam.  viii.  18), 
from  which,  however,  a  second  troop  of  guards, 
that  of  the  600  Gibborim  (or  Gittites,  2  Sam. 
xv.  18),  2  Sam.  xvi.  6,  xx.  7,  etc.,  were  no  doubt 
different.  Commander  of  the  former  was  Benaiah, 
according  to  our  passage  and  2  Sam.  viii.  18  ; 
over  the  600  Gibborim,  on  the  other  hand,  may 
have  been  placed  the  often  named  thirty,  so  that 
one  of  the  thirty  was  leader  to  every  twenty  of 
the  600.  This  assumption  of  a  difference  of  the 
Cerethi  and  Pelethi  from  the  Gibborim  is  not 
certain  ;  for  as  Benaiah,  2  Sam.  viii.  28,  appears 
as  commander  of  the  Cerethi  and  Pelethi,  he  is 
also,  1  Kings  i.  10,  connected  with  the  Gibborim 
(Benaiah  and  the  heroes). 

6.  The  Forty-eight  Warriors:  and  first  the 
thirty-two  enumerated  in  2  Sam.  xxiii. :  vers. 
26-41a.  On  the  sixteen  added  by  the  Chronist, 
vers.  416-47,  see  No.  7. — And  the.  heroes  of  war 
were,    or   more   precisely:   "And   heroes  of  war 

were  ; "   for   the  phrase    D^Tin  ,_ii231    without 

the  article  is  a  general  superscription.     The  article 

before  D'p»n  constitutes  no  real  difference  from 

D'^n  '1133,  vii.  5,   7,   11,    40,   or  from  ^n  'i, 

vers.  2,  9,  etc.  [?]  Here,  as  there,  are  meant: 
"  heroes  in  action,  valiant  heroes,"  not  "leaders 
of  the  divisions,"  as  Berth,  (appealing  to  2  Kings 
xv.  20,  1  Chron.  xii.  8,  etc.)  thinks.— A sahel 
the  brother  of  Joab.  For  him,  comp.  ii.  16  ;  for 
his  murder  by  Abner,  2  Sam.  ii.  19  ff.  The 
parallel  text  2  Sam.  xxiii.  24  adds  to  his  name 

D'tivtPB,  "  among  the  thirty." — Elhanan  the  son 

of  Dodo,  different  from  Elhanan  son  of  Jair, 
xx.  5. — Ver.  27  Shammoth  the  Harorite.  In 
2  Sam.  xxiii.  this  hero  is  called  "Shammah  the 
Harodite,"  but  in  1  Chron.  xxvii.  8,  "Shamhuth 
the  Izrahite."     In  the  gentilic.  »"innn  there  ap- 


CHAP.  XI.  28-46. 


101 


pears  at  all  events  to  be  an  error,  which  is  to  be 
corrected  by  ,_nnn  of  Samuel  ;  tor  in  .liulg.  vii. 

1    a   Jewish    place  "nn  is    expressly   mentioned. 

After  the  name  of  this  Harodite  Shammoth  must 
have  fallen  out  that  of  a  second  Harodite  Elika 
(Xp^X)i  a3  2  sam.  xxiii.  25  shows. — Helta  the 

Pelonite.  So  xxvii.  10.  whereas  in  2  Sam.  xxiii. 
26  this  Helez  is  originally  designated  as  a  Paltite 

(of  Beth-pelet,  O^S  )V3.  Josh.   xv.  27,  Neh.   xi. 

26). — Ver.  28.  Iraand  Abiezer;  eomp.  xxvii.  9, 12. 
— Ver.  29.  Sibbechaitheffushathite.  By  the  name 
'33D  the  suspicious  »32D  of  2  Samuel  must  be 

corrected.    Inversely,  Ilai  (*?*y)  must  be  amended 

after  the  pobv  °f  Samuel.  —Ver.   31.    Ithai  iht 

son  o/Sibai  o/Oibeah,  of  the  sons  of  Benjamin. 
For  the  situation  of  this  Gibeah  of  Benjam  u  (near 
Kamah),  eomp.  the  expositor  on  Josh,  xviii.  2S 
and  on  Jlldg.  xiv.  1911'.;  for  that  of  the  follow- 
ing Pirathon  (that  occurs  also,  Judg.  xii.  13-15, 
as  the  home  of  Abdon),  Zeitschr.  der  Deutschen 
morgenl.  Gesellsch.  1349,  p.  55,  and  particularly 
Sandreczky  in  Ausland,  1872,  No.  5,  p.  97  rl'. — 
Ver.  32.  Hurai  (so  read  also  2  Samuel  for  «in) 

of ' NahaU-gaash.  This  place,  occurring  only  here 
(and  2  Sam.  xxiii.  30),  properly,  "valleys  of 
Gaash,"  is  at  all  events  to  be  sought  near  Mount 
Gaash  in  the  Ephraimite  range,  not  far  from 
which  was  Joshua's  grave  ;  eomp.  Josh.  xxiv.  30; 
Judg.  ii.  9. — Abiel  the  Arhathite,  of  Beth-haara- 
bah,  Josh.   xv.   6,   61,   xviii.  18,  23.     The  name 

ta'SX  is   >n   2   Samuel  ji3^JH<3K,  which   form 

Berth,  takes  without  ground  to  be  original,  while 
Wellh.  rejects  both  forms,  and  makes  the  original 

to  be  ijJH-'SK-  —  Ver.  33.  Azmaveth  the  Balia- 
rurnite,  that  is,  he  of  Bahurim  (read  'JO'in^n); 
eomp.  2  Sam.  xvi.  5,  xix.  17. — The  following 
gentilic.  'ja^ytsvi  is  to  be  referred  to  D'371'C'. 
Judg.  i.  35,  1  Kings  lv.  9  (or  rapjJtJ',  Josh.  xix. 
42),  and  so  to  be  written  "ysijj^n. — Ver.  34. 
The  sons  of  Hashem  the  Gizonite.  'J3  before 
C'C'il  appears  to  owe  its  origin  to  a  repetition  of 
the  last  three  consonants  of  the  foregoing  gentilic. 
'UTJKSTl  ;  and  thus  originally  there  was  only 
Hashem  the  Gizonite,  after  which  2  Samuel  is  to 
be  amended  :  likewise  in  the  following,  word  the 
corrupt  reading  there  is  to  be  altered  into  our 
"Jonathan  the  son  of  Shageh  the  Hararite;" 
eomp.  Wellh.  p.  216.— Ver.  35.  Eliphal  the  son 
of  Ur.  2  Sam.  xxiii.  34:  "  Eliphelet  the  son  of 
Abasbai. "  The  original  was  perhaps  (eomp. 
Then,  and  Berth,  on  the  passage):  "  Eliphelet  the 
son  of  Ur." — Ver.  36.  Hepher  the  Me<herathite ; 
perhaps  the  Maachathite  (2  Samuel)  ;  as  also 
"  Ahijah  the  Pelonite "  (eomp.  ver.  27)  must 
perhaps  be  changed,  as  in  2  Samuel,  into  "  Eliam, 
son  of  Ahithophel  ;the  Gilouite. "  —  Ver.  37. 
Neutral  the  son  of  Ezbai.  For  >-|J?:  2  Samuel 
has  >-iit3  ;  for  >3fX")3,  'SIKH,  which  is  perhaps 


in  In-  preferred  mi  account  of  3^x.  Josh,  xv,  52, 

—  Ver.  38.  loci  the  brother  of  Nathan.  Ii 
Nathan  the  proplvt  were  meant,  the  >nK, 
"brother,"  by  the  side  of  the  usual  -|3,   would 

lose  its  strangeness.  But  in  2  Sain,  xxiii  36  we 
lind  a  Nathan  of  Zobah.  Hence  "nx  i»  perhaps 
to  be  changed  into  p  ;  and  i)j<j'  might  possibly 

he  more  original  than  our  7NV- — Mibhar  tin    SON 

qf  Hagri.  For  these  words  2  Sam.  xxiii.  36  has 
"  liani  the  Gadite."    "IH3D  '"'•')'  have  there  fallen 

■  ml  ;  but  it  may  also  have  been  corrupted  from 
n3ifO-     1"  ,_nn  (if  this,  and  not  '-ijn,  is  to  be 

nail  i  may  possibly  lie  the  name  of  the  prophet 
Gad  (Wellh.),  so  that  here  two  relatives  of  pro- 
phets, a  brother  (son  !)  of  Nathan  ami  a  soil  "f 
Gad,  may  be  named  together. — Ver.  40.  Ira  thi 
Ithrite,  Gareb  the  Ithriie.  The  family  of  tin 
Ithrites  was  enumerated,  ii.  53,  among  those  oi 
Kiriath-jearim.  — Ver.  41.  Uriah  the  Hittite,  the 
husband  of  Bathsheba,  2  Sam.  xi.  3  ff.  Hen 
follows  in  2  Sam.  xxiii.  39  the  closing  subscrip- 
tion: "thirty  and  seven  in  all,"  as,  according  t" 
the  correct  text,  actually  thirty-seven  heroes  are 
there  enumerated,  namely,  twenty-nine  others 
besides  the  eight  mightiest  heroes  named  i 
8-23  (Jashobam,  Eleazar,  Shammah,  etc.).  These 
twenty-nine  should  in  the  view  of  the  author  "I 
the  books  of  Samuel  represent  those  thirty  warrii  irs 
(named  in  2  Chron.  xi.  25);  whence  he  breaks  oil 
his  enumeration  after  Uriah  (or  perhaps  after 
Gareb,  as  Wellh.  seeks  to  render  probable), 
although  most  probably  the  same  list,  containing 
forty-eight  names  in  all,  lay  before  him,  which 
our  author  has  continued  from  this  verse  to  the 
end.  Moreover,  for  the  criticism  of  both  lists 
running  parallel  as  far  as  our  verse,  the  facts 
brought  out  by  Wellh.  (p.  215  f.)  are  to  be  con- 
sidered : — 1.  "  That  the  heroes  are  placed  in  pairs, 
and  often  every  two  from  the  same  city  (two 
Bethlehemites,  ver.  26,  two  Netophathites,  vet. 
30,  two  Ithrites,  ver.  40);  2.  That  the  adjective 
of  descent  is  always  added,  but  not  regularly  the 
father's  name,  to  the  name  of  the  hero ;  3.  That 
thorough  corrections  are  only  possible,  if  we  have 
first  collected  the  whole  material  of  the  proper 
names  in  the  0.  T.  along  with  the  variants  in 
the  Sept.,  and  then  elaborated  them."  The  last 
rule  applies  also  to  the  criticism  of  the  following 
names  preserved  by  the  Chronist  alone,  which  in 
this  arrangement  have  no  parallel. 

7.    The  last  Sixteen   of  the  Forty-eight    War- 
riors,   whom    the    Chronist   alone   enumerates 
vers.  416-47. — Ver.  42.  Adina  ...  a  chief  of  the 
Reubenites,  and  thirty  with  him,  or  besides  b.m. 

So,  according  to  the  Masoretic  reading,  y?Jfl  ;  but 
Berth,  prefers  that  of  the  Syriac  version  (see  Grit 
Note),  and  so  gets  the  sense :  "  leader  of  the  Reu- 
benites over  thirty,"  that  is,  commander  of  the 
thirty  captains  or  heroes  of  the  Reubenites,  to 
which  may  be  compared  the  thirty  leaders  of  the 
Benjamites,  xxii.  4. — Ver.  44.  Uzziah  the  Ash- 
terathite,  from  Ashteroth  (Karnaim)  or  Beth- 
Eshterah,  a  city  of  East  Manasseh,  vi.  56. 
Whether  the  "Aroerite"  points  to  Aroer  in  the 
tribe  of  Reuben  (Josh.  xiii.  16),  or  in  that  of 
Gad  (ver.  25),  is  doubtful.— Ver.  46.  Eliel  the 
Mahavim.       We    should    probably    read     "  the 


."2  I.  CHRONICLES. 


Mahanaimite  "  (Josh.  xiii.  26) ;  corap.  Grit. 
Note. — Ver.  47.  Elkl,  and  Obed,  and  Jasxel  of 
Hammezobaiah.     The  unmeaning  pp3iR3il,  that 

by  its  form  cannot  be  a  genlilic.,  is  either  to  be 
changed  by  omitting  the  article  and  the  penult 


IPVD¥  (a  place,  according  to  Rabbinic  tradition, 

not  far  from  Hebron),  not,  however,  as  ii  contrac- 
tion or  abbreviation  of  this  name,  as  Reland  (Pal. 
p.  899).  Moreover,  the  Rabbinic  Migdol  Zebuiah 
uld  scarcely  be  contemplated,   because  almost 


consonant    into    na'XO,    "from    Zobah"    (comp.     ai]  tne  sixteen  names  of  our  section,  from  ver. 
•2  Sam.  xxiii.  36)  (so  Bertheau),  or  to  be  regarded  !  41*  on>  belong  to  heroes  from  the  east  of  Jordan. 

<,,  ~„,.,.„„»„.i  f„™       i  u        L         i  The  Syrian  Zobah  would  suit  better  in  this  con- 

ai  rorrupteil  trom  a  longer  nime,  such  as  THM         ,t- 

V.  Supplementary  List  of  Brace  Men  who  held  to  Dnrid  during  the  Reign  of  Saul: 

ch.  xii.  1-22. 

t'H.  xtt.   1   And  these  are  they  that  came  to  David  to  Ziklag,  while  banished  from 
Saul  the  son  of  Kish  ;  and  they  were  among  the  heroes,  helpers  of  the  war. 

2  Armed  with  bows,   using  both  right  hand  and  left  with  stones  and  with 

3  arrows  on  the  bow  : — ( )f  the  brethren  of  Saul  of  Benjamin.  The  chief  Ahiezer 
and  Joash,  sons  of   Hashmaah  the  Gibeathite  ;    and  Jezuel1   and  Pelet  the 

i  sons  of  Azmaveth ;  and  Berachah,  and  Jehu  the  Antothite.     And  Ishmaiah 

the  Gibeonite,  a  hero  among  the  thirty,  and  over  the  thirty  ;2  and  Jeremiah, 

5  and  Jahaziel,  and  Johanan,  and  Jozabad  the  Gederathite.     Eluzai,  and  Jeri- 

ti  moth,  and  Bealiah,  and  Shemariah,  and  Shephatiah  the  Haruphite.3     Elkanah, 

7  and  Ishiah,  and  Azarel,  and  Joezer,  and  Jashobam,  the  Korhites.  And 
Joelah  and  Zebadiah  the  sons  of  Jeroham  of  Gedor.4 

8  And  of  the  Gadites,  separated  themselves  unto  David  at  the  hold  in  the 
wilderness,  valiant  heroes,  men  of  the  host  for  battle,  handling  shield  and 
spear,4  with  faces  like  lions,  and  like  roes  on  the  mountains  for  swiftness. 

9.  it)  Ezer   the   chief,  Obadiah    the   second,   Eliab   the   third.     Mishmannab    the 
11    12  fourth,  Jeremiah   the  fifth.     Attai  the  sixth,   Eliel  the  seventh.     Johanan 

13  the    eighth,    Elzabad     the    ninth.       Jeremiah    the    tenth,    Machbannai    the 

14  eleventh.     These  were  of  the  sons  of  Gad,  heads  of  the  host:  one  for  a 

15  hundred,  the  least,  and  the  greatest  for  a  thousand.  These  are  they  that 
went  over  Joidan  in  the  first  month,  when  it  had  overflown  all  its  banks  ;'; 
and  they  put  to  flight  all  the  valleys  to  the  east  and  to  the  west. 

10  And  there  came  of  the  sons  of  Benjamin  and  Judah  to  the  hold  unto  David. 

1 7  And  David  went  out  before  them,  and  answered  and  said  unto  them,  If  ye 
be  come  peaceably  unto  me  to  help  me,  my  heart  shall  be  at  one  with  you  ; 
but  if  to  betray  me  to  my  enemies,  with  no  wrong  in  my  hands,  the  God  of 

18  our  fathers  look  on  and  rebuke  it.  And  the  spirit  came  upon  Amasai  the 
chief  of  the.  thirty,"  Thine  are  we,  David,  and  with  thee,  son  of  Jesse  ;  peace, 
peace  be  to  thee,  and  peace  to  thy  helpers;  for  thy  God  helpeth  thee;  and 
David  received  them,  and  made  them  captains  of  the  troop. 

19  And  of  Manasseh  some  fell  to  David,  when  he  came  with  the  Philistines 
against  Saul  to  battle  ;  but  they  helped  him  not :  for  on  advisement,  the 
lords  of  the  Philistines  sent  him  away,  saying,  At  the  peril  of  our  heads  he 

20  will  fall  to  his  master  Saul.  When  he  went  to  Ziklag,  there  fell  to  him  of 
Manasseh,  Adnah,  and  Jozabad,  and  Jediael,  and  Michael,  and  Jozabad,  and 

21  Elihu,  and  Zillethai,  captains  of  the  thousands  of  Manasseh.  And  they 
helped  David  against  the  troop  ;  for  they  were  all  valiant  heroes,  and  they 

22  became  captains  in  the  host.  For  day  by  day  they  came  to  David  to  help 
him,  until  the  camp  was  great,  like  a  camp  of  God. 

3.   Supplementary  Data  concerning  the  Number  of  the  Warriors  who  made  David 
King  in  Hebron  :  vers.  28—40. 

23  And  these  are  the  numbers  of  the  heads  of  those  armed  for  the  host  who 
came  to  David  to  Hebron,  to  turn  the  kingdom  of  Saul  to  him,  according  to 

24  the  word  of  the.  Lord.     The  sons  of  Judah,  bearing  shield  and  spear,  were 

25  six  thousand  and  eight  hundred,  armed  for  the  host.      Of  the  sons  of  Simeon, 

26  valiant  heroes  for  the  host,  seven  thousand  and  one  hundred.     Of  the  sons  of 


CHAP.  XII.  1-7.  103 


27  Levi,  four  thousand  and  six  hundred.     A.nd  Jehoiada  was  the  leader  of  the 

28  Aaronites,  and  with  him  three  thousand  and  seven  hundred.     And  Zadok,  a 

29  valiant  young  man,  and  his  father's  house  twenty  and  two  captains.  And  of 
the  sons  of  Benjamin,  brethren  of  Saul,  three  thousand  ;  for  hitherto  the 

30  most  part  of  them  kept  the  ward  of  the  house  of  Saul.  And  of  the  sons  of 
Ephraim,  twenty  thousand  and  eight  hundred  valiant  heroes,  famous  men  ol 

31  their  father-houses.     And  of  the  half-tribe  of  Mauasseh,  eighteen  thousand. 

32  who  were  expressed  by  name,  to  come  to  make  David  king.  And  of  the  sotis 
of  Issachar,  men  having  understanding  of  the  times,  to  know  what  Israel  had 
to  do,  their  heads  were   two   hundred,  and   all   their   brethren  were  at  their 

33  command.  Of  Zebulun,  those  going  to  the  host,  ordering  the  battle  with  all 
weapons  of  war,  fifty  thousand,  arraying  themselves8  with  a  single  heart. 

34  And  of  Naphtali,  a  thousand  captains,  and  with  them,  with  shield  and  spear, 

35  thirty  and  seven  thousand.     And  of  the  Danites,  ordering  the  battle,  twenty 

36  and  eight  thousand  and  six  hundred.     And  of  Asher,  those  going  to  the  host 

37  to  onler  the  battle,  forty  thousand.  And  beyond  the  Jordan,  of  the  Reu- 
benites,  and  the  Gadites,  and  the  half-tribe  of  Manasseh,  with  all  weapons 
of  war  for  the  battle,  a  hundred  and  twenty  thousand. 

38  All  these  men  of  war,  keeping  rank,9  came  with  true  heart  to  Hebron  to 
make  David  king  over  all  Israel ;  and  all  the  rest10  of  Israel  also  were  of  one 

39  heart  to  make  David  king.     And  they  were  there  with  David  three  days  eat- 

40  ing  and  drinking ;  for  their  brethren  had  prepared  for  them.  Moreover, 
the}7  that  were  nigh  them,  even  to  Issachar,  and  Zebulun,  ami  Naphtali, 
brought  bread  on  asses,  and  on  camels,  and  on  mules,  and  on  oxen,  bread  of 
meal,  fig  and  raisin  cakes,  and  wine,  and  oil,  and  oxen,  and  sheep  abundantly; 
for  there  was  joy  in  Israel. 

'  Keri:  Jezicl  (7KT)- 

2  With  D^'^Dn   ?JPl  the  fourth  verse  closes  in  the  mss.  and  older  editions,  even  that  of  R.  Norzi,  so  that  the  wholo 
chapter  contains  forty-one  verses. 

» .Keri.-"  the  Hariphite"  ('D'lnn) ;  comp.  Ppin  '33,  Neh.vii.S4. 
*  For  in-in    is  certainly  to  be  read  "1113(1;    comp.  iv.  4. 

3  For  TVyy\  the  BibL  Venet.  Rabb.  has  pt33  •  so  some  old  prints,  but  not  the  mss. 

8  The  Kelliib  Vi"V13,  if  correct,  would  be  the  plur  of  i"P"13,  and  occur  only  here.    With  the  Keri    VHIS   comp 
T     :■  t  : ■  r     : 

Josh,  iii  16,  iv,  18:  Isa.  wii.  8. 

'KetlU':  D"J'i?u'n;    £<ri,  as  usual:  D'CPvB'i'J.       The  Sept.  and  Vulg.  agree  with  the  Kethib. 

■  For  "lly^T  nine  mss  ,  the  Sep'.  (jWwu),  and  the  Vulg.  read  "lfl'7V 

»  Three  Mss.  change  '"Itjj   into   '31J)  unnecessarily.    See  Exeg  Expl. 

10  1V~!C*.  defective  for  rP~IN£',  occurring  only  here:  hence  some  mss.  have  the  $cr.  plena. 


EXEGETICAL. 

Preliminaiiy  Remark.  — The  whole  of  the 
twelfth  chapter  is  peculiar  to  the  Chronist. 
Standing  after  that  which  is  related  in  xi.  4  ff., 
it  has  th  nature  of  an  appendix,  in  the  form  of 
several  military  lists  retelling  to  the  force  of 
David  before  and  at  his  accession  to  the  sole 
sovereignty.     The  first  of  these  lists  consists  pro- 

perly  of  three  smaller  ones-*..  That  of  the  Benja-  "  "a™  "f  "  "f^™-  was  f  *an0.n™  «*™™» 
mites  and  Jews  that  came  to  David  during  his  ^termined.  rhe  sojourn  of  David  there  unti. 
residence  at  Ziklag:    vers.    1-7  ;   b.   That  of  the 


To  these  lists  referring  to  the  Sauline  period  is 
then  subjoined  that  of  the  contingents  from  all 
the  tribes  present  at  the  anointing  in  Hebron  : 
vers.  23-40. 

1.  The  Benjamites  and  Jews  who  came  to  Zik- 
lag  :  vers.  1-7. — And  these  are  they  Hud  came  to 
David  to  Ziklag.  Ziklag,  belonging  to  the  tribe 
of  Simeon  (iv.  30;  Josh.  xix.  5),  assigned  by  Achish 
to  I  (avid  as  a  residence,  was  in  asite  not  certainly 


Gadites  and  some  other  men  from  Judah  and 
Benjamin  who  passed  over  to  him  during  his 
residence  in  the  hold  :  vers.  8-18  ;  c.  That  of  the 
Manassites  who  joined  themselves  to  David 
shortly  before  the    battle  with   the   Philistines, 


his  anointing  at  Hebron  lasted  (1  Sam.  x.wii. 
7)  a  year  and  four  months.  —  While  banished 
from  Saul  ("liyy  "111'),  'hat  is,  while  his  return 

to  Israel  as  king  was  still  hindered  by  Saul  ■ 
inter  TsraeiUas  publice  versari  prohibitum  (J  H. 
Miehaelis). — Anil  they   icere  among  tin 


and  the  death  of  Saul  at  Gilboa  :  vers.   19-22.  '  helpers  of  the  rears     They  belonged  to  the  heroes 


104 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


who  served  anil  stood  by  him  in  his  earlier  wars ; 
comp.  vers.  17,  18,  21,  22.  —  Ver.  2.  Armed  luith 
bowa,  or  "aiming  with  the  bow;"  not  really 
different  from   bending  the  bow   (tX"p  '3"n)i 

viii.  40;  comp.  2  Chron.  xvii.  17  and  l's. 
lxxviii.  9.  —  Using  both  right  and  left  with  stones 
(m  slinging,  Judg.  xx.  16)  and  with  arrows  on 
the  bow,  namely,  to  shoot  and  surely  hit  with 
them.  —  Of  the  brethren  of  Saul  of  Benjamin. 
The  second  restriction  serves  to  explain  the  lirst : 
TIJKti-VIK  do  not  mean  near  or  blood  relations. 

Comp.  Gibeath-Saul,  1  Sam.  xi.  4,  Isa.  xv.  29, 
and  as  denoting  the  same  place,  Gibeath-Benja- 
min,  1  Sam.  x.  16,  xv.  34,  or  Gibeah  of  the  sons  of 
Benjamin,  1  Chron.  xi.  31. — Ver.  3.  Sons  of  Hash- 
maah  the  Gibeathite,  from  the  Gibeah  of  Benja- 
min just  mentioned. — Ver.  4.  And  Ishmaiah  the 
Gibeonite.  That  this  Gibeonite  (this  Benjamite 
of  Gibeon  ;  comp.  viii.  29,  ix.  35,  with  2  Sam. 
xxi.  2  ff. )  Ishmaiah  is  described  tirst  as  a  hero 
among  the  thirty,  and  then  as  a  leader  over  the 
thirty,  may  be  explained  by  assuming  a  tempo- 
rary command  over  this  company.  The  absence 
of  his  name  in  oh.  xi.  must  be  explained  by  this, 
that  he  was  no  longer  alive  at  the  time  when  this 
list  was  composed,  and  was  therefore  among  the 
earliest  members  of  the  corps  of  the  thirty. — And 
Jozabad  the  Gederathite;  perhaps  from  Gederah 
(now  Ghedera,  one  hour  south-west  of  Jabneh),  a 
Jewish  locality  in  the  Shephehdi,  Josh.  xv.  36. 
That  Jozabad,  though  coming  from  Gederah,  lie- 
longed  to  some  family  of  Benjamites  dwelling 
there,  is  an  unnecessary  assumption  of  Keil.  The 
following  verses,  especially  the  Geder,  ver.  7, 
rather  show  that  those  here  enumerated  were 
by  no  means  exclusively  Benjamite.  —  Ver.  6. 
Elkanah  .  .  .  the  Korhites.  To  think  of  another 
Korah  as  the  ancestor  of  the  Korhites  than  the 
known  descendant  of  Levi  is  unnecessary  ;  these 
may  be  Korhitic  Levites  settled  in  Benjamin 
who  are  here  in  question;  and  the  names  Elkanah 
and  Azarel  having  a  genuine  Levitical  ring,  make 
it  very  probable  that  thev  are  such  ;  comp.  Keil 
on  the  p.  and  Del.  Psalter,  p.  300.  Yet  it  is 
possible  that  they  may  be  descendants  of  the 
Jewish  Koran  mentioned  it.  43(so  Berth.,  Kamph., 
etc.). — Ver.  7.  And Joelah  .  .  .  of  Gedor,  with- 
out doubt  the  Jewish  city  mentioned  iv.  4,  south- 
west of  Bethlehem  ;  so  that  here  also  non- Benja- 
mites are  included  in  the  series,  notwithstanding 
the  announcement,  ver.  2,  which  leads  us  to 
expect  only  Benjamite:;.  Whether  this  contra- 
diction between  the  announcement  and  the  con- 
tents of  the  list  arises  from  the  whole  series  "I 
names  being  greatly  abridged  and  composed  out 
nf  two  originally  distinct  lists,  one  of  pure  Benja- 
mites, and  another  containing  Jews,  as  Berth, 
thinks,  appears  doubtful ;  comp.  Keil,  p.  134. 

2  The  Gadites  and  some  other  Jews  and  Benja- 
mites who  joined  themselves  to  David  while  in  the 
Hold:  vers,  s-18.—  a.  The  Gadites:  vers.  8-15.— 
And  of  the  Gadites  (that  is,  of  those  belonging  to 
the  tribe  of  Gad,  while  the  others  adhered  to 
Saul)  separated  themselves  unto  David  at  the  hold 
in  the  wilderness.     This  was  during  the  first  year 

of  his  flight  before  Saul,  1  Sam.  xxii.  If.  —  "IVO? 
"IBTO  ('"°  pointed  for    'jj  "1VD?>  on   account  of 

the  close  connection  of  the  two  following  words) 
denotes    properly :    "to   the    hold   towards   the 


wilderness."  A  definite  single  hold  (fSD  = 
miSD;  comp.   xi.   16)  is  here  as  little  intended 

as  in  ver.  16,  but  rather  the  greater  number  ol 
those   holds  of  the  wilderness  of  Judah  (comp. 

nnsaa  taiisa,  i  Sam.  xxiu.  h,  xxiv.  i)  m 

which  David  dwelt  at  that  time  ;  thus  "IVD  is 
here  general,  as  miXO,  1  Sam.  xxiv.  23. — Men  if 

the  host  for  battle,  practised  in  war;  comp.  vii.  11. 
On  the  following    "handling  ('3ljj)  shield  and 

spear,"  comp.  ver.  24  ("bearing  shield  and 
spear")  ind  Jer.  xlvi.  3  ;  for  the  comparison 
of  the  warriors  with  lions  and  roes,  2  Sam.  i.  23, 
ii.  18.  "The  expressions  in  the  description  of 
their  power  and  tieetness,  ver.  8,  remind  us  of 
such  as  are  used  in  the  historical  books  of  heroes 
in  the  time  of  David,  and  are  without  doubt 
drawn  from  the  source  which  our  author  here  used" 
(Berth.). — Ver.  13.  Machbannai  the  eleventh,  lit<  r- 
ally,  the  eleven;  comp.  xxiv.  12. — Ver.  14.  Heads 
of  the  host  (so  ver.  21/)),  that  is,  chief  warriors,  not 
leaders. — One  for  a  hundred  the  least,  and  (In 
greatest  for  a  thousand.  The  smallest  of  then; 
was  equal  to  one  hundred  other  warriors,  and 
the  strongest  to  a  thousand, — an  expression  nf 
manifestly  poetical  colouring,  reminding  us  oi 
Lev.  xxvi.  8  and  of  1  Sam.  xviii.  7,  xxi.  11, 
which  our  author  certainly  found  in  his  source. 
The  Sept.  and  the  most  of  the  older  Rabbis  rightly 
understood  the  passage,  but  the  Vulg.  wrongly  : 
novissimus  centum  militibus  [mverat  et  maxima? 
mille,    for  which   ~>y   instead   of  p,  and  anothe' 

order  of  words,  should  be  expected. — Ver.  15. 
These  are  the;/  that  went  over  Jordan,  at  the  time 
when  they  separated  themselves  from  the  other 
Gadites  of  the  host  of  Saul,  and  were  forced  to 
break  through  this  to  reach  David.  Their  flight 
fell  "in  the  first  month,"  that  is,  in  the  spring. 
when  the  Jordan  was  greatly  swollen,  and  had 
overflown  its  bank.  So  much  greater  was  the 
heroic  deed. — And  put  to  flight  all  the  valleys  to 
the  east  and  to  the  icest,  on  both  sides  of  the  river, 
just  as  if  its  overflowing  waters  were  not  present. 
E'poy,  properly  "valleys,"  here  inhabitants  ot 
the  valleys,  Hitzig  (Gesch.  Jsr.  p.  29)  conceives 
to  be  the  name  of  a  people,  that  occurs  also  Jer. 
xlix.  4  (comp.  xlvii.  5),  and  is  identical  with  the 
Anakim,  Josh.  xv.  14,  and  with  the  Amorites — 
with  the  latter  really,  with  the  former  even  in 
name  (?).  See,  on  the  contrary,  Keil  on  Jer.  p. 
480. — b.  The  men  of  Benjamin  and  Judah  ;  vers. 
16-18. — And  there  came  of  the  sons  of  Benjamin 
and  Judah.  The  names  of  these  other  followers  of 
David  when  persecuted  by  Saul  the  Chronist 
does  not  give,  either  because  his  source  did  not 
contain  them,  or  because  they  may  haie  ben 
included  for  the  most  part  in  the  lists  ahcady 
communicated  in  ch.  xi.  Amasai  only,  the  leader 
of  this  troop,  is  named. — Ver.  17.  And  David 
went  out  before  them,  or  to  meet  them;  comp.  xiv. 

S. — My  heart  shall  be  at  one  with  you.     "IDv  2?, 

a  phrase  occurring  only  here,  not  essentially 
different  from  inx  ab,  ver.  38  (comp.  ver.  33). 
— But  if  to  betray  me  to  my  enemies.     ni3"l,  with 

accus.  of  the  object,  means,  "to  practise  fraud  on 
anyone."  For  the  following,  compare,  on  the 
oue  hand,  Job  xvi.  17,  Isa.  liii.  9 ;  on  the  othei 


CHAP.  XII.  18-31. 


105 


hand,  2  Chron.  xxiv.  22.  For  the  phrase:  "the God 
of  our  fathers,"  namely,  of  the  patriarchsAbraham, 
etc.,  comp.  Ex.  iii.  13;  Ezra  vii.  27;  2  Chron.  xx. 
0;  Matt.  xxii.  32. — Ver.  18.  And  [the)  Spirit  came 
upon  Amasai  the  chief  of  thirty.  Here,  as  in  the 
parallel  Judg.  vi.  31,  the  Spirit  of  God  is  meant 
teomp.  2  Chron.  xxiv.  20),  as  the  principle  of 
higher  inspiration  to  great  and  bold  deeds.  The 
Amasai  of  our  passage  is  perhaps  not  different 
from  Amasa  (with  K  instead  of  '  at  the  end)  the 
son  of  Abigail,  sister  of  David,  ii.  17,  who,  at  a 
later  period,  in  the  time  of  Absalom,  performed 
n  not  unimportant  part  as  commander  (first  under 
Absalom,  and  then  under  David),  till  Joab  mur- 
dered him  (2  Sam.  xvii.  25,  xix.  14,  xx.  4  ii'.). 
Much  less  probable  is  the  identity  assumed  by 
others  of  this  Amasai  with  Abshai  the  brother  of 
Joab(ii.  16,  xi.  20).-  Thine  are  we,  David,  to  thee 
we  belong,  and  witli  thee,  we  hold.  Notwith- 
standing this  simple  and  obvious  completion, 
the  Sept.   has  wholly  misunderstood   the  words 

"Pl'l  ~W  "Pi  and  made  of  tin  m  ■xiniau  x*l  S 
j.u.'o;  trtv. — For  thy  Gud  helpeth  thee.     This  fllfy 

refers  to  the  past  aid  which  David  had  received 
from  God  (1  Sam.  xviii.  12  If  I,  but  also  to  the 
further  aid  in  prospect,  which  was  to  be  imparted 
to  him  in  future.  —  And  made  them  captain*  of 
the.  troop,  appointed  them  leaders  of  the  several 
divisions  of  his  army, — that  army   (Tfls)  of  all 

kinds  of  people  that  had  gathered  about  him ; 
comp.  1  Sam.  xxii.  2,  xxvii.  8,  etc. 

3.  The  Seven  Manassites  who  joined  themselves 
to  David  before  the  Last  Battle  of  Saul  with  the 
Philistines:   vers.    19-22. — And    of    Manasseh 

some  fell  to  David.     pJJ  ?3J.  as  in  2  Rings  xxv. 

11;  1  Sam.  xxix.  3;  comp.   ^x  S3:    at  the  close 

of  the  verse.  For  the  historical  situation,  comp. 
1  Sam.  xxix.  2-11. — For  on  advisement,  DVJD- 
on  consultation,  as  Prov.  xx.  18. — At  the  peril 
of  our  heads,  literally,  "for  our  heads,  for  lie 
price  of  them  ;"  comp.  1  Sam.  xxix.  4. — Ver. 
20.  When  fie  went  to  Ziklag,  and  thus  before 
the  great  battle  of  Gilboa  in  which  Saul  fell  ; 
comp.  1  Sam.  xxix.  11. — Captains  of  the  thou- 
sands of  Stanasseh,  of  the  great  military  divisions 
(regiments)  into  which  the  tribe  of  Manasseh  was 
divided  ;  comp.  Num.  xxxi.  14,  26,  xxvii.  1,  and 
eh.  xv.  25. — Ver.  21.  And  thin  helped  David 
against  the  troop,  namely,  his  present  foes,  the 
Amalekites ;  comp.  1  Sam.  xxx.  8,  15,  where  the 
-|fl3  here  used  (for  which  the  Sept.  perversely 

read  a  n.  pr.  T-i$»Ai)  appears  more  definitely  as 
the  army  of  the  Amalekites.  Moreover,  the 
seven  here  named  Manassites  only  are  the  imme- 
diate and  direct  subject  of  the  sentence,  not  all 
the  heroes  named  from  ver.  1  to  ver.  20  (as 
Berth,  thinks),  though  certainly  the  whole  force 
of  David  (600  strong,  1  Sam.  xxx.  9)  was  drawn 
out  to  fight  with   Amalek.     But   that  by  riBDl 

only  the  seven  Manassites  can  here  be  meant  is 
shown  by  the  following  words  :  "and  they  became 
captains  in  the  host."  which  cannot  apply  to  the 
whole  troop. — Ver.  22.  Until  the  camp  was  gn  at, 
like  a  camp  of  God;  comp.  Gen.  xxxii.  2  and 
phrases  like  mountains,  cedars  of  God,  l's.  xxxvi, 
1    l.xxx.  11.     The  phrase  is  "  only  rhetorical,  not 


idealizing  or  exaggerating"  (Keil);  it  extends  al>o 
clearly  beyond  the  time  when  David  bad  only 
600  followers  to  the  lime  when  thousands,  and 
then  hundreds  of  thousands,  followed  him.  The 
following  description  seizes  the  moment  nhen 
out  of  the  thousands  of  the  first  seven  years  ol 
his  reign  at  Hebron  came  the  hundred  thousands 
and  more. 

4.  The  Number  of  the  Warriors  who  made 
David  King  over  all  Israel;  vers.  23-40. — And 
these  are  the  numbers  cf  the  heads  of  tliose  irmed 
for  the  host,  or  for  military  service  (comp.  Xuni. 
xxxi.  5;  Josh.  iv.  13).  The  "heads  of  thosi 
armed"  are  here  no1  the  captains  or  leaden 
(Vulg.  principes  exerdttts,  Berth.,  etc.),  but  tin- 
sums  or  masses  of  the  warriors,  as  Judg.  vii.  16, 
20.  ix.  34,  37,  44,  1  Sam.  xi.  11,  or  perhaps 
also  the  polls  (Judg.  v.  30)  ;  so  that  <C'N"1  "I3DO 

would  be  the  number  of  polls.     For  it  cannot  be 

proved  (against  Berth.)  that  only  n?J73,  and   not 

also  C'X"I.  eau  have  this  sense;  and  the  following 
is  not  a  list  of  leaders,  but  a  poll  list,  that  also 
originally  bore  this  form,  though  tin  abbreviating 
changes  of  our  author  make  it  difficult  to  prove. 
— To  turn  the  kingdom  of  .Soul  t,i  lam  ;  comp. 
x.  14,  and  for  the  following,  xi.  :;,  In. — Ver.  24. 
'The  sous  of  Judah,  bearing  shield  and  spear; 
romp,  on  ver.  8.  The  enumeration  begins  with 
the  two  southern  tribes,  Judah  and  Simeon  ;  next 
gives  the  priestly  tribe  of  Levi,  whose  chief  force 
lay  at  that  time  in  and  about  Judah  ;  and  then, 
proceeding  from  south  to  ninth,  names  first  the 
other  western  tribes,  and  then  the  three  eastern 
ones. — Ver.  26.  And  Jehoiada  was  tlte  leader  oj 
the  Aaronitts,  literally,  "the  leader  of  Aaron," 
that  is,  not  the  high  priest  (who  was  at  that  time 
Abiathar,  1  Sam.  xxiii.  9),  but  tin-  head  of  the 
family  ol'  Aaron.  Perhaps  this  was  Jehoiada  the 
father  of  Benaiah,  xi.  22.  — Ver.  28.  And  Zadok. 
'i  valiant  young  man,  perhaps  that  descendant  oi 
Eleazar  (v.  34)  whom  Solomon,  1  Kings  ii.  26, 
made  high  priest.  That  the  house  of  this  Zadok, 
at  the  time  of  David's  elevation,  counted  twenty- 
two  chiefs  or  heads  of  families,  proves  bow  flourish- 
ing this  branch  of  the  Aaronites  was  at  that  time. 
— Ver.  29.  And  of  the  sons  of  Benjamin,  brethren 
of  Saul,  three  thousand.  This  number  is  indeed 
surprisingly  small,  but  certainly  original.  The 
writer  accounts  for  it  also,   first  briefly,   by  the 

characteristic    addition     ?}}{"'  *nx.    then   more 

fully  by  the  remark,  "for  hitherto  (njn  1JJ1,  as 

ix.  IS)  the  most  part  of  them  kept  the  ward  ol 
Saul's  house;"  that  is,  the  most  "i  them  were 
still  devoted  to  the  interest  of  the  kindred  house 
of  Saul  (miX'D  "lOtPi    as  Sum.  iii.  38  ;   comp. 

1  Chron.  xxiii.  32  ;  2  Chron.  xxiii.  6),  so  that 
they  turned  to  David  only  slowly,  and  when 
Ishbosheth  was  dead. — Ver.  30.  Famous  men  of 
their  father-houses,  arranged  according  to  their 
father-houses.  The  Ephraimites,  on  the  whole, 
though  their  number  was  above  20,000,  are 
called  celebrated,  famous  men  (comp.  Gen.  vi. 
4),  perhaps  because  tiny  wen-  distinguished  by 
their  warlike  bravery,  and  bad  not  merely  a  few 
able  heroes  or  leaders. — Ver.  31.  And  OJ  the  half- 
tribe  of  Manasseh,  the  western  halt.  The  "  being 
expressed  by  name  "  1  niEC'3  }3j33,  as  Num.  i.  17; 


106 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


1  Cliron.  xvi.  41 )  points  to  the  formation  of  a  list 
by  the  tribe  authorities,  in  which  all  those  war- 
riors of  the  tribe  were  entered  who  were  chosen 
to  take  part  in  the  elevation  of  the  new  king  at 
Hebron.  All  the  other  tribes  may  have  formed 
similar  lists  for  this  purpose. — Ver.  32.  And  of 
the  sons  of  lssachar,  men  having  understanding 
of  the  times,  to  know  what  Israel  had  to  do. 
This  applies,  not  to  the  whole  tribe,  but  only  to 
the  200  heads  of  their  forces  ;  and  it  denotes,  not 
every  kind  of  activity  in  astronomical  or  physical 
science  (Chald.,  several  Rabbis,  Cleric),  but  only 
that  those  leaders  "saw  what  was  most  advisable 
to  be  done  in  the  condition  of  the  times"  (Starke), 
that  they  were  prudentes  viri,  qui  quid,  quando 
et  quomodo  agendum  esset,  varia  lections  (?)  et 
usu  rerum  cognoscebant  (L.  Lavater).  "Men  un- 
derstanding," literally,  knowing  judgment,   iJHi* 

nj'2;    comp.    2   Chron.    ii.    12   and   the  similar 

riJH  'Jflft   Dan.   i.   4.      "To  know  what  Israel 

had  to  do,"  in  the  present  case,  means  to  whom 
it  had  to  apply  as  its  king  and  supreme  ruler. 
These  men  of  lssachar  were  not  dull  and  narrow 
"bony  asses"  (Gen.  xlix.  14),  but  prudent 
"judges  of  the  signs  of  their  time"  (Matt.  xvi. 
3). — And  all  their  brethren  -mere  at  their  com- 
mand.     DrT'B  ?y,   literally,   "by  their  mouth," 

namely,  guided  ;  comp.  Gen.  xli.  40  ;  Num.  iv. 
27  ;  Deut.  xxi.  5.— Ver.  33.  Ordering  the  battle 
with  all  weapons  of  war,  practised  in  the  conflict 
with  all  kinds  of  weapons  ;  comp.  ver.  6. — 
Arraying  themselves  with  a  single  heart,  literally, 
"and  to  band  together  with  not  heart  and  heart." 

For  -nyTl,  with  some  critical  evidence  (see  Orit. 
Note),  to  read  — ifyS"i  is  unnecessary  and  unten- 
able, from  the  recurrence  of  -|-|y  in  ver.  38. 
From  this  parallel  passage,  this  verb  must  mean, 
"to   take    rank   for  war,   to   stand   in   order   of 

battle."  For  271  27,  to  denote  double-minded- 
ness  or  a  divided  heart,  comp.  Ps.  xii.  3  and  ver. 
38  ;    Q^tjj  aa^  and  Tr.X  a"?.— Ver.  38.  All  these 

uu  ii  of  war,  keeping  rank  ;  Sept.  Tupxrcurtriiar/i, 
va.fiTic\,v.     The  change  of  ,_nj)   into    \3ijf  (see 

Crit.  Note)  is  unnecessar}',  and  as  little  demanded 
by  Tpjj  in  vers.  33,  35,  36  as  by  n2"lj??3 ;  comp. 

on  ver.  33.  "All  these"  points  naturally  to  the 
whole  troops  enumerated  from  ver.  24  on. — And 

a',1  the  rest  of  Israel,  etc  On  "ins  27,  "one, 
united  heart,"  comp  2  Chron.  xxx.  12. — Ver.  39. 
4  lui  (hey  were  there  with  David  three  days,  eating 


and  drinking.  Comp.  the  festivals  described  1 
Sam.  xxx.  16,  1  Kings  i.  25,  40,  etc.,  and  also 
from  the  most  recent  oriental  history;  for  example, 
the  enormous  feast  (100,000  sheep  and  wethers, 
20,000  oxen,  40,000  gallons  honey-wine,  etc.) 
that  was  given  in  connection  with  the  elevation 
of  Kassai  to  be  emperor  (negus)  of  Abyssinia 
(Feb.  1872). — For  their  brethren  had  prepared 
for  them  (victuals),  namely,  the  Jews  about 
Hebron.     Comp.    on   this   pan,  Gen.   xliii.    16 ; 

2  Chron.  xxxv.  14,  etc. — Ver.  40.  Moreover,  they 
that  were  nigh  them  (comp.  Deut.  xiii.  8),  all  the 
neighbouring  tribes  of  Judith  on  this  side  the 
Jordan ;  and  not  merely  those  immediately  adja- 
cent, but  also  the  tribes  in  the  middle,  and  some 
of  those  in  the  north  of  Palestine. — Brought  bread 
(victuals)  on  asses,  and  camels,  and  mules,  etc. 
Observe  the  purely  epical  character  of  the  repre- 
sentation, that  points  to  a  very  ancient  historical 
source   used   by  the   Chronist. — Fig  and  raisin 

cakes.     For  the  masses  of  dried  figs  (Q'pn)  and 

raisins  (Q'pisv),  as  indispensable  dainty  additions 

to  feasts,  comp.  1  Sam.  xxv.  18,  xxx.  12  ;  Jer. 
xl.  10,  12;  Amos  viii.  1  f.  ;  also  Celsius,  Hierobot. 
i.  377  tf. ;  Winer,  Realw.,  Art.  "  Feigenbaum 

Apologetic  on  Ch.  xii.  23  ff. 

With  respect  to  the  credibility  of  the  numbers 
of  our  section,  it  is  to  be  remarked  in  general, 
that  the  sum  total  of  about  340,000  men,'  re- 
sulting from  the  data  relative  to  the  military 
contingents  of  the  several  tribes,  agrees,  on  the 
whole,  with  other  known  data  concerning  the 
sum  of  the  people  of  Israel  equipped  for  war  (for 
example,  the  600,000  men  in  the  time  of  Moses, 
the  800,000  Israelites  and  500,000  Jews  in  the 
census  of  David),  as,  indeed,  a  full  call  of  all 
those  fit  to  bear  arms  could  not  be  expected  on 
the  present  occasion.  On  the  contrary,  the  re- 
lation of  the  numbers  in  the  several  tribes 
presents  much  that  is  surprising.  The  strength 
of  the  three  eastern  tribes  (120,0001,  exceeding  a 
third  of  the  sum  total,  and  the  likewise  con- 
siderable strength  of  Zebulun  (50,000),  Naphtali 
(37,000),  and  Asher  (40,000),  seem  to  contrast  in 
a  manner  scarcely  conceivable  with  the  small 
contingents  of  Judah,  Simeon,  Levi,  and  Benja- 
min. But — 1.  With  regard  to  Benjamin,  the 
ground  of  his  only  small  share  in  the  festivities  at 
Hebron  is  expressly  stated,  and  in  a  way  entirely 
satisfactory,  and  admitting  of  no  further  objec- 
tion. 2.  The  number  of  the  Levites  is,  in  vers. 
27,  28,  not  fully  given,  inasmuch  as  of  the 
third  division  of  them,  the  hou^e  of  Zadok,  only 
the  number  of  the  chiefs  (22)  and  not  that  of  the 
common  order  is  stated  (as  in  lssachar  only  the 


Namely,  from  Judah, 

6.800  men 

M    Simeon, 

7.1D0 

„     Levi,   . 

4,600 

Also  with  Jehniada,    . 

3,700 

(with  22  chiefs  ot  the  house  of  Zadok; 

„    Ephraim.    . 

20,800 

„ 

„     Half-Manasseh, 

1S,000 

„     lssachar,     . 

? 

(201  chiefs  "and  all  their  brethren") 

„     Zebulun, 

.       50,000 

, 

n    NHphiali,    . 

.       37,000 

„ 

(with  1000  chiefs). 

28,000 

„ 

„     Asher, 

40,000 

From  the  three  eastern  Tribes, 

.     120,000 

.. 

Sum, 


339,000  men  (with  1222  chiefs  and  heads). 


CHAP.  XIII. 


iJ< 


number  of  the  chiefs  or  heads  is  expressed,  ver. 
82).  3.  Of  Jttdah  and  Simeon  are  certainly  only 
comparatively  very  small  numbers  given,  for 
I liis  reason,  that  the  warriors  of  this  tribe  had 
long  since,  seven  yen's  before,  ranged  themselves 
on  the  side  of  David,  and  therefore,  in  the 
review  on  the  occasion  of  the  solemnities  of  his 
anointing,  did  not  need  to  be  represented  in 
their  full  military  strength  (which  would  have 
reached  in  itself  to  between  100,000  and  200,000 
men).  These  warriors  of  Judah  and  Simeon  had 
rather  to  :*ct  as  commissaries,  to  make  provision 
for  the  greater  bodies  of  troops  ;  »nd  most  of 
them  were  to  be  sought,  not  am  tig  the   "^'Xl 

T\Js?  p^nn    (vers.   24,   25   ff. ),    but  among  the 

DTOtSn  DrrnX       *■   Yet   highly   surprising    is 

the  numeri'  al  relation  of  the  middle  and  northern 
tribes  west  of  the  Jordan,  namely,  the  smallness 
of  Ephraim  (20,800)  beside  Zebulun  and  Naph- 
tali.  "  But  if  we  c  insider  that  Ephraim,  which 
had  40,500  men  at  the  first  census  under  Moses 
at  Mount  Sinai,  had  diminished  to  32,500  at 
the  second  on  the  steppes  of  Moab,  this  tribe 
may  not  at  this  time  have  been  v  rv  strong 
in  men-at-arms,  as  it  may  have  suffered  and 
been  weakened  most  of  all  the  tribes  in  the 
last  wars  of  Saul  with  the  Philistines,  and 
in  the  battles  ol  Abner  for  the  recovery  of 
the  region  occupied  by  the  Philistines  for  Ish- 
bosheth.  Moreover,  perhaps  Ephraim,  in  his 
jealousy  of  Judah,  dating  from  the  time  of  the 
Judges,  might  not  be  altogether  inclined  to  make 
David  king  over  all  Israel.  That,  however, 
Zebulun  and   Naphtali  are  here   so   numerously 


represented,  though  they  pi  lyed  no  important 
part  in  the  history  of  Israel,  is  not  enough  to 
east  suspicion  on  the  numbers  given.  As 
Zebulun  tinier  Moses  numbered  57,400,  and 
afterwards  60,500,  and  Naphtali  then  53,400, 
afterwards  45,400  men -at -an  us  (comp.  Num. 
i.-di.  with  Num.  xxvi. ),  the  former  might  send 
50,000,  the  latter  37,000,  men  to  David  at  Heb- 
ron "  (Keil).  The  subsequent  smallness  and  in 
significance  of  thes-  tribes  (comp  Evangelical- 
Ethical  Reflections  on  ch.  i.-ix. ,  No.  2,  p.  92) 
is  simply  explained  by  their  only  imperfect  re- 
storation after  the  destruction  of  the  kingdom  ol 
Israel  by  Shalmanescr. — The  credibility  of  the 
data  of  our  list  cannot  in  general  be  doubted 
according  to  all  this,  that  is,  irrespective  of 
particular  corruptions  of  the  text  that  are  always 
to  be  admitted  as  possible.  It  would  much  more 
present  matter  for  well  -  founded  doubts  if  the 
numerical  strength  of  the  several  tribes  attested 
in  it  were  exactly  proportional  >o  the  data  of 
Numbers  regarding  the  early  relations  of  the 
military  divisions.  The  appearance  of  something 
surprising  in  the  present  numerical  data  speaks 
directly  for  their  true  historical  origin,  and  im- 
poses the  greatest  caution  on  the  modern  critic  of 
the  contents  of  our  chapter,  that  exhibit  .-o  many 
traces  of  fresh  originality  and  high  antiquity. 
This  also  may  perhaps  be  urged  as  a  proof  of  the 
essentially  unchanged  transmission  of  the  present 
documents  from  the  author,  that  the  tribe  of  Dan, 
which  is  elsewhere  often  omitted,  as  it  seems  in- 
tentionally, by  the  Chronist,  is  here  expressly 
mentioned,  and  in  no  disparaging  way  ;  comp. 
ver.  35  with  Introd.  §  6,  No.  1,  p.  24,  and  with 
the  remarks  on  vi.  46  and  vii.  12. 


£.   The  Removal  of  the  Ark  from  Kiriath-jearim  :  cli.  xiii. 

Ch.  XIIL    1.  And  David  consulted  with  the  captains  of  thousands  and  of  hundreds, 

2  with  every  leader.  And  David  said  unto  all  the  congregation  of  Israel,  If  it 
seem  good  to  you,  and  it  be  of  the  Lord  our  God,  let  us  send  quickly  unto  our 
brethren  remaining  in  all  lands  of  Israel,  and  with  them  the  priests  and  Levites 

3  in  the  cities  of  their  suburbs,  that  they  gather  unto  us.     And  let  us  bring  again 

4  the  ark  of  our  God  to  us  ;  for  we  inquired  not  at  it  in  the  days  of  Saul.  And 
all  the  congregation  said.  We  must  do  so;  for  the  thing  was  right  in  the  eyes  of 

5  all  the  people.  And  David  gathered  all  Israel,  from  Shihor  of  Egypt  even  unto 
Hamath,  to  bring  the  ark  of  God  from  Kiriath-jearim. 

G  And  David  went  up,  and  all  Israel,  to  Baalah,  unto  Kiriath-jearim,  which  be- 

longed to  Judah,  to  bring  up  thence   the  ark  of  God  the  Lokd,  that  sitteth  over 

7  the  cherubim,  as  He  is  called  by  name.  And  they  carried  the  ark  of  God  on  a 
new   waggon   from    the  house  of  Abinadab  ;   and   Uzzi  and  Ahio  drove  the 

S  waggon.  And  David  and  all  Israel  played  before  God  with  all  their  might,  and 
with  songs  and  with  harps,  and  with  psalteries,  and  with  timbrels,  and  cymbals, 
and  trumpets 

9  And  they   came  to  the  threshing-floor  of  Chidon  ;  and   Uzza  put  forth  his 

1 0  hand  to  hold  the  ark  ;  for  the  oxen  shook  it.  And  the  anger  of  the  Lord  was 
kindled  against  Uzza,  and  He  smote  him,  because  he  put  his  hand  to  the  ark  ;  and 

1 1  he  died  there  before  the  Lord.     And  David  was  angry,  because  the  LORD  had 

12  made  a  breach  upon  Uzza  ;  and  that  place  is  called  Perez-uzza  to  this  day.  And 
David  was  afraid  of  God  that  day,  saying,  How  shall  I   firing  the  ark  of  God  to 

13  me  1     And  David  removed  not  the  ark  to  him  to  the  city  of  David,  but  placed 

14  it  in  the  house  of  Obed-edom  the  Gittite.  And  the  ark  of  God  remained  in  the 
house  of  Obed-edom  in  his  house  three  months;  and  the  Lord  blessed  the  house 
of  Obed-edom,  and  all  that  he  had. 


108 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


EXEGETICAL. 

Pl-.ELIMINAKY  REMARK. — In  the  second  book 
of  Samuel,  where  ch.  vi.  1-11  corresponds  to  the 
Dresent  section,  the  history  of  the  transference  of 
the  ark  from  Kiriath-jearim  to  the  house  of  Obed- 
edom  (which  is  there  related,  irrespective  of  the 
somewhat  shorter  introduction,  almost  word  for 
word  as  her.-:  comp.  2  Sam.  vi.  2-11  with  vers. 
6-14  of  our  chapter)  is  immediately  followed  by 
the  account  of  the  removal  three  months  later  of 
the  ark  from  that  house  to  Zion.  Our  author, 
on  the  contrary,  inserted  (ch.  xiv.)  an  account 
of  David's  house-building,  his  family,  and  his 
victoiy  over  the  Philistines,  which  in  2  Sam.  v. 
11-25  follows  the  narrative  of  the  taking  of  Zion, 
between  the  history  of  the  removal  of  the  ark  to 
the  house  of  Obed-edoru  and  its  introduction  into 
Zion,  and,  moreover,  on  the  ground  of  an  old 
Levitical  document,  has  treated  this  latter  part 
of  the  history  with  vastly  greater  detail  and  fill 
ness  (see  ch.  xv.  and  xvi. ).  The  more  circum- 
stantial introduction  of  our  chapter,  vers.  1-5,  to 
which  there  is  only  one  verse  parallel  in  2  .Sam. 
vi. ,  may  spring  from  the  same  source  as  the 
following  full  detail  in  ch.  xv.,  xvi. 

1.  Description  of  the  Assembly  in  which  the 
Removal  of  the  Ark  from  Kiriath-jearim  was 
resolved  upon :  vers.  1-5. — And  David  consulted 
(comp.  2  Chron.  x.  6,  xxx.  2)  with  the  captains 
of  thousands  and  of  hundreds   (comp.    xv.   25), 

with  every  leader.      ?  before  T33"P3  serves  here 

for  the  brief  recapitulation  of  the  fore-mentioned, 
thus,  "in  short,  namely;"  comp.  Gen.  xxiii.  10. 
— Ver.  2.  And  David  said  unto  all  the  congrega- 
tion of  Israel,  that  is,  to  those  princes  as  the 
representatives  of  the  community  (to  the  ecclesia 

reprcesenhitiia);  comp.  ?np  in  Lev.  xiv.  3;  Deut. 
xxxi.  30,  etc. — If  it  seem  good  to  you,  properly, 
"if  it  be  good  with  you;"  comp.  Neh.  ii.  5,  7; 
Estli.  i.  19,  iii.  19.  For  the  following:  "and  it 
be  of  the  Lord  our  God,"  comp.  Gen.  xxiv.  50; 
Acts  v.  39. — Let  us  send  quickly,  properly,  "let 
us  break  through  (]'TQ)  and  send,"  that  is,  with 
all  diligence,  and  instant  suppressing  of  all  hesita- 
tion ;  comp.  1  Sam.  xxviii.  23.  Less  certain  is 
the  interpretation,  flowing  from  the  notion  of 
spreading  out  (so  j*~lS,  for  example,  Isa.  liv.  3): 
"  send  far  and  wide. " —  Unto  our  brethren  remain- 
ing in  all  lands  of  Israel,  in  all  lands  of  the  several 

tribes:  comp.  rYVX"IN~73  'n  <-"en-  XXVJ-  3>  4; 
2  Chron.  xi.  23,  xxxiv.  33.  The  preposition  pj; 
before  WPIX,  because  in  the  sending  is  implied 
at  the  same  time  the  commanding  (comp.  ~>y  TWS). 
After  Drusy  ("with  them,"  that  is,  here,  "like- 
wise, besides"),  this  ">J},  or  even  py  iirbiih.  >s  to 
he  repeated. — Ver.  4.  We  must  do  so,  literally, 
"to  do  so;"  p  niL"VA  tne  infin.  with  p,   as  in 

t.  1,  ix.  25. — Ver.  5.  All  Israel,  from  Shihor  of 
Egypt  even  unto  Hamath,  that  is,  not  all  the 
individuals,  but  a  large  representation  of  the 
whole  people  (according  to  2  Sam.  vi.  1,  a  select 
number  of  :  0,000).  "From  Shihor  of  Egypt 
?ven  unto  Hamath"  means  essentially  the  same 
is  "from  Dan  to  Beersheba,"  namely,  Palestine 


from  the  south  to  the  north  border ;  comp.  Judg. 
xx.  1;  2  Sam.  iii.  10,  xvii.  11.      □,")i"0  lilTC'  <* 

abbreviated  for  anVD  ^B'Pl'  IC'X  "liTC',  Josh- 

xiii.   3.       It   means   the   small   stream   between 

Palestine  and   Egypt,  which  is  otherwise  called 

the  river  of  Egypt  ('VO  7113,  Josh.  xiii.  4,  47; 
1  Kings  viii.  65;  2  Chron.  vii.  8,  etc.),  the 
Rhinokorura  of  old.  and  the  Wady  el  Arish  of 
the  present.  The  Nile  certainly  bears  the  name 
"lhB>!  that  is,  "black  water"  (Isa.   xxiii.  3;  Jer. 

ii.  18);  yet  smaller  waters  are  also  so  named,  as 
Josh.  xix.  26,  the  .shihor  Libnath,  in  the  tribe  of 
Asher,    which,    however,   casts  no   doubt  on   our 

interpretation.      On   ]-|On  54137.    to   denote   the 

northern  border  of  Palestine,  comp.  Num.  xxxiv. 
5,  8;  2  Kings  xiv.  25.  Hamath,  on  the  river 
Orontes,  on  the  southern  slope  of  Antilibanus  or 
Hermon,  an  old  O'anaanitish  colony  (Gen.  x.  8), 
which  the  prophet  Amos  (vi.  2),  in  the  9th 
century    B.C.,    designated     "  the    great  "    (n"Dn 

ri3"l),    and   which    stili,    in    the    Seleucidie   and 

Roman  times,  when  it  was  called  'Et. li;mc, 
belonged  to  the  most  considerable  Syrian  cities, 
was  in  David's  time  the  seat  of  a  king  friendly  to 
David,  but  independent  of  him,  and  tolerably 
powerful ;  see  xviii.  9  f. ;  2  Sam.  viii.  9  ff. 

2.  The  Execution  of  this  Resolve  :  vers.  6-14. 
— And  David  w-nt  up,  and  all  Israel.  By  "all 
Israel"  is  undoubtedly  to  be  understood  here,  as 
well  as  in  the  foregoing  verse,  that  assembly  of 
select  representatives  of  the  people  from  every 
tribe,  which  amounted,  1  Sam.  vi.  1,  to  30,000 
men.  Neither  the  assumption  that  here,  in 
the  fetching  of  the  ark,  the  participation  of 
a  much  greater  number  is  presupposed  than 
in  that  preparatory  assembly,  nor  the  hypo- 
thesis that  2  Sam.  vi.  1  originally  conveyed  the 
sense:  "And  David  multiplied  all  the  men  of 
war  in  Israel,  the  Sheloshim  and  the  captains 
of  thousands"  (instead  of  30,000),  is  neces- 
sary (against  Berth.),  as  the  indefinite  "all 
Israel  "  would  suit  even  a  smaller  number  of 
representatives   than   30,000. —  To  Baalah,  unto 

Kiriath-jearim.      For  'l  rynp  ?S  nrfea  might 

be  expected,  from  Josh.   xv.    9,  perhaps  nn?y2 

''    P  N'H  ;  for  Baalah   is  the  older  Canaanitish 

name  for  Kiriath-jearinv,  which  is  also  called 
Kiriath-baal  (Josh.  xv.  60,  xviii.  14).  Yet  the 
thing  is  expressed  intelligibly  enough;  the  "to 
Baalah"  is  sufficiently  explained  by  the  addi- 
tion, "unto  Kiriath-jearim.''  r  r  the,  additii  n, 
"  which  belonged  to  Judi.n.'  :_>mp.  .n  Judg. 
xviii  12,  and  for  the  situarou  o'"  Kiriath-jearim. 
the  present  Kureyet  el  Enab,  on  the  way  from 
Jerusalem  to  Ramleh  and  Lydoia  (three  hours 
from  Jerusalem),  comp.  Rob.  Pal.  ii.  589. — T'wt 
sitte'h  over  the  cherubim,  as  He  is  called  by  nauu 
IC'S,  h<-'re  »»«,  "as"  (comp.  Ew  Lehrb.  §  333,  a); 

the  ace.   of  reference  Q[»>  belongs  not  merely  to 

Hirr,  but  to  D'OVOn  S5*  mn\  and  designates 
the  whole  phrase  as  a  usual  epithet  of  God  in 
religious  worship ;  comp.  Isa.  xxxvii.  16 ;  Ps. 
lxxx.  2.     Others  would  refer  it;-}*  to  ji")X,  and 


CHAP.  XIV. 


U)9 


change  rjt;!  into  Qtp'a  (Kamph. :  "which  is  called 

by  the  name"),  or  even  change  q-j'  into  □£>  (with 

reference  to  2  Sam.  vi.  2,  where  also  Qty  is  once 

to  he  read),  ami  so  get  the  sense:  "who  was  there, 
at  the  ark,  addressed"  (Berth.;  comp.  Then,  on 
2  Sam.  vi.).  See,  on  the  contrary,  and  in  favour 
nf  our  interp.,  Keil,  p.  144. — Ver.  7.  And  tl.<i/ 
carried  .  .  .  from  the  house  of  Abincdab.  T  lis 
house  lay  oi.  a   hill  in  Kiriath  jearnn  (ny3J3. 

1  Sam.  vii.  1),  not  in  a  place  Gi'ieah,  near 
Kiriath-jearim,  as  the  passage  1  Sam.  vii.  1 
seems  to  say  in  tin  faulty  translation  of  the  Vulg. 
and  Luther  (comp.  C.  Hoffmann,  Biicke  in  die 
■rn'i.  Gesch.  tl.  gelobten  Land's,  i.  p.  156).  Uzza 
and  Ahio,  the  drivers  of  the  waggon  with  the  ark, 
are,  2  Sam.  vi.,  expressly  called  the  sons  of  Abina- 
dab.  —Ver.  8.  With  all  their  might,  and  with 
HOngSg  and  with  harp<,  etc.  The  parallel:  "with 
ail  woods  of  cypresses,"  in  2  Sam.  vi.  5,  rests  on 
a  corruption  of  the  text,  and  is,  as  £»  iV^wof  the 
Sept.  there  shows,  to  be  amended  by  our  passage 
(iJT?32);  comp.  2  Sam.  vi.  14.  For  the  in- 
struments here  named,  particularly  the  harps, 
psalteries,  and  cymbals,  see  on  xv.  16. — Cymba  s 
and  trumpets.  The  words  presented  instead  of 
DVlXXmi  D'rfciDD  in  2  Sam.  vi.  5:  D'jnWDin 
D'i'ii'Sni.   "and  with  rattles  and  with  cymbals," 

are  perhaps  more  original ;  at  least  the  Q'l'Jl'JO 
(Vulg.  sislra),  occurring  nowhere  else,  might 
easily  have  been  suppressed  by  the  alleviating 
correction  of  a  later  hand  (comp.  Wellh.  p. 
167  f.). 

3.  Uzza's  Fall,  and  the  Placing  of  the  Ark  in 
the  House  of  Obed-edom  :  vers.  9-14.  —  Ant  they 
came  to  the  threshing-floor  of  Chidon.  The  name 
|T3  is  written,  in  2  Sam.  vi.  6,  J133  (Sept.  Hx^p), 


a  reading  scarcely  prefi  rabte  to  our  own.  —  Fur  Hit 
oxen  shook  it,  were  on  the  point  of  upsetting  it 
(Sept.  i$t*Am * tturn*; Vulg.  paululum  incUnavt  rout 
earn);  the  ark  of  itself  supplies  the  subject  to 
ItDDC-     Others  give  "the  oxen  let  go"  (Berth,), 

or  "stept  aside"  (Luther  and  many  ancients),  or 
"flung  011  every  side,"  Ew.,  etc.  —  Ver.  10.  Aiul 
tht  anger  of  tin  Cord  was  kindled  against  ('..■>. 
whose  error  might  lie  less  in  the  accidental  ant 
involuntary  tombing  of  the  ark,  as  in  his  con- 
veying this  sacred  thing  on  an  ox  waggon,  instead 
of  having  it  borne  according  to  tin'  law  (Num. 
vii.  9,  x.  17);  comp.  what  David  afterwards  did, 
xv.  2.  For  the  parallel  text  of  Samuel  to  be 
amended  by  our  passage,  comp.  Thenius  and 
Wellhausen.  —  Ver.  13.  In  tin-  house  of  Obed- 
edom  the  Gittite;  according  to  xv.  IS,  24,  this 
Obed-edom  was  one  of  the  Levitical  porters ; 
whence  we  are  not  to  think  of  the  Philistine 
Gath,  but  the  Levitical  city  Gath-riinmon  (Josh, 
xix.  45,  xxi.  24),  as  his  birth-place.  —  Ver.  14.  In 
the  Aou.ff  of  Obed-edom  m  lux  house,  in  his  own 
tent,  which  was  spread  over  it  ill  the  court  of  this 
Levite  (thus,   in   his  dwelling-house,  ^rP3"DjO- 

This  text  appears  more  correct  than  that  in  2  Sam. 
vi.,  whicli  only  states  that  the  ark  remained  "in 
the  house  of  Obed-edom  the  Gittite." — And  a'l 
that  he  had.  For  this  2  Sam.  vi.  has:  "and  all 
his  house."  The  various  reading  of  our  passage 
"is  well  chosen,   because,  just  before,  il"T3    VdS 

used  of  the  tent  of  the  ark"  (Berth.)  That  the 
blessing  which  God  gave  to  Obed-edom  consisted 
chiefly  in  numerous  offspring,  appears  from  xxvi. 
4-8.  Yet,  even  during  the  three  months  men- 
tioned in  our  passage,  David  must  have  clearly 
perceived  that  the  Lord's  anger  was  sufficiently 
appeased  by  the  death  of  Uzza,  and  that  the  re- 
moval v(  the  ark  to  Jerusalem  involved  no  danger, 
but  would  be  attended  with  blessed  effects. 


6,7 


f.  David's  House-Building,  Family,  ami  Victories  over  the  Philistines:  ch.  xiv. 

Oh.  xiv.  1.  And  Hiram  '  king  of  Tyre  sent  messengers  to  David,  and  cedar-wood, 

2  and  masons,  and  carpenters,  to  build  him  a  house.  And  David  perceived  that 
the  Lord  had  confirmed  him  king  over  Israel ;  for  his  kingdom  was  lift  up  on 
high,  because  of  his  people  Israel. 

3  And   David  took  more  wives  in  Jerusalem  ;  and  David  begat  more  sons 

4  and  daughters.     And  these  are  the  names  of  those  born  to  him  in  Jerusalem : 

5  Shammua  and  Shobab,  Nathan  and  Solomon.  And  Ibhar,  and  Elishua,  and 
Elpelet.  And  Nogah,  and  Nepheg,  and  Japhia.  And  Elishama,  and  Beeliada, 
and  Eliphelet, 

3  Vn  1  the  Philistines  leard  that  I >avid  was  anointed  king  over  all  Israel; 

ana  ah  the  Philistines  went  up  to  seek  David  :  and  David  heard  it,  and  went 

9  out  against  them.     And  the  Philistines  came  and  spread  themselves  in  the 

10  valley  of  Rephaim.  And  David  inquired  of  God,  saying,  Shall  1  go  up  against 
the  Philistines,  and  wilt  Thou  give  them  into  my  hand?     And  the  Lokd  said 

1 1  unto  him,  Go  up,  and  I  will  give  them  into  thy  hand.  And  they  went  up  to 
Baal-perazim  ;  and  David  smote  them  there  :  and  David  said,  God  hath 
broken  my  enemies  by  my  hand,  like  the  breaking  of  waters  ;  therefore  thpy 

12  called  the  name  of  that  place  Baal-perazim.  And  they  left  their  gods  there; 
and  David  ordered,  and  they  were  burnt  with  fire. 

And  the  Philistines  came  again  and  spread  themselves  in  the  valley.2  And 
David  inquired  again  of  God  ;  and  God  said  unto  him,  Go  not  up  after  them  ; 
turn  away  from  them,  and  come  upon  them  by  the  bacas.  And  it  shall  be, 
when  thou  hearest  thf  sound  going  on  tin-  tops  of  the  bacas,  then  go  out  to 


13,  14 


15 


110 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


the  battle :  for  God  is  gone  out  before  thee  to  smite  the  camp  of  the  Philistines. 

16  And  David  did  as  God  commanded  him:  and  they  smote  the  camp  of  the 

17  Philistines,  from  Gibeon  even  unto  Gezer.     And  David's  fame  went  out  into 
all  lands ;  and  the  Lord  brought  his  fear  upon  all  nations. 

1  Ktthib-  Dl^n.    Keri:  D")}!"!,  as  always  in  Chronicles  (Sept.  Xiipa.^  as  ever). 

1  For  p£}}3  the  Sept.  and  Syr.  read  Q^2~!    pOJQ,  which  is  perhaps  original;  comp.  2  Sam.  v.  22 


F.XEGETICAL. 

Preliminary  Remark.— On  the  different  posi- 
tion of  this  section  in  2  Sam.  v.  11-25,  namely, 
before  the  history  of  the  removal  of  the  ark  from 
Kiriath-jearim,  comp.  the  Preliminary  Remark  on 
eh.  xiii.  The  motive  of  the  C'hronist  for  the 
transposition  is  evidently  the  wish  to  represent 
the  preparations  for  the  removal  of  the  national 
sanctuary  to  Jerusalem  as  the  first  undertaking  of 
the  king  after  the  taking  of  the  capital,  to  exhibit 
the  building  of  his  own  palace  as  a  work  certainly 
taken  in  hand  soon  after,  but  still  standing  behind 
that  all-important  concern.  To  the  history  of  the 
beginning  of  the  palace-building  is  attached  in 
the  sources  common  to  both  historians  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  blessing  which  attended  David  as  a 
father  and  a  captain  in  the  battles  with  the 
Philistines.  Our  author  took  this  description,  in 
the  main  unaltered,  along  with  the  notice  of  the 
beginning  of  the  palace-building,  over  into  his 
narrative,  undeterred  by  the  appearance  thence 
arising  of  the  events  in  question,  especially  the 
',wo  successful  battles  with  the  Philistines,  having 
fallen  in  the  three  months  between  the  removal  of 
the  ark  to  the  house  of  Obed-edom  and  its  intro- 
duction into  Jerusalem.  This  grouping  is  here, 
as  often  in  his  representation  of  the  history  of 
David,  determined  by  the  order  of  thought  rather 
than  of  time. 

1.  David's  Palace-building  and  Family:  vers. 
1-7. — The  text  of  the  older  parallel,  2  Sam.  v. 
11-16,  agrees  in  the  main  with  the  present,  only 
here  and  there  more  precise. — And  cedar-wood, 
and  masons,  and  carpenters,  literally,  "  and 
timbers  (beams)  of  cedars,  and  craftsmen  of  walls, 
and  craftsmen  of  timbers"  (Vulg.  artifices  parie- 
tum  lignorumque). — Ver.  2.  And  David  perceived 
(concluded  from  the  high  honour  which  was  con- 
ferred upon  him  by  this  message  from  the  Pheni- 
cian  king)  that  the.  Lord  had  confirmed  him  king 
over  Israel,  definitely  transferred  the  kingdom  to 
him,  established  I"  bestiitigt,"  Luther)  him  as 
king. — For  his  kingdom  was  lift  up  on  high. 
n!<L:'3>  i'  genuine,  would  be  an  irregularly  formed 

3  fem.  perf.  Niph.  (not,  as  2  Sam.  xix.  43,  an  inf. 

abs.  Niph.)  from  kL"3>  intensified  by  the  r6jJO?. 

"on  high  ;"  comp.  xxii.  5,  xxiii.  17,  xxix.  3-25. 
B-t  perhaps,  as  in  2  Sam.  v.  12,  the  perf.  Piel 
XtJ'3  is  to  be  read,  and  Jehovah  taken  as  the  sub- 
ject: "and  tnat  He  had  exalted  his  kingdom." 
For  in37DD.  2  Sam.   v.,   our  text  presents  the 

later  (occurring  also   xvii.   11,  14)  form  iJVO^D, 

perhaps  merely  by  a  slip  of  the  pen  ;  see  Wellh. 
p.  164. — Ver.  3.  And  David  took  mo>'t  wives  in 
Jerusalem.       Before   O^gjj  in   2   Samuel  stands 

D't;'3?B>  which  m  y  have  fallen  accidentally  cut 
of  ouj   passage,  ;is  the  concubines  of  David  are 


mentioned  in  iii.  9.  Comp.  on  iii.  5-9,  where, 
the  names  of  the  thirteen  sons  of  David  born  in 
Jerusalem,  and  the  partly  different  spelling  here 
and  th»ie,  are  fully  haudled. 

2.  The  First  War  with  the  Philistines  :  vers. 
8-12  (comp.  2  Sam.  v.  17-21).— To  seek  David, 
to  attack,  [;'p!3^,  seneit  hostili,  as  in  1  Sam.  xxiii. 

15,  25,  xxiv.  3,  xxvi.  2. — And  David  heard  it, 
and  went  out  against  them,  properly,  "  before 
them  ;"  comp.  xii.  17.  Into  this  general  and 
indefinite  expression  our  author  has  changed  the 
more  concrete,  but  also  more  obscure,  statement 
of  Samuel:  "and  went  down  to  the  hold"  (the 
hold  of  Zion),  perhaps  designedly. — Ver.  9.  Anil 
spread  themselves  in  the  valley  of  Rephnim  ; 
comp.  on  xi.  15,  2  Sam.  v.  18:  "sat  down  in  the 
valley  of  Rephaim."  The  perhaps  more  original 
IC'Oil'V  2  Sam.  v.  18,  22,  the  C'hronist  has  her- 

and  ver.  13  exchanged  for  the  simpler  and  mon 
intelligible  ^ti^'D'V — Ver.   11.   Like  the  breaking 

of  waters,  like  an  outburst  of  water  (q'O  )'"1S3)- 

We  may  think  of  the  rending  or  outbursting  of 
enclosing  dams  by  rapid  Hoods,  perhaps  after  a 
water-spout.  The  situation  of  Baal-perazim  can- 
not be  exactly  ascertained.  Mount  1'erazim,  Isa. 
xxviii.  21,  is  not  essentially  different  from  it. — 
Ver.  12.  And  they  left  their  gods  tin  re.  2  Sam 
v. :  "  their  idols"  (CHOVJ?)-  The  present  phra." 
is  the  stronger  ;  it  yields,  along  with  the  follow- 
ing statement  regarding  the  burning  of  these  gods, 
a  bitterly  sarcastic  sense.  The  burning  took  place, 
moreover,  on  the  ground  of  the  divine  command 
in  Deut.  vii.  5,  25.  The  text  of  Samnel  weakens 
the  statement  in  a  strange  way:  "  and  David  and 
his  men  took  them  away."  If  the  more  eoncrete 
and  stronger  statement  of  our  author  is  a  tradi- 
tional expansion  of  that  text,  the  tradition  on 
which  it  rests  is  at  all  events  credible  ;  comp. 
Movers,  p.  224.  By  this  victory,  David  wiped 
out  the  old  disgrace  of  Israel,  which  rested  on  the 
people  since  Ell's  time.  "As  then  Israel  lost  the 
ark,  1  Sam.  iv.  11,  so  now  the  sacred  things  of 
the  Philistines  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Israelites  ' 
(Berth.). 

3.  The  Second  War  with  the  Philistines:  vers. 
13-17  (comp.  2  Sam.  v.  22-25). — Ami  spread 
themselves  in  the  valley,  that  is,  as  the  parallel 
text  (so  as  the  Sept.  and  Syr. ;  see  C'rit.  Xotei 
shows,  in  the  same  valley  as  above,  ver,  9, 
scarcely  in  another  at  Gibeon,  as  Movers,  p.  243, 
thinks. — Ver.  14.  Go  not  up  after  them,  that  is, 
as  Samuel  shows:  "go  not  directly  towards  them; 
seek  not  to  drive  them  before  thee  by  a  direct 
attack."  Perhaps  also  our  text  is  somewhat 
faulty,  and  to  be  amended,  according  to  2  Sam. 

v.  23:  DlV-inx  bii  3DH  rv?J,TI  t6,  by  the  change 

v    ■■-:,-        v         ■■■,      ftv-5,- 

of  QiTinX  m  Envy  (Berth.). — And  come  upon 


CHAP.  XV 


Hi 


them  by  the  bacas,  literally,  over  against  the 
bacas.  These  we  must  suppose,  as  the  divine  com 
mand  implies  a  going  round  the  Philistine  army, 
to  be  behind  them.  The  baca,  mentioned  only 
here  and  2  Sam.  v.,  and  perhaps  Ps.  Ixxxiv.  7,  is, 
according  to  AKulLuli  (in  Celsius,  Hierobot,  i. 
839),  a  plant  related  to  the  balsam  tree,  and  re- 
Bembliog  it,  which,  when  out,  discharges  a  white, 
sharp,  ami  warm  resin  in  (lie  manner  of  tears,  ami 
appears  to   have   received   its  name  from  N33. 

flare.  The  older  expositors,  wavering  uncertainly, 
render  the  term  variously:  Sept.  inij,  Vulg. 
pyrus;  Luther,  alter  the  Jewish  expositors,  mul- 
berry tree. — Ver.  15.  !'■>■  sound  going  on  Hie 
tops  of  the  bacas,  namely,  the  rustling  of  their 
Leaves  in  the  wind  (Sept.:  tv*  pavxv  raw  evtrvitvpev 
*i-<5v),  not  the  sound  occasioned  by  the  rntrain-e 
of  God  (supernatural,  as  in  Gen.  iii.  8).  As  the 
baca  has  much  larger  leaves  than  the  ordinary 
balsam,  the  rustling  of  them  may  occasion  a  suffi- 
ciently loud  sound;  the  rendering  "  baca  trees" 
(Kamph.)   is    therefore   unnecessary. — Ver.    16. 


|  And  they  smote  the  camp  qfthe  Philistines,  from 
i  Gibeon  even  untoGezer.     Two  places  of  this  name 
lie  to  the  north-west  of  Jerusalem,   the  former 
(now  el  Jib)  2£,  the  latter  14,  hours  distant  from 
it,     If  the  battle-field  is  to  be  sought  b  I  ween  the 
two,  in  the  region  of  Upper  ami  Nether  Beth-horon, 
the  valley,   ver.   13,   may  still   be  the   valley  ol 
lli'phaiin  :  only   the  sib-  of   it    should    !»'  sought 
not  so  far  south,  as  Theniu  i  and  Bertheau  supp  > 
(who  also  read  for  Gibeon  in  our  passage,  "( leba," 
according  to  -  Sam.  v.  25),  and  the  battle  must 
be  regarded  as  moving  iuanorth-we  I  rlj    lirec 
tion   from   its   starting  point   (comp.    Wellli.   on 
2  Sam.  v.  25,  also  Kw.  Gesch   d.  V.  Isr,  ii    630) 
— Ver.   17.   And  David's  fame  went  out 
lands;  and  the  Lord  brought  his  fear  upon  all 
nation*,    literally,    "  gave    his    fear    upon    all 
nations;"    comp.    Esth.    viii.    17.      A    pro 

reflection  of  our  author  added  to  tl iginal  text, 

as  its  absence  in  2  Sam.  v.  25  sh  iws.  Comp.  the 
similar  reflections  in  2  Chron.  xvii.  10,  xx.  29. 
On  Q'j'  XV'1  especially,  comp.  2  Chron.  xxvi.  15. 


i\.  The  Rem  >val  of  the  Ark  to  Jerusalem,  with  the  Solemn  Hymn  sung  on  this  occasion: 

cli.  xv.,  xvi. 

I'll.  xv.  1.   And  he  made  him  houses  in  the  city  of  David,  ami  he  prepared  a  place 

for  the  ark  of  God,  and  pitched  for  it  a  tent. 
2         Then  David  said.  None  should  carry  the  ark  of  God  but  the   Levites;  for 

the  Lord  hath  chosen  them  to  carry  the  ark  of  God,  and  to  minister  to  Him 
7  for  ever.  And  David  gathered  all  Israel  to  Jerusalem,  to  bring  up  the  ark  of 
1  the  Lord  unto  its  place  which  lie  had  prepared  for  it.  And  David  assembled 
5  the  sons  of  Aaron,  and  the  Levites.  Of  the  sons  of  Kohath  :  Uriel  the  chief. 
i'  and  his  brethren  a  hundred  and  thirty.     Of  the  sons  of  Meran  :    Asaiah  the 

7  chief,  and  his  brethren  two  hundred  and  twenty.     Of  the  sons  of  Gershom  :  Joel 

8  the  chief,  and  his  brethren  a  hundred  and  thirty.     Of  the  sons  of  Elizaphan  : 

9  Shemaiah  the  chief,  and  his  brethren  two  hundred.     Of  the  sons  of  Hebron  : 

10  Eliel  the  chief,  and  his  brethren  eighty.     Of  the  sons  of  Uzziel  :  Amminadab  the 

1 1  chief,  and  his  brethren  a  hundred  and  twelve.  And  David  called  Zadok  and 
Abiathar  the  priests,  and  the  Levites  Uriel,  Asaiah,  and  Joel,  Shemaiah,  and 

12  Eliel,  and  Amminadab.  And  said  unto  them,  Ye  chiefs  of  the  Levites,  sanctify 
yourselves  with  your  brethren,  and  bring  up  the  ark  of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel 

13  to  the  place  I  have  prepared  for  it.     For  because  ye  were  not  at  the  first,  the 
1 1  Lord  our  God  broke  out  upon  us,  because  we  sought  Him  not  aright.     And  the 

priests  and  Levites  sanctified  themselves  to  bring  up  the  ark  of  the  Lord  God  of 
15   Israel.      And  the  sons  of  the   Levites  bare  the  ark  of  God,  as  Moses  commanded 

by  the  word  of  the  Lord,  upon  their  shoulders,  with  staves  upon  them. 
1G         And  David  said  to  the  chiefs  of  the  Levites,  to  appoint  their  brethren  the 

singers  with  instruments,  psalteries,  and  harps,  and  cymbals,  sounding,  to  lift  up 

17  the  sound  with  gladness.  And  the  Levites  appointed  Heman  son  of  Joel ;  ard 
of  his  brethren,  Asaph  son  of  Berechiah  ;  and  of  the  sons  of  Merari  their  brethren, 

18  Ethan  son  of  Kushaiah.1  And  with  them  their  brethren  of  the  second  degree: 
Zechariah,2  and  Jaaziel,  and  Shemiramoth,  and  Jehiel,  and  Unni,  Eliab,  and 
Benaiah,  and  Maaseiah,  and  Mattithiah,  and  Elipheleh,  and  Mikneiah,  and  Obed- 

19  edom,  and  Jeiel,  the  porters.     And  the  singers,  Heman,  Asaph,  and  Ethan,  with 
•_'ii  cymbals  of  brass  to  sound  aloud.     And  Zechariah,  and  Aziel,  and  Shemiramoth, 

and  Jehiel,  and  Unni,  and  Eliab,  and  Maaseiah,  and  Benaiah.  with   psalteries 

•21   in  the  way  of  ma:-.li»ns.     Ami   Mattithiah,  and  Eliph  leh.   and  Mikneiah.  ami 

Obed-edom,    and   .Teiel,    and    Azaziah,    with    harps   after   the    octave   to   lead. 

22  And  Chenaniah,   chief  of  the   Levites;"'   for  he   instructed  in   bearing,    for   ho 

23  was   skilful.       And   Berechiah    and    ELkanah    were   door-keepers    for   tin'   ark 

24  And  Shebaniah,  and  Joshaphat,   and   Kathaneel,   .ami   Amasai,   ami   ZechaiiaO, 


112  I.  CHRONICLES. 


and  Benaiah,  and  Eliezer,  the  priests,  blew"1  with  the  trumpets  before  the  ark  of 
God  ;  and  Obed-edom  and  Jehiah  were  door  keepers  for  the  ark. 

25  And  David,  and  the  elders  of  Israel,  and  the  captains  of  thousands,  were 
going  to  bring  up  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  out  of  the  house  of  Obed 

26  edom  with  gladness.     And  when  God  helped  the  Levites  bearing  the  ark  of  the 

27  covenant  of  the  Lord,  then  they  offered  seven  bullocks  and  seven  ranis.  And 
David  was  clothed  with  a  robe  of  byssus,  and  all  the  Levites  bearing  the  ark, 
and  the  singers,  and  Chenaniah  the  master  of  the  bearing  [the singers]  ;5  and  upon 

28  David  was  a  linen  ephod.  And  all  Israel  brought  up  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of 
the  Lord  with  shouting,  and  with  sound  of  cornet,  and  with  trumpets,  and  with 

29  cymbals  sounding,  with  psalteries  and  harps.  And  when  the  ark  of  the  covenant 
of  the  Lord  came  to  the  city  of  David,  then  Michal,  daughter  of  Saul,  looked  out 
from  the  window,  and  saw  King  David  leaping  and  playing;  and  she  despised  him 
in  her  heart. 

Ch.  XVI.  1.  And  they  brought  the  ark  of  God,  and  set  it  in  the  tent  that  David  had 
pitched  for  it ;  and  they  offered  burnt-offerings  and  peace-offerings  before  God. 

2  And  David  made  an  end  of  offering  burnt-offerings  and  peace-offerings,  and  blessed 

3  the  people  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  And  he  dealt  to  every  one  of  Israel,  both 
man  and  woman,  to  every  one  a  loaf  of  bread,  and  a  measure  [of  wine],  and  a  grape 
cake. 

4  And  he  appointed  before  the  ark  of  the  Lord  ministers  of  the  Levites,  to 

5  record,  and  to  thank  and  to  praise  the  Lord  God  of  Israel.  Asaph  the  chief,  and 
next  to  him  Zechariah,  Jeiel,6  and  Shemiramoth,  and  Jehiel,  and  Mattithiah,  and 
Eliab,  and  Benaiah,  and  Obed-edom,  and  Jeiel,  with  psalteries  and  harps  ;  and 

6  Asaph   sounding  with  cymbals.     And   Benaiah  and   Jahaziel  the  priests  with 

7  trumpets  continually  before  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  God.  On  that  day  then 
David  ordered  for  the  first  time  to  thank  the  Lord  by  Asaph  and  his 
brethren.7 

8  Thank  ye  the  Lord,  call  on  His  name, 

Make  known  His  deed  among  the  peoples. 

9  Sing  ye  to  Him,  play  ye  to  Him  ; 

Muse  on  all  His  wonders. 

10  Glory  ye  in  His  holy  name  ; 

Let  the  heart  of  them  that  seek  the  Lord  be  glad. 

1 1  Seek  ye  the  Lord  and  His  strength, 

Seek  ye  His  face  continually. 

12  Remember  His  wonders  that  He  hath  done, 

His  signs,  and  the  judgments  of  His  mouth, 

13  0  ye  seed  of  Israel  His  servant, 

Ye  sons  of  Jacob,  His  chosen. 

14  He  the  Lord  is  our  God, 

His  judgments  are  in  all  the  earth. 

15  Remember  His  covenant  for  ever — 

The  word  He  commanded  to  a  thousand  ages. 
1(5  Which  He  made  with  Abraham, 

And  His  oath  unto  Isaac. 
1 7  And  appointed  it  to  Jacob  for  a  statute, 

To  Israel  for  an  everlasting  covenant. 
l)j  Saying,  To  thee  I  give  the  land  of  Canaan, 

The  line  of  your  inheritance. 

19  When  ye  were  small  in  number, 

Few,  and  strangers  in  it. 

20  And  they  went  from  nation  to  nation, 

And  from  one  kingdom  to  another  people. 

21  He  let  m  man  do  them  wrong, 

And  reproved  kings  for  their  sake. 

22  "Touch  not  mine  anointed, 

And  do  my  prophets  no  harm." 


THAI'.  XVI.  11 


?3  Sing  ye  to  the  Lord,  all  the  earth  ; 

Proclaim  from  day  to  Jay  His  salvation. 

24  Tell  ye  among  the  nations  His  glory, 

His  wonders  among  all  the  peoples. 

25  For  great  is  the  Lord,  and  greatly  to  be  praised ; 

And  He  is  to  be  feared  above  all  gods. 

26  For  all  the  gods  of  the  peoples  are  idols; 

But  the  Lord  made  the  heavens. 

27  Majesty  and  honour  are  before  Him, 

Strength  and  gladness  are  in  His  place. 

28  Give  unto  the  Lord,  ye  kindreds  of  the  people, 

Give  unto  the  Loud  glory  and  strength. 

29  Give  to  the  Lord  the  glory  due  to  His  name ; 

Bring  an  oblation,  and  come  before  Him  ; 
Worship  the  Lord  in  the  beauty  of  holiness. 

30  Tremble  before  Him,  all  the  earth  : 

The  world  will  also  stand  fast  without  moving. 

31  Let  the  heavens  be  glad,  and  let  the  earth  rejoice  ; 

And  let  them  sing  among  the  nations,  The  Lord  reigneth. 

32  Let  the  sea  roar,  and  the  fulness  thereof; 

Let  the  field  rejoice,  and  all  that  is  therein. 

33  Then  shall  the  trees  of  the  wood  sing  out 

Before  the  Lord  ;  for  He  cometh  to  judge  the  earth. 

34  Thank  ye.  the  Lord  ;  for  He  is  good  ; 

For  His  mercy  endureth  for  ever. 

35  And  say  ye,  Save  us,  0  God  of  our  salvation, 

And  gather  us  and  deliver  us  from  the  heathen, 
To  thank  Thy  holy  name, 
To  glory  in  Thy  praise. 

36  Blessed  be  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel, 

For  ever  and  ever. 
And  all  the  people  said,  Amen,  and  praised  the  Lord. 

37  And  he  left  there,  before  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord,  Asaph  ana 
his  brethren,  to  minister  before  the  ark  continually,  for  the  day's  work  in  its  day. 

38  And  Obed-edom 8  and  their  brethren  sixty  and  eight ;  and  Obed-edom,  son  of 

39  Jedithun.  and  Hosah,  to  be  porters.     And  Zadok  the  priest,  and  his  brethren 
the  priests,  before  the  tabernacle  of  the  Lord,  in  the  high  place  that  was  at 

40  Gibeon.     To  offer  burnt-offerings  to  the  Lord  on  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  con- 
tinually morning  and  evening,  and  for  all  that  is  written  in  the  law  of  the  Lord, 

41  which  He  commanded  Israel.     And  with  them  Heman  and  Jeduthun,  and  the 
rest  that  were  chosen,  who  were  expressed  by  name,  to  thank  the  Lord,  that  His 

42  mercy  endureth  for  ever.     And  with  them,  Heman  and  Jeduthun,9  were  trumpets 
and  cymbals  for  loud  sounding,  and  [other]  instruments  of  God  ;  and  the  sons  of 

43  Jeduthun  were  at  the  gate.     And  all  the  people  went  every  man  to  his  house; 
and  David  turned  in  to  bless  his  house. 

'  ^rVwTp,    without  variation,  while  in  vi.  29  the  name  is    *t^p,  anil  so  the  Sept.  read  here   Kurxttu  (Vulg. 
Catajse) 

•  |3  after  }!T~GT  has  come  into  the  text  by  a  mistake  of  the  pen,  as  the  \  before  the  next  name  shows.    On  the 
contrary,  the  name  }i"PUy  seems  to  have  fallen  out  at  the  close  of  ver.  18  (see  Exeg.). 

3  Xt^C3-     So  most  editions,  in  the  first  place;  whereas  II.  Xorzi  has  St^D3  even  the  first  time. 

'  Kethib:   D"1VSnO-     fori:  D'li'riO   [pnrlic    lliph)       The  same    variation   recurs  2  Chron.  v.  13.  where,  h(r»- 
fver,  the  Keri  is  to  be  read  a^  parHe.  Pi.   (C^iTTO^1)- 

H 


1:1 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


»  The  words  D,_nb>l3n   NC?G>n  "lt?il   !T9331  arc  wanting  in  the  Pe<h.    At  least,  D'yi't^On  should  apparent! 
he  erased  as  unmeaning  (comp.  Exeg.).  though  the  Sept.  and  Vulg.  have  it. 

"  Instead  of  PSOrY1  after  xv.  18    s  certainly  to  be  read  here,  in  the  first  place  (after  JYiDTDL").  PS'lI)^- 

7  The  variants  in  this  song,  from  its  parallel  in  the  Psalter  (Ps.  cv.,  xcvi.,  cvi.",,  see  in  Exeg. 

8  After  D1X  "12}?i   as  the  plur.  sutf.  in  DiTnXI  shows  must  at  least  one  name,  probably  ilDm  (see  the  follow 
lng),  have  fallen  out. 

9  The  names   pJllT'l   }Dsn    were  nut  read  by  the  Sept,    (y,oii  imt   uutZv  trockwyys;  xxi  zv,u.{3x\ct  rod  «»«c»-'w"». 

«.->. ),  and  appear  to  be  repeated  by  mistake  from  the  preceding  verse,  which  also  begins  with  DnB>'V 


EXEGETICAI,. 

Preliminary  Remark. — Instead  of  the  brief 
description  of  the  parallel  text  2  Sam.  vi.  11-23, 
our  author  gives  a  detailed  account:  1.  Of  the 
preparations  for  the  solemn  act  of  transferring  the 
ark  into  its  new  sanctuary  in  Jerusalem,  xv.  1-24, 
including  o.  The  erection  of  the  tent  for  the 
reception  of  the  ark,  ver.  1  ;  b.  a  conference  of  the 
king  with  the  priests  and  Levites,  vers.  2-1  ti;  and 
c.  the  selection  of  the  Levites  appointed  for  the 
chief  part  in  the  solemnity  (and  therefore  desig- 
nated by  name),  vers.  16-24.  2.  Then  follows 
the  execution  of  the  so  prepared  holy  act  itself, 
xv.  25-xvi.  3  ;  at  the  close  of  which  conies  the 
description  of  the  first  solemn  service  before  the 
ark  in  its  new  sanctuary  on  Zion,  xvi.  4-43,  in- 
cluding the  psalm  of  praise  and  thanks  then  sung, 
vers.  8-36.  This  long  closing  section  is  (except 
the  last  verse)  pociutar  to  the  Chronist.  On  its 
credibility,  and  especially  on  the  genuineness  and 
age  of  the  psalm  of  praise  and  thanks,  see  at  the 
close  of  these  expositions. 

1.  The  Preparation  for  the  Removal :  and  first, 
a.  The  erection  of  the  tent  on  Zion:  xv.  1. — And 
he  made  him  houses  m  the  city  of  David.  This 
may  be  understood  of  the  building  of  other  houses 
besides  the  palace  built  with  the  aid  of  Hiram  of 
Tyre,  xiv.  1  (Berth.,  Kamph.);  but  as  the  verb 
used  is  nt'J).  not  rU3,  it  appears  rather  to  refer  to 
the  internal  finishing  of  a  palace  for  the  abode  of 
the  king  and  his  wives. — And  he  prepared  a  place 
for  tlir  nrk  nf  God.  This  was  probably  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  king's  house 
adjoining  it  ;  fur  here  the  one  of  the  two  existing 
high  priests,  Abiathar  the  Ithamaride,  who,  since 
the  massacre  at  Nob,  was  constantly  about  David 
(as  it  were,  his  court  or  domestic  priest,  while 
Zadok  of  the  house  of  Eleazar  officiated  at  Gibeon ), 
was  to  exercise  his  functions. — And  pitched  for 
it  a  tent,  we  majT  suppose,  after  the  model  id"  the 
old  tabernacle  still  existing  at  Gibeon  (xvi.  39  f., 
xxi.  29;  1  Kings  iii.  4  11'.).  but  only  as  a  pro- 
visional sanctuary. 

2.  Continuation,  b.  The  conference  with  the 
priests  and  Levites:  vers.  2-15.  —  Then  David 
-aid,  namely,  at  the  end  of  the  three  months, 
xiii.  14. — None  should  carry,  properly,  "  it  is 
tnt  to  carry."  With  this  confession  of  the  sole 
right  of  the  Levites  to  carry  the  ark  (comp. 
Sum.  i.  50,  iv.  15,  vii.  9,  x.  17),  David  acknow- 
ledges that  it  was  unlawful  to  convey  it  on  a 
waggon,  xiii.  7. — Ver.  3.  And  David  gathered 
all  Israel,  by  its  natural  representatives,  the 
tlders  and  captains  of  thousands ;  see  ver.  25,  and 
oornp.  2  Sam.  vi.  15:  "  all  the  house  of  Israel." 
Of  this  summons  to  a  previous  consultation  in 
Jerusalem  nothing  further  is  reported,  2  Sam.  vi. 
— \  er.  4.  A  ml  David  assembled  the  sons  of  Aaron, 
■md  thf   Levites  :  he  formed  of  these  representa- 


tives of  the  priesthood  an  inner  circle  in  the 
assembly  of  the  people,  to  hear  their  counsel  re- 
garding the  order  of  the  solemnities.  "  The  sons 
nf  Aaron  "  are  the  high  priests  Zadok  and  AbU- 
tliir,  ver.  11;  the  "Levites"  are  the  six  chiefs 
named  in  vers.  5-10,  with  their  brethren. — Ver. 
5.  tif  the  sons  of  Kohath:  Uriel,  the  chief ;  see 
vi.  9.  The  Kohathite  chief  is  named  first,  be- 
cause the  ministry  of  the  most  holy,  the  carrying 
of  the  most  holy  vessels  of  the  tabernacle,  belonged 
to  the  Kohathites,  the  family  from  which  Aaron 
tin-  high  priest  sprang,  Num.  iv.  4,  15,  vii.  9 
(Keil). —  On  the  Merarite  chief  Asaiah,  comp.  vi. 
15  ;  on  Joel,  the  chief  of  the  sons  of  Gershom, 
vi.  21. — Vers.  8-10  name  the  chiefs  of  three  other 
Kohathite  families,  those  of  Elizaphan  (  =  Elza- 
phan  son  of  Uzziel,  Ex.  vi.  22),  of  Hebron  (son 
of  Kohath,  Ex.  vi.  18  ;  comp.  1  Chron.  v.  28), 
and  of  Uzziel.  The  last  named  is  probably  not 
different  from  the  Kohathite  Uzziel,  father  of 
Elizaphan,  Ex.  vi.  22  ;  there  are  thus  formed  of 
the  sons  of  this  Uzziel  two  houses,  of  which  one 
is  named  after  Elizaphan,  the  other  after  Uzziel 
himself,  and  not  any  of  his  other  sons.  There 
in-  then  in  all  four  Kohathite  houses,  with  one 
Merarite  and  one  Gershomite,  here  represented;  a 
strong  preference  of  the  house  of  Kohath,  which 
is  not  surprising,  because  the  conveyance  of  the 
ark  specially  belonged  to  them.  —  Ver.  11.  And 
David  called  Zadok  (of  Eleazar,  v.  27  If.)  and 
Abiathar  (of  Ithamar),  the  high  priests,  who 
then  acted  together;  see  above  on  ver.  1,  and 
comp.  xxiv.  3;  2  Sam.  xv.  24  ff..  xx.  25.  —  Ver.  12. 
)".  chiefs  of  the  Levites,  literally,  "ye  chiefs  of 
the  fathers  of  the  Levites  ;"  comp.  viii.  6,  10. — 
Sanctify  yourselves  with  your  brethren,  properly, 
"ye  and  your  brethren."  Tin-  "sanctifying" 
consisted  in  keeping  from  their  wives,  from  con- 
tact with  unclean  things,  and  also  in  washing  the 
body  and  the  clothes;  comp.  Gen.  xxxv.  2  with 
Ex.'xix.   10,  15,  also  2  Chron.   xxx.  3.— To  (the 

place i   /  linn    prepared  fur  it,  ip  vrij'SiTvN. 

The  same  elliptical  construction  (with  omitted 
"lu'N.  or  immediate  connection  of  the   relative 

sentence  with  the  preposition)  see  in  2  Chron.  i.  4, 
comp.  1  Chron.  xxix.  3;  2  Chron.  xvi.  9,  xxx.  18: 
Neh.  viii.  10  (Ew.  §  333,  b).—  Ver.  13.  For  because 
ye  were  not  at  the  beginning,  or  "ye  were  not 
those,  who  bare  the  ark."  "At  the  beginning." 
on  the  former  occasion,  when  three  months  before 
the  ark  was  brought  from  Kiriath-jearim,  xiii. 

On   the  peculiar  construction  !"l3ie>tn3D?  (from 

nbb  and  ru^'toa).  comp.  hn^pd  =  n^rrnc, 

Mai.  i.  13,  and  Ew.  §  91,  d.  na^  in  this  com- 
pound  signifies    "for   this,    that,"   "bemuse;" 


i'I!  \P.  XV.   15-22. 


>!  , 


jniup.  live.  §  222,  a.  353,  a.— Tin  I,,,,- 1 

broh  '-mi  upon  H.s.xiii.  '.  I),  because  «•<  sought  Him 

not  aright,  I ause  we  approached  Him  not  in  the 

manner  prescribed  by  law,  had  neglected  to  testify 
inn'  reverence  to  Him  by  keeping  the  legal  regula- 
tion, that  only  Levites  should  bear  the  holy  things 
—  v*er.  15.  -'I'"'  the  sons  of  the.  Levites  bear  the 
ark  ni'  God.  An  anticipation,  occasioned  by  that 
which  wassail  in  the  verse  before  o  the  immc- 
rliate  i  -^ ^.mi t  i< >n  of  the  order  for  the  purification 
of  the  Levites.  See  the  particulars,  tot.  25  if. — 
Upon  their  shoulders,  with  staves  upon  them,  upon 
their  shoulders.     On  nolo  (from  uio,  ''waver"), 

the  polo,  romp.  Num.  xiii.  23  (also  Lev.  xxvi.  13; 
Ezek.  xxxiv.  27).  In  the  Pentat.  the  poles  arc 
besides  called  D«|3,  Ex.  xxv.  13  ff.,  etc. 

3.  Clone,  c.  The  appointment  of  the  Levitical 
singers  for  the  solemnity:  vers.  16-24. —  To  ap- 
point their  brethren  the  singers  with  instruments, 
properly,  "with  instruments  of  song,"  that  is,  to 

accompany  the  singing.  Such  -\iy}  173  (comp. 
N'ch.  xii.  36)  are  now  named  in  three  classes  :  1. 
0^3.3.  ^Blrift*  (Sept.),  or  nablia  (Vulg.),  guitar- 
like  instruments,  consisting  of  an  oblong  chest 
with  tlat  bottom  ami  convex  sounding  board,  over 
which  strings  of  win-  war  stretched,  called  by 
Luther,  in  accordance  with  the  Sept.  (and  the 
Arab,  santir),  psalteries,  by  others  "harps"  or 
nablia;  2.  ni"lS3  (Sept.  xltufcu,  Vulg.  lyres),  harps 

or  lute-like  instruments,  rendered  by  Luther  not 
unsuitably,  "  harps,"  though  lutes  would  perhaps 
he   more   correct  [rather  should   the   former   be 

called  lutes] ;  3.  D'JTOO  (equivalent  to  the  older 
term  D^SX^S,  2  Sam.  vi.  5;  Ps.  el.  5),  here  more 
Hilly  defined  by  the  epithet  □,JTO"'0,  "  clear- 
sounding"  (making to  hear),  which  belongs  neither 
:o  all  the  three  instruments  (Berth.),  nor  to  the 
too  remote  ' '  their  brethren  the  singers' '  { Kamph. ), 
hut,  as  in  vers.   19,  28,  and  xvi.   5,   42,  only  to 

lTDPVD  ;  comp.  Botteh.  Neue  exeg.-krit.  Aehrenl. 

iii.  223  f.  (who,  however,  assigns  to  the  term  the 
unsuitable  meaning,  "beating  time"). — To  lift  up 
the  sound  with  ijlndness,  to  express  or  signify  joy; 
:onip.  ver.  25;  2  Cliron.  xxiii.  18,  xxix.  30.  This 
telic  clause  refers  not  merely  to  the  clear-sounding 
cymbals,  but  to  the  chief  sentence. — Ver.  17.  And 
the  Levites  appointed  Ifeman  son  of  Joel.  That 
this  Heman  was  of  the  family  of  the  Kohathites, 
and  Asaph  of  the  Gershonites  (comp.  vi.  18,  24), 
is  not  here  stated  ;  only  of  the  third  song-master 
Ethan  is  his  family,  or  his  descent  from  Merari, 
expressly  mentioned.  On  the  name  of  Ethan's 
father,  Kushaiah,  see  Crit.  Note. — Ver.  18.  And 
with  them  their  brethren  of  the  second  degree. 
On  Q^'J'Qn,  "  the  second  in  rank,"  comp.  the 
sing.  rO'J'Bn.  2  Kings  xxiii.  4  and  1  Chron.  xvi. 

5. — Zechariah  and  Jaaziel.  For  the  certainly 
spurious  |2  after  irVDT.  see    Crit.     Note.       The 

here  named  Jaaziel  is  certainly  identical  with  the 
Aziel,  ver.  20,  and  with  the  J.  hi,  xvi.  5.  or  rafter 
these  names  are  to  be  changed  into  the  present 
one. — And   Obed-edom   and  Jeiel  the  porters. 


The  office  of  doorkeepei  does  not  exclude  limit 
acting  also  as  musicians,  as  ver.  21  shows.  After 
Jeiel,  as  the  sane-  verse  I  aches,  1  lie  name  Azaziah 
must  have  fallen  out,  so  thai  .1  iginally  there  wer« 
nut  thirteen  but  fourtci  "  persons  named  as  musi- 
cians ol  1  he  iond  ordi  r.  After  these  singers 
ami  musicians  have  been  mentioned  by  name  (and 
in  two  orders  01  ranks,  vers.  17  and  1 8  ,  they  are 
again  brought  forward,  ers.  i'.'  21,  divided  into 
three  choirs,  after  the  musical  instruments  01. 
which  they  played. — Ver.  19.  TheCymbalPt  1 
Herman,  Asaph,  and  Ethan. —  With  cymbals  of 
brass  to  sound  uhmd,  the)  were  hound,  bad  this 
to  do.  The  cymbals  wane  wholly  ol  I 
1  ('or.  xiii.  1:  jj«*««V  «£<">',   and  Joseph.    Antiij 

vii.     12.     3:     *w/*/3aAa    *rt    ti*    vkxrix    xcci    ftiyiXu 

Xakxix.     The  "loud-sounding"  (jPOtjin)  of  the 

three  cymbal  players  was  designed  to  beat  time  or 
dired  ;  for  in  ver.  17  they  are  placed  before  as 
leaders. — Ver.  20.  The  Players  on  Psalteries  or 
Nablia:  Zechariah  and  Seven  Others.  Of  these, 
wdio  are  lore  repeated  with  slight  changes  from 
ver.  18  (instead  of  Jaaziel,  the  second  is  here  called 
Aziel;  and  at  the  end  of  the  first  series  stand-  here 
M.nseiah  before  Benaiah,  there  inversely),  it  is 
here  stated  that  they  played  with  psalteiies  in  the 

way  of  maidens.     rS'27V'?V  's  certainl)  the  name 

of  that  tone,  which  sounds  in  a  high,  clear  voice, 

that  is,  the  soprano,  as  the  following  rWDBfiV.^, 

"after  (or  on)  the  octave,"  is  equivalent  to  "on 
the  bass,"  al  ottava  bassa.  Comp.  Del.  on  Ps. 
vi.  1,  xlvi.  1.  — Ver.  21.  The  Harp  or  Lute  Players 
Mattaniah  and  Five  Others. —  With  harps  after 
the  octave  to  lead.  How  this  leading  or 'in 
expressed  by  nV3  is  distinct  from  that  which  is 
expressed,  ver.  19,  by  j,"OB;n,  we  can  no  longer 
define  ;  at  all  events,  it  was  not  such  directing  as 
could  belong  only  to  the  music-master.  Comp. 
Delitzsch  on  Ps.  iv.  1. — Vers.  22-24  bring  forward 
the  other  Levites  engaged  in  the  solemn  procession. 
— And  1  'In  naniah,  chief  of 'flu  Levites,for  61  aring 
XC7D3  (or  as  perhaps  is  to  be  read,  with  R.  Norzi, 

!>5'B>133)  's  scarcely  to  be  understood  of  any  presid- 
ing or  overseeing  action  of  Chenaniah  (as  the 
Sept.  0  a^«i  tv*  »S^v,  Vulg.  propjtetice  prazerat 
ad  prcednendam  melodiam;  Luth.  "to  instruct  in 
singing;"  L.  Lavater,  supremusmusicus;  Kamph. 
and  ethers,  "the  leader  in  execution,"  etc.  1. 
The  phrase  is  rather  to  be  referred  to  the  bearing 
of  the  ark,  wdiich,  according  to  ver.  23 f.,  is  here 
in  question  (comp.  also  xt?C  lu  2  Chron.   xxw    3 

and  Num.  iv.  19).  With  this  agrees,  rightly 
conceived,  ver.  27,  as  well  as  the  later  mention  -A 
Chenaniah  in  xxvi.  2;',  where  In'  is  placed  over 
the  outward  business  of  the  Levites  (rightly 
Berth,  and  Keil  ;  undecided  Kamph.).  —  In- 
structed in  bearing;  for  he  was  skilful,  acquainted 
with  the  ritual,  experienced  in  the  ceremonial 
relative  to  the  bearing  of  the  ark.  W.hethi  1  we 
take  13'  as   inf.   abs.    Kal  in    the   sense  of  the 

verb.  fin.  -id',  "instruct"  (J.  II.  Mich.,  Gesen., 

etc.).  or  as  imperf.   of  viD  =  -n;j',   "be   chief. 

command"  (Berth.,  etc.),  or  as  a  subst.  in  the 
sense  of  "instructor"  (Kcil),  the  meaning  of  pre- 
siding,  directing,   leading,    is   at  all   events   « 


116 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


pressed  by  the  word. — Ver.  23.  And  Berechiah 
and  Elkanah  were  doorkeepers  Jot  the  ark,  who 
were  to  guard  not  so  much  the  doors  of  the  ark 
itself  as  those  of  the  tent  that  gave  access  to  it  ; 
thus,  ill  general,  to  guard  the  ark.  As  these  two 
at  first,  and  then  at  the  close  of  the  following 
verse,  Obed-ndom  and  Jehiih  also,  are  named  as 
doorkeepers  of  the  ark,  we  must  regard  the  former 
two  as  going  before  the  ark  during  the  solemn 
procession,  and  the  latter  two  as  following  after, 
('lose  by  the  ark,  however,  either  immediately 
before  it  or  o:i  the  two  sides,  the  seven  priests 
blowing  trumpets,  ver.  24,  may  be  supposed  to  go. 
— Ver.  24.  And  Sliebaniah  .  .  .  blew  with  trumpets 
before  the  ark  of  God.  Whether  the  Kethxb 
a'ISXnD   (de)iom.     from    mXiTl)    or    the    Keri 

ansriD  {Hiph,  of  -ivn)  is  read   does   not  affect 

the  sense.  The  blowing  of  trumpets  here  is  ac- 
cording to  the  prescription,  Num.  x.  1-10,  and 
the  example  of  the  compassing  of  Jericho,  Josh. 
vi.  4-0. — And  Obed-edom  and  Jehiah  were  door- 
keepers for  the.  ark.  Of  these,  Obed-edom  was  a 
son  of  Jeduthun,  xvi.  38,  and  so  perhaps  different 
from  him  of  the  same  name  among  the  singers, 
vers.  18,  21  (though  he  also,  ver.  18,  is  called  a 
doorkeeper).  Perhaps  also  the  Jehiah  named  with 
him  is  not  to  be  identified  with  Jehiel  there 
(vers.  18  and  21)  named  with  Obed-edom  (against 
Raschi,  Berth.,  etc.).  It  is  plain  that  according  to 
all  this  the  whole  procession  included  the  follow- 
ing divisions  : — 1.  The  singers  arranged  in  three 
choirs  ;  2.  Chenaniah  the  captain  of  the  bearers 
(as  it  were  marshal) ;  3.  Two  doorkeepers ;  4. 
Seven  priests  blowing  trumpets  close  by  the  ark  ; 
5.  Two  doorkeepers.  After  these  followed,  ver. 
25,  the  king,  with  the  elders  and  captains  of 
thousands. 

4.  The  Execution  of  that  which  was  resolved  in 
the  Assembly  :  xv.  25-xvi.  3. — AndDavidand  the 
elders  of  Israel,  and  the  captains  of  thousands 
(commanders  over  the  thousands,  chiliarchs).   <nM 

'131  -pii  connects  this  with  ver.  3,  after  the  details 

concerning  the  preparations  have  intervened.  The 
parallel  2  Sam.  vi.  12  wants  this  connecting  Vpl, 
and  does  not  mention  the  elders  and  chiliarchs 
alon"  with  David. — Ver.  26.  And  when  God 
helped  the  Levites,  permitted  them  without  danger 
or  harm  to  convey  the  ark,  thus  to  escape  the 
fate  of  Uzza.  The  ottering  of  seven  bullocks  and 
seven  rams  seems  to  have  been  made  at  the  close 
of  the  procession,  after  he  conveyance  had  been 
successfully  cond-i;ted.  Otherwise  2  Sam.  vi. 
13  where  "(at  least  in  the  Masoretic  text)  David, 
after  the  bearers  of  the  ark  had  made  the  first  six 
steps,  offered  a  sacrifice.  It  is  probable  that  both 
accounts  are  origiual,  and  that  the  two  must  be 
harmonized  and  combined. — Ver.  27.  And  David 
was  clothed  with  a  robe  of  byssus.     Instead  of 

these  words  (p3  ^JJD3  ^SXSD  TH))'  2  Sa™- 
vi.  14  presents  }jri>D3  "OT3D  "Pill  (witu  tne 
addition  niiV  V|b|>)-  That  ^130  is  corrupted 
from  -Q-OO.  and  J*>3  ^VOZ  from  TJT^33 
(Berth.,  etc.  ;  also  Bottcher,  Neue  Aehrenlese, 
iii.  224),  might  be  assumed,  ll  the  ni!V  MB^, 
wantiug  in  our  text,  did  not  create  a  difficulty. 


For  this  assumption,  according  to  which  the 
Chronist  shall  have  thought  it  unbecoming  to 
speak  of  David  (and,  with  Berth.,  the  Levites 
also)  dancing,  though  in  ver.  29  and  xiii.  8  he 
states,  or  at  least  implies,  this  fact  quite  freely, 
it  is  at  all  events  easier  to  regard  both  texts  as 
abbreviations  of  one  and  the  same  narrative  con- 
tained in  the  common  sources  of  our  author, 
which,  besides  the  dancing  of  David  (which  the 
Chronist  merely  presupposes,  while  the  author  of 
2  Samuel  gives  it  prominence),  contained  full 
reports  of  the  clothing  of  David,  and  of  the 
Levites  around  him.  It  is  accordingly  to  he 
supposed  that  the  Chronist  has  taken  only  thrse 
latter  reports  in  full,  "  because  the  statement 
concerning  the  clothing  of  the  king  and  the 
Levites  appeared  more  important  for  the  purpose 
of  describing  fully  the  religious  aspect  of  the  pro- 
cession, as  this  import  of  it  was  more  conspicuous 
here  ;  for  the  dress  which  the  king  wore  had  a 
priestly  character"  (Keil  ;  comp.  Movers,  p.  168). 

That  the  verb  7313,  "to  be  wrapt  up,"  belongs 
to  the  later  usage  of  speech,  or  rather,  is  properly 
Chaldaic  (Dan.  iii.  21),  can  scarcely  bring  into 
question  the  justice  of  this  harmonistic  assump- 
tion (against  Bbttch.). — And  all  the-  Levites  .  .  . 
and  the  singers,  and  Chenaniah.  To  these  also 
obviously  applies  the  being  "clothed  with  a  robe 
of  byssus,"  which  is  first  said  of  David.  All 
these,  who  are  here  in  apposition  with  David,  are 
described  as  adorned  with  priestly  attire,  with 
the  meil  of  byssus  (comp.  the  byssus  attire  of 
the  Levites  and  singers  in  the  dedication  of  the 
temple  by  Solomon,  2  Chron.  v.  12,  and  for  the 
meil,  the  upper  garment  of  distinguished  persons, 
1  Sam.  ii.  19,  xv.  27,  xviii.  4,  xxiv.  5;  Ezra  ix. 
3;  Job  xxix.  14).  The  closing  sentence,  "and 
upon  David  was  a  linen  ephod, "  first  names  the 
distinguishing  part  of  the  clothing  of  the  king  as 
the  sovereign  of  the  priestly  people  (comp.  2  Sam. 
vi.  14).  The  designation  of  Chenaniah  as  "the 
master  of  the   bearing"    (xt'Bil  "lfe>n  with   the 

double  article ;  comp.  Ew.  §  290,  d)  is  to  be 
understood  according  to  ver.  22  ;  the  unmeaning : 
"the  singers,"  after  NBTSn,  appears  spurious  (see 

Crit.  Note) ;  even  if  we  understood  NtSW  "f  musi- 
cal performance,  this  addition  would  be  disturb- 
ing.— Ver.  28.  With  shouting,  and  with  sound  of 
cornet,  etc.  Shorter  and  simpler  2  Sam.  vi.  15, 
without  naming  the  several  instruments. — Ver. 
29.  Then  Michal  .  .  .  sow  King  David  leaping 
and  playing.  Instead  of  pnC'SDI  TplD.  2  Sam. 
vi.  16  has  ns-ODI  WBO-     This  brief  reference  to 

the  well-known  history,  fully  reported  in  2  Sam. 
vi.  16,  20-23,  of  the  dispute  between  David  ami 
Michal,  shows  sufficiently  that  the  Chronist  did 
not  wish  to  be  silent  concerning  this  matter  from 
dogmatic  or  aesthetic  considerations.  Moreover, 
ver.  29-xvi.  3  agrees  in  all  essentials  with  2  Sam. 
vi.  16-19a. — Ch.  xvi.  3.    To  every  one.  a  toaf  of 

bread  (Oph  "133,  the  more  usual  phrase  for  the 
rarer  '{j  n^ri  used  in  2  Sam.  vi.  19),  and  a  measure 
(of  wine),  and  a  grape  cake.  The  IBC'N-  occur- 
ring only  here  and  2  Samuel,  is  explained  by  the 
Vulg.,  Chald.,  and  Syr.,  and  by  several  Rabbis 
and  moderns  (Ew.,  Berth.,  Kaniph.),  as  "a  piece 


CHAP.   XVI    4-27. 


117 


i.f  flesh"  (roast),  as  it' train  -i£,  ox.  and  L"X.  fire, 
or  rather  from  iBt?  =  SpK>,  "to  burn."  But  the 
reference  of  the  word  to  "I2tj>,  in  the  sense  of  the 
Aethiopic  safara=metiril  "  to  measure,"  is  better 
ascertained,  according  to  which,  is'j'x  (with  x 
prosthet.)  signifies  a  portion  of  drink,  a  measure 
of  wine  (de  Dieu,  Gesen.,  Rodiger,  lieil,  etc.). 
On  n'w'^'N,  "grape  or  raisin  cake"  (from  c'^'X. 

*o  make  firm,  press),  comp.  Song  ii.  5,  Hos.  iii. 
i,  and  the  equivalent  Q'WDXi  xn-  40. 

5.  The  First  Solemn  Service  before  the  A  rh  in 
Jerusalem,  and  the  Institution  of  Divine  Service 
in  general:  vers.  4-43. — a.  The  Levites  appointed 
for  service  by  David:  vers.  4-6. — And  he  appointed 
(properly,  "gave;"  comp.  ver.  7)  before  the  ark 
of  the  Lord  ministers  of  the  Levitts,  namely,  as 
the  addition  "to  record,  etc."  shows,  singers  and 
players  for  the  purpose  of  sacred  singing,  Levi- 
ticat  ministers  (XiiTai/jjj/aSvTat!,  Sept. ).  —  To  record, 

mid  to  thank,  and  to  praise.     T3Ti"v,  literally, 

"to  bring  to  remembrance,  to  pray  at  the  rPSfX 

of  the  meat-offering"  (Lev.  ii.  2;  comp.  Ps. 
xxxviii.  1,  Ixx.  1,  and  Del.  on  the  first  passage). 

lining,    properly,   "to  confess"  (Sept.,  sfo,i*-,x.>- 

yCePsu),  refers  to  the  singing  of  psalms  that  pro- 
minently confess  and  express  thanks  to  God,  as 
^S^S  refers  to  the  praises  of  the  hallelujah  songs. 

—  Ver.  5.  Asaph  the  chief,  and  next  to  him 
Zechariah,  literally,  "and  as  his  second,  his 
next  man  (follower)  ; "  comp.  Esth.  x.  3.  Of 
the  three  song-masters  and  fourteen  musicians 
named  in  the  list  xv.  19-21,  a  part  only  are 
named  again  :  of  the  song-masters  only  Asaph, 
and  of  the  musicians  only  nine  (namely,  six  of 
the  eight  neb  1-players  and  three  of  the  six 
kinnor-playets),  and  also,  ver.  6,  of  the  seven 
trumpet-blowers,  only  two,  Benaiah  and  Jahaziel, 
the  latter  of  whom  did  not  appear  in  xv.  24.  As 
we  possess  no  parallel  report  to  compare  with  the 
contents  of  our  section,  nothing  definite  can  be 
conjectured  of  the  relation  of  the  present  names 
to  those  of  the  longer  series,  and  it  must  he  left 
uncertain  whether  Jahaziel  be  identical  with  the 
Eliezer  named,  ver.  24,  along  with  lienaiah. 

ti.  Continuation,  b.  The  song  of  praise  and 
thanks  by  Asaph  and  his  brethren:  vers.  7-36. — 
On  that  day  then  Daoid  ordered  for  the  first  time 
.  .  .  by  Asaph,  etc.  Properly,  "  then  David  gave 
over  ...  by  the  hand  of  Asaph  ;"    -|»3  ||-|3,   here 

'to  hand  over,  arrange."     t'X~i2,  not  "by  the 

chief,  by  Asaph,"  but  "  first,  for  the  first  time  :  " 
comp.  C'NID,  Isa.  xl.  21.  This  is  the  first  intro- 
duction of  the  new  eultus.  Along  with  Asaph 
are  Darned  "his  brethren,"  the  Levites  arranged 
with  (and  under)  him,  enumerated  in  vers.  5,  6. 
We  may  observe,  moreover,  how  clearly  this 
verse,  especially  by  its  E>&TI3,  announces  the  fol- 
lowing song  as  an  ideal  composition,  characteriz- 
ing only  ir.  general  that  which  was  to  be  sung  by 
the  inusi''i..ts,  but  not  expressing  a  stereotype 
form.  Had  the  author  wished  to  convey  the 
sense  that  the  song  was  sung  for  all  time  so  as 
he  communicated  it,  and  not  otherwise,  lie  would 


have  added,  "and  he  commanded  them  thus  to 

sing,"  or,  "  to  sing  this  sung." — Ver.  8  If.  Thank 
yi  ih:  Lord,  call  on  His  name,  ate.  of  the  eight 
strophes  of  the  song,  the  first  fair  (vers.  8-22) 
correspond  ti>  the  opening  of  Ps.  cv.  (vers.  1-15); 
the  next  three  (vers.  23-33)  to  1's.  xcvi.  ;  the 
last  (vers.  34-36)  to  the  fust  and  last  two  verses 
of  1's.  evi.,  with  some  unimportant  variations 
which  are  here  to  be  noted. — First  Strophes  very. 
8-11  (=l's.  ev.  1-4)  :  Summons  to  sing  praise  t" 
the  Lord  and  to  seek  His  face. — Second  Stropht  . 
vers,  12-14  (  =  Ps.  cv.  5-7):  Summons  to  think 
of  the  wonders  of  the  Lord  and  His  judgments. 
Here  are  the  first  variants,  namely,  ver.  12,  nrv-2 

instead  of  ^3,  and,  ver.  13,  pKlb"  JHT  instead 

of   □iT'GN  'f,  of  which  the  latter  only  is  of  any 

consequence.  On  account  of  the  parallelism  with 
the  "sons  of  Jacob, "  the  "seed  of  Israel"  appears 
the  better  reading. — Third  Strophe :  vers.  15-18 
(=Ps.  ev.  8-11)  :  Summons  to  think  of  the 
covenant  made  by  the  Lord  with  the  fathers. 
Remember  His  covenant  for  ever.  Ps.  cv.  rather: 
"  He  lemembereth,  etc."  ("ijf   for   VUt).     Dur 

leading,  corresponding  better  with  the  applica- 
tion of  the  song  to  the  end  proposed  in  ver.  7, 
appears  to  be  substituted  for  the  more  original 
one  of  the  Psalm. — Ver.  16.  And  His  oath  unto 

Isaac.     For  pnXv  Ps-  cv-  9  presents  the  weaker 

form  pnb"^  (found   also   in  Amos  vii.    9  ;    Jer. 

xxxiii.  26),  a  critically  unimportant  variant,  like 
that   in  ver.    18a,   where    jyjg  jnx    stands   for 

"2")"IX"DX- — Fourth  Strophe:  vers.  19-22  ( =  Ps. 

cv.  12-15) :  Reason  of  the  summons  to  remember 
the  covenant  of  the  Lord  with  the  fathers,  because 
the  Lord  has  so  truly  and  mightily  protected 
them  according  to  His  promise. —  When  ye  were 
small  in  number.      Instead  of   C^DV'  3    Ps-   cv- 

12  presents  DJ"li\"l3-     To  address  the  children  of 

Israel  again  corresponds  better  with  the  aim  of 
the  Psalm  ;  this  variant  is  thus  similar  to  that 
in  ver.  15,  but  affords  no  presumption  in  favour 
of  the  priority  of  this  or  that  reading. —Ver.  20. 
And  from  one  kingdom.  Ps.  ev.  omits  the  "and" 
(1   before   fO^DBD) ;    critically  unimportant,   as 

also  the  two  following  variants  (ver.  21,  [.""K?  f°r 

D1K,  and,  ver.  22,   WaSM  for   "WZlbti-— Fifth 

Strophe  :  vers.  23-  27  ( =  Ps.  xcvi.  1-6)  :  All  the 
world  shall  concur  in  praise  of  the  greatness  and 
glory  of  God. — The  first  verse  of  this  passagi 
seems  compounded  of  the  first  two  verses  of  Ps. 
xcvi.,  the  first  members  being  omitted.  Whether 
this  be  an  abbreviating  process  of  the  Chronist, 
or  an  amplifying  one  of  the  Psalmist,  it  is  hard 
to  determine  ;  much  may  be  said  for  each  ol  the 
two  assumptions  (see  Keil). — Ver.  27.  Strength 
and   gladness  are  in    His  place    (iopD3   iTfini; 

comp.  for  this  late,  but  in  Aram,  frequent,  min, 

Ezra  vi.  16  ;  Neb.,  viii.  10).  On  the  contrary,  Ps. 
xcvi.  6  :  "strength  and  beauty  in  His  sanctuary" 
(VJ'TpTpIl  mssni)-—  Sixth  Strophe:  vers.  28-30 

(  =  Ps.  xcvi.  7-9) :  All  nations  shall  worship  God 


118 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


with  offerings  and  confessions.— Ver.  29.  (five  to 
the  Lord  the  ylory  due  to  His  name,  ete.^  Instead 
of  two,  this  verse  has,  to  our  surprise,  three 
members  :  the  first  two  correspond  to  Ps.  xcvi. 
S  ;  ver.  9  there  to  our  ver.  29c  and  ver.  30a. 
The  disturbance  of  the  parallel  in  our  verse  rests 
on  this,  that  after  ver.  31a  (=Ps.  xcvi.  11a)  the 
verse-member  Ps.  xcvi.  10a  is  placed,  out  Ps. 
xcvi.  10c  is  altogether  omitted.  Thus,  in  our 
text,  the  verse  beginning  with  "give  to  the  Lord 
the  glory,"  on  the  contrary,  in  Ps.  xcvi.,  that 
beginning  with  "  say  among  the  heathen"  (ver 
10),  forms  the  exception  to  the  otherwise  i 
bipartition  of  the  verse.  It  is  impossible,  how- 
ever, to  arrive  at  a  certain  result  on  which  side 
the  priority  lies  (see  on  ver.  81).— Bring  an  obla- 
tion, and  come  before  Him.     Ps.  xcvi.  86  :  "and 

come  to  His  courts"  (vnmrf?  for  WB?).     This 

variant  is  similar  to  that  in  ver.  27,  where  "in 
His  sanctuary"  of  the  Psalm  is  changed  into  the 
more  general  "in  His  place,"  because  the  mention 
of  the  "sanctuary"  (as  here  of  the  "courts") 
does  not  seem  to  comport  well  with  the  time  and 
aim  of  the  present  song,  which  was  suug  before 
the.  erection   of  the   temple.— Ver.    30.    Tremble 

be/ore  Him,  all  the  earth.     For  V3S;>0   Ps-   XL'vi- 

9  has  VJBD,  a"  unimportant  difference.  — Seventh 

Strophe:  vets.  31-33  (  =  Ps.  xcvi.  10-13):  Even 
the  inanimate  creation  will  exult  before  the  Lord 
of  all  nations  coming  to  judgment.  Ver.  31a 
corresponds  to  Ps.  xcvi.  11a,  but  ver.  316  to  Ps. 
xcvi.  10a. — And  let  them  say  amony  the  nation.-:. 
etc.,  is  in  Ps.  xcvi.  10a:  "say  among  the  nations" 
(V13K  instead  of  n^N'l)'  lt  is  to°  muoh  to  say 
that  this  summons,  addressed  to  the  Israelites 
after  the  words  "tremble  before  Him,  all  the 
earth  "  (which  there  go  immediately  before,  as 
ver.  96),  yields  a  "rather  tame  thought,"  and 
speaks  for  the  priority  of  the  text  of  Chronicles 
(Keil).  The  position  of  the  present  summons 
among  mere  appeals  to  the  representatives  of 
inanimate  nature,  as  the  heavens,  the  earth,  the 
sea,  the  field,  may  appear  surprising  and  disturb- 
ing. There  is  something  excited  and  wavering 
in°the  line  of  thought  and  mode  of  expression, 
there  as  well  as  here.— Ver.  326.  Let    the  field 

rejoice,  etc.  For  rnfrn  J"^^  Ps-  XL'-  VZa 
presents  "iTL»  j^vjp,  in  which  the  poetic  and 
archaic  HB^i  instead  of  the  prosaic  nTfen.  seems 
not  without  significance. — Ver.  33.  Tlien  shall 
the  trees  of  the  loood  sin;/  out.  For  this  Ps.  xcvi. 
126  has  "all  trees  of  the  wood."  The  second 
member  of  this  verse  corresponds  to  the  first  in 
Ps.  xcvi.  13,  as  far  as  the  repetition  of  "for  He 
lometh"  (S3  ,3),  which  occurs  only  once  here. 
Ps.  xcvi.  136,  the  close  of  the  whole  Psalm,  is 
wanting  in  our  text,  whi  :h  the  defenders  of  the 
priority  of  the  latter  explain  thus  :  that  when 
the  contents  of  our  verses  23-33  were  made  a 
distinct  Psalm,  it  was  found  necessary  to  make 
at  the  close  a  suitable  addition  ;  whereas  the 
matter  may  as  well  be  explained  by  the  abbre- 
viating habit  of  our  author  (as  the  later  compiler 
of  the  present  Bong).— Eighth  .strophe:  vers.  34- 
36  (  =  Ps.  cvi.  1,  47,  48)  :  Repeated  summons  to 
thank  God,  and  to  pray  for  His  further  help,  with 


the  closing  doxology. — Thanh  ye  the  Lord;  for 
lie  is  good,  etc.  This  verse  is  found  not  merely 
at  the  head  of  Ps.  cvi.,  but  also  of  Ps.  cvii., 
cxviii.,  exxxvi.  (comp.  also  Ps.  cxviii.  29  ana 
Jer.  xxxiii.  11);  as  an  old  and  favourite  litur- 
gical form,  it  is  not  necessarily  to  be  regarded  as 
taken  from  Ps.  cvi.  in  particular..— Ver.  35.  And 
say  ye,  Save  »$,  O  God  of  our  salvation.  Similar, 
but  not  verbally  so,  Ps.  cvi.  47,  where  "  and  say- 
is  wanting,  and  for  "  (lod  of  our  salvation" 


ye 

stands  "the  Lord  our  God." — And  gather  us  ana 
deliver  us  from  the  heathen.  For  this  Ps.  cvi 
47  has :  "  and  gather  us  from  the  heathen."  The 
two  following  members  agree  verbally  with  the 
parallel  verse  of  the  Psalm. — Blessed  be  the  Lord, 
etc.  This  closing  doxology,  which  recurs  exactly 
in  Ps.  cvi.  48,  forms  there  the  close  of  the  fourth 
book  of  the  Psalter,  together  with  the  words: 
"and  let  all  the  people  say,  Amen.  Prise  ye 
the  Lord,"  which  are  here  changed  into  the  his- 
torical notice:  "and  all  the  people  said,  Amen, 
and  praised  the  Lord"  (riDX'l   I"1'   tl:<-  jussive 

cT  &n) 


y?ni  for 


Even  in 


"TOifl,   and  mrr 

these  last  deviations  from  the  similar  passages  ot 
the  Psalter  there  is  nothing  that  could  prove 
with  certainty  the  priority  of  our  text,  and  a 
partly  imitative,  partly  devious,  procedure  of  the 
Psalmist,  With  regard  to  the  doxology  trm 
'ijl  ilCTi  which  was  originally  nothing  else  than 
the  liturgical  close  of  the  fourth  book  (analogous 
to  those  at  the  close  of  Ps.  xli.,  lxxii.,  and 
lxxxix.),  it  is  much  more  probable  that  our 
author  changed,  for  his  own  purpose,  this  doxo- 
logical  formula,  which  may  have  been  attached 
to°Ps.  cvi.  long  ago,  from  liturgical  use.  And 
the  more  probable  this  must  appear  to  the  un- 
prejudiced mind,  the  more  clearly  all  the  other 
differences  between  our  text  and  that  of  the  cor- 
responding Psalms  appear  as  alterations,  occa- 
sioned by  the  revising  and  compiling  habit  of 
the  Chronist,  of  that  which  was  before  him  in 
the  Psalter.     Comp.  the  closing  remarks. 

7.  Division  of  the  Levites  and  Priests  for  Divine 
Service  (as  continuation  and  close  of  the  list  of 
Levitical  singers  and  players  in  vers.  4-6):  vers. 
37_43. —  Asaph  and  his  brethren.    The  *?  before 

the  accus.  of  the  object,  according  to  later  usage.  — 
For  the  day's  work  in  its  day,  literally,  "for  the 
matter  of  the  day  on  its  day,"  that  is,  according 
to  the  service  required  for  every  day;  comp. 
2  Cliron.  viii.  14,  xxxi.  16.— Ver.  38.  And  Obed- 
edom  and  their  brethren  sixty  and  eight.  That 
here  should  be  read,  according  to  what  follows: 
"and  Obed-edom  and  Hosah  and  their  brethren." 
see  Crit.  Note.  If,  indeed,  in  the  next  clause  of 
our  verse:  "and  Obed-edom  .  .  .  and  Hosah  to 
be  porters,"  another  Obed-edom  were  meant,  as 
the  distinction  of  this  as  "son  of  Jcdithun"  (pos- 
sibly, xxvi.  4,  a  Korhite  Jedithun,  and  not  the 
Merarite  singer  Jeduthun)  appears  to  indicate, 
some  other  name  than  that  of  Hosah  must  be 
supplied  along  with  the  former  Obed-edom.  Even 
in  xv.  21,  24  there  seem  to  be  two  different 
Obed-edoms,  a  singer,  ver.  21,  and  a  porter,  ver. 
24.  Yet  the  diversity  of  the  two  named  in  our 
verse  is  by  no  means  certain ;  for  in  xxvi.  4-8,  ol 
Obed-edom  with  his  sons  and  brothers,  sixty-two 
men  are  mentioned  as  porters,  which  nearly  agrees 
with  the  present  number  sixty-eight,  and  seems 


CHAP.  XVI.  89-43. 


119 


to  point  to  the  identity  of  the  first-mentioned  and 
the  second  Ooed-edom.  Ver.  42  of  our  chapter 
,]so  shows  clearly  enough  the  identity  of  the  pre 
sent  Jedithun  with  Jeduthun.  In  the  ootonous 
defect  iveness  ol  i  he  text,  besides,  we  cannot  attain 
to  a  certain  decision, — Ver.  39.  And  Zadok  tin 
priest.  t\  ,d  his  brethren  the  priests.  3Ty'l,  ver. 
37,  still  arts  as  the  governing  verb.  For  the 
continued  religious  use  of  the  sanctuary  at  Gibeon 
nnder  David,  see  on  xv.  1.  It  is  to  be  remarked 
thai  Zadok  is  designated  only  as  priest,  not  as 
high  priest,  as  he  was  made  first  by  Solomon  ; 
see  1  Kings  ii.  27,  85.  —  Ver.  40.  To  offer  burnt- 
offerings  to  tJu  Lord  on  the  altar  of  burnt-offer- 
ing. The  mention  here  of  burnt-offerings  only  al 
Gibeon  proves  nothing  against  the  assumption 
that  they  were  also  ottered  in  the  sanctuary  at 
Jerusalem;  and  eh.  xxi.  26,  30  shows  directly 
and  expressly  that  these  offerings  were  made  here 
also,  no  doubt  under  the  direction  of  Abiathar 
(comp.  xviii.  16). — '  'ontintially  morning  and  <  ven- 
ing.  Comp.  the  prescriptions  of  the  law,  Ex. 
xxix.  3S;  Num.  xxviii.  3,  6. — And  for  all  (that 
was  prescribed  besides  the  daily  burnt-offering; 

comp.  Num.  xxviii.)  that  is  written.  3V13n"P3i3, 
briefly  for  '3iri>3  nit:'!^. — Ver.  41.  Ami  with 

them,  etc.,  with  Zadok  and  his  brethren.  This 
refers  to  tip1  singers  at  the  sanctuary  in  Gibeon, 
where  Heman,  Jeduthun  (Ethan),  and  a  number 
of  subordinates  were  appointed.  The  Chronist 
points  indeed  to  a  list  before  him,  in  which  the 
Gibeonite  singers  were  named  (on  DIDC'S  13J-!0. 

comp.  xii.  3]  I,  but  docs  not  specify  them,  because 
the  singers  under  Asaph  at  Jerusalem,  who  are 
enumerated  vers.  4-6,  interested  him  most.  — 
Ver.  42.  And  with  them,  Heman  and  Jeduthun, 
were  trumpets  '(»>/  cymbals.  So,  according  to 
the  Masoretie  reading,  which,  however,  appears 
suspicious,  from  the  absence  of  the  names  Heman 
and  Jeduthun  in  the  Sept.  (comp.  Crit.  Note!, 
and  gives  no  very  suitable  sense.  If  we  erase  the 
two  names,  the  sense  comes  out:  "and  with  them 
were,  that  is,  they  had  trumpets  and  cymbals,"  a 
phrase  somewhat  strange,  but  still  affording  a 
suitable  sense,  which  is  at  all  events  to  be  pre- 
ferred to  the  artificial  and  forced  emendation  of 
Berthean  ("And  Heman  and  Jeduthun  were  play- 
ing aloud  with  trumpets  and  cymbals,  and  with 
them  tic  others  chosen,  with  song-instruments  of 

God"). — For  loud  sounding,  U*yC£"o?-  This 
epithet   belonging   to   the    DTfPi'D    defines   the 

cymbals  as  giving  the  tone,  or  intoning  the 
melody,  and  thus  being  a  means  of  leading  the 
song  for  the  song-masters  Heman  and  Jeduthun  ; 
comp.  on  xv.  16,  19.  — And  (other)  instrumi  nts  of 
God,  other  instruments  of  religious  music  besides 
tii  se  named,  especially  psalteries  and  harps. — 
AvaI  (he  tuns  of  Jnluthwi  were  at  the  (/ate:  they 
were  appointed  to  guard  the  entrance  of  the 
Gibeonite  tabernacle.  These  are  obviously  i  fbed- 
edom,  Hosah,  and  their  brethren,  who  had  been 
designated,  ver.  38,  as  doorkeepers.  — Ver.  43. 
And  all  the  /<-  oph  went  every  man  to  his  house  ; 
essentially  as  in  2  Sam.  vi.  19,  20,  where  this 
closing  verse  of  our  chapter  has  its  parallel  in  mi 
otherwise  much  more  concise  report.  The  narra- 
tive there  added,  of  David's  altercation  with 
Alichal  (comp.   xv.   29),  our   author  omits   as   a 


scene  of  a  purely  domestic  character,  unsuitabl 
to  his  purpose. — And  David  turned  in  to  bless  hi* 
house,  on  this  festive  day,  as  he  had   before  (vei 
2)  blessed  the  whole  people  in  the  name  of  the 

Lord. 

Appendix:  On  the  <  redibility  of  thi  Contents 
of  eh.  xvi. 

A-  ih.  xii  .  notwithstanding  its  exclusive  trans- 
mission by  our  author,  makes  the  impression  of 
the  highest  credibility,  the  statistical  data  and 
registers  also  of  our  section,  just  because  they  are 
mostly  of  a  concrete  and  detailed  kind,  afford 
the  warrant  of  a  true  rendering  "!  thi  historii  il 
taets.  Important  there  as  w,  11  as  here  is  the 
reference  to  greater  and  richer  registers,  that 
must  have  served  the  Chronist  as  sourci  s,  without 
being  exhausted  by  him  ;  comp.  the  characteristic 
niDC'3  i3rp:""lC;S,    xii.    31,    xvi.    41,    and    such 

specifications  of  names  as  vers.  4  -6  and  ver.  38  If., 
which  clearly  indicate  in  the  author  a  process  ot 
abstracting  and  contracting  more  copious  lists. 
It  is  manifest  enough  that  he  was  in  t  position, 
as  belonging  himself  to  the  corps  of  Levitical 
singers  after  the  exile  (Tntrod.  •:  8),  to  draw  these 
stiti  mi  nts  from  the  full  fountains,  and  to  depend 
on  copious  written  and  oral  traditions. 

Only  with  respect  to  the  song  given  in  vers. 
8  36,  at  the  dedication,  the  assumption  of  strict 
historical  accuracy  appears  to  he  given  up  on 
account  of  its  relation  to  several  parallel  Psalms; 
and  an  ideal  composing  process  of  tin  writer, 
similar  to  that  of  Livy  and  Thucydides  in  their 
speeches,  is  assumed  as  necessary.  We  know  not, 
in  fact,  what  could  stand  against  the  admissi- 
bility of  this  assumption,  defended  by  Bertheau, 
ICampIi.,  Dillmann,  Davidson,  Ewald  (Bibl. 
Jahrb.  vi.  24),  Delitzsch  (Komm.  turn  Psalter,  it 
p.  93  f.),  A.  Kbhler  {Zeits.hr.  far  I  nth.  Thiol. 
1867,  p.  295  ft'.),  C.  Ehrt  [Abfassungszeit  and 
Schluss  des  Ps.,  Leipzig  1869,  p.  41  If. ),  Hupfeld, 
and  others.  If,  of  recent  scholars,  on  the  one  hand 
Ilitzig  (J>ie  Psalmen,  2  Bd.  1865,  p.  viii.  If.  i,  on 
the  other  Keil  (Komm.  p.  155  If. ), — the  former  im- 
pelled by  a  hypercritical  zeal  to  show  the  Macca- 
bean  origin  of  those  Psalms  to  be  probable,  the 
latter  by  an  apologetic  motive  in  favour  of  the 
i  'hronist, — have  endeavoured  to  prove  our  form  to 
be  original,  and  the  passages  of  the  Psalms  cv. 
1-15,  xevi.  1-13,  cvi.  1,  47,  4S,  to  be  mere  frag- 
ments of  the  original  song,  against  this  the 
following  considerations  remain  still  in  force:  — 

1.  The  constitution  of  both  the  texts,  even  it 
the  greater  number  of  defects   and   corruptions 

ur  in  the  Psalms,  and  the  text  of  Chronicles 

be  comparatively  older  and  better,  admits  of  no 
certain  conclusion  with  respect  to  the  greater  or 
less  age  of  the  one  or  the  other  recension.  For. 
irrespective  of  the  many  cases  in  which  Chronicles 
most  probably  contains  the  later  readings  (fol 
example,  ver.  27,  nnn;  ver.  32,  rtlL"^1 ;  ''''•  -'■'■ 

nsi    for  rni-iynij;  and  again,  ver.    27,  ic'pDS 

for  i[j"npD3),  the  more  archaic  form  of  the  text 

cannot  of  itself  decide  in  favour  of  pre  ,-ity.  aa 
younger  MSS.,  and  certainly  Hebrew  as  well  as 
1 1  reck  and  Latin,  often  enough  present  a  more 
original  text  than  older  ones,  and  the  text  of  the 
passages  in  the  Psalms  are  not  to  be  judged 
according  to  their  external   written   form.     Foj 


120 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


"  the  text  of  the  Psalms,  while  they  were  in  I 
liturgical  use,  was  more  exposed  to  alterations 
from  the  influence  of  the  later  speech  than  that 
of  a  historical  book  ;  and  on  this  ground,  more 
ancient  turns  and  phrases  in  Chronicles  could  not 
be  at  once  maintained  as  proofs  that  Chronicles 
was  original  and  the  Psalms  an  imitation " 
i  Berth.). 

2.  If  we  consider  the  matter  and  line  of  thought 
in  our  song,  and  compare  it  with  the  correspond- 
ing Psalms,  the  latter  appear  simple,  well  con- 
nected, aud  well-ordered  wholes  in  a  higher  degree 
than  the  former.  The  transition  from  strophe 
four  to  strophe  five  of  our  song  (see  vers.  22,  28) 
is  abrupt  and  sudden.  We  expect  that  after  ver. 
22,  either  the  agency  of  Jehovah  in  the  early  time 
of  Israel  will  be  further  depicted,  as  is  done  in 
Ps.  cv. ,  where  complete  connection  and  unity  of 
thought  prevails,1  or  at  least,  by  a  description  of 
His  agency  in  the  heathen  world  or  in  inanimate 
nature  (eonip.  Ps.  civ.),  the  way  will  be  prepared 
for  the  summonses  contained  in  vers.  23-33.  A 
similar  hiatus  again  appears  between  vers.  33  and 
34  (or  between  strophes  seven  and  eight*,  and  also 
after  the  section  parallel  with  Ps.  xcvi.  For  the 
summons  of  ver.  34,  as  appears  undeniable  from 
ver.  35,  is  to  be  regarded  as  specially  directed  to 
Israel ;  but  Israel  is  not  spoken  of  either  in  ver. 
34  or  in  the  whole  preceding  paragraph,  vers. 
23-33.  If  Hitzig  thinks  that  here  the  end  of  the 
song  only  returns  to  its  beginning,  he  has  not 
sufficiently  considered  that  petitions  such  as  those 
contained  in  ver.  35,  for  the  deliverance  and 
gathering  of  Israel  from  the  heathen,  do  not  occur 
at  the  beginning  of  the  song,  and  that  these 
petitions  come  in  here  quite  unexpectedly  after 
the  previous  line  of  thought  in  vers.  8-33;  where- 
as they  are  very  well  introduced  in  Ps.  cvi.  47, 
after  vers.  40-46. 

3.  Decisive  for  the  priority  of  the  Psalter  is  the 
transference  of  the  closing  doxology  of  the  fourth 
book  of  Psalms  (Ps.  cvi.  48)  by  the  redactor  of  our 
song  ;  see  on  this  passage,  and  comp.  Delitzsch  on 
the  Psalm. 

4.  The  manner  in  which  the  song  is  introduced 
(see  on  ver.  7)  points  also  to  an  ideal  composing 
activity  of  the  author  of  it. 

5.  Our   combining   of  a  number   of    passages 

1  For  the  picture  ot  the  benign  sway  of  God  ovei  Abia- 
taam,  in  vers.  10-15  of  this  Psalm,  forms  only  the  beginning 
ot  that  which  is  said  in  the  further  course  of  the  same 
picture,  of  Jacob,  of  Joseph  and  his  brethren,  of  Moses,  and 
of  the  whole  of  God's  people  in  the  patriarchal  aud  Mosaic 
times. 


from  the  Psalms  into  one  whole  should  not  be 
regarded  as  a  product  of  mere  trifling  and  insipid 
compilation,  like  the  Homeric  or  Virgilian  cantos 
of  the  declining  old  classical  poetry,  because  it 
applies  to  a  festal  song  to  be  used  for  a  definite 
liturgical  purpose,  and  because  nothing  certain 
can  be  opposed  to  the  assumption,  that  not  the 
Chronist  in  the  tim  s  after  the  exile,  but  the 
writer  of  his  source,  the  older  report  (certainly 
before  the  exile)  which  he  follows  throughout 
the  section  vers.  4-42,  is  to  be  regarded  as  the 
author  of  the  present  composition. 

<3.  Whether  the  present  attempt  to  exhibit  the 
opening  of  the  worship  on  Zion  in  Davidic  strain; 
is  to  be  considered  older  than  the  composition  of 
our  book,  or  contemporary  with  it,  we  are  not  to 
lind  an  offence  against  the  obligation  of  historical 
fidelity  in  this  ideal  composition,  which  seeks  to 
reproduce  the  fundamental  tone  of  the  song  sung 
on  that  occasion.  The  author  knew  that  in  the 
religious  festivals  of  his  people  songs  were  sung  of 
the  tone  of  Ps.  xcvi.,  cv.,  cvi.,  from  the  oldest 
times  ;  hence  he  puts  in  the  mouth  of  the  Leviti- 
cal  singers  in  David's  time  a  song  formed  out  of 
these  I'salms  as  a  probable  expression  of  the 
spiritual  thanksgiving  presented  to  the  Lord  by 
the  community  of  that  day,  without  in  the  least 
making  himself  guilty  of  a  falsehood.  He  ap- 
pears on  this  ground  as  little  a  falsifier  as  the 
author  of  the  song  of  Mary,  of  Zacharias,  or  of 
Simeon  in  the  introductory  chapter  of  Luke's 
Gospel,  the  verbal  recitation  of  which,  according 
to  the  form  there  given,  need  scarcely  be  insisted 
on,  and  the  harmony  of  which  with  so  many 
characteristic  phrases  of  the  I'salms  and  Prophets, 
has  its  historical  precedent  in  the  relations  of  our 
song  to  the  Psalms  in  question. 

[Ps.  xcvi.,  cv.,  and  cvi.  are  anonymous  in  the 
Hebrew  ;  but  on  examinati"ii,  there  is  no  con- 
vincing reason  why  they  may  not  have  been 
composed  by  David.  Ps.  xcvi.  is  actually 
ascribed  to  him  in  the  Sept.,  with  the  lollowing 
remarkable  addition:  "when  the  house  was  built 
after  the  captivity."  Here  the  captivity  seems  to 
refer  to  the  captivity  of  the  ark  when  far  from 
the  sanctuary,  1  Sam.  iv.,  and  the  house  to  the 
tabernacle  which  David  erected  on  Zion.  The 
other  two  Psalms  may  be  as  old  as  David  ;  and 
there  is  therefore  no  reason  to  doubt  the  historical 
veracity  of  the  statement  made  by  the  Chronist. 
that  David  selected  from  these  Psalms  the  piece 
that  was  actually  sung  at  the  dedication  of  the 
tabernacle  on  Zion. — J.  G.  M.] 


6.   The  Purpose  of  David  to  build  a  Temple,  and  the  Objection  raised  by  the  Prophet  Nathan. 

ch.  xvii. 

Chap.  xvii.  1.  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  David  sat  in  his  house,  he.  said  unto  Nathan 
the  prophet,  Lo,  I  dwell  in  a  house  of  cedars,  and  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the 

2  Lord  is  tinder  curtains.     And  Nathan  said  unto  David,  Do  all  that  is  in  thine 

3  heart  ;  for  God  is  with  thee.    And  it  came  to  pass  in  that  night,  that  the  word  of 

4  tiie  Loud  came  to  Nathan,  saying,     Go  and  say  unto  David  my  servant,  Thus 

5  saith  the  Lord,  Thou  shalt  not  build  me  a  house  to  dwell  in.     For  I  have  not 
dwelt  in  a  house  from  the  day  that  I  brought  up  Israel  unto  this  day ;  but  I  was 

6  from  tent  to  tent,  and  from  one  tabernacle  to  another.     As  long  as  I  have  walked 
m  all  Israel  have  I  spoken  a  word  with  any  of  the  judges  of  Israel,  whom  I  com- 

7  niauded  to  feed  my  people,  Why  have  ye  not  built  me  a  house  of  cedars  1     Ami 
now,  thus  shalt  thou  sav  unto  mv  servant  David,  Thus  saith  the  LORD  of  hosts. 


riiM'.  xvii.  l.  ■>. 


1.'! 


I  took  thee  from  the  common,  from  behind  the  sheep,  to  lie  ruler  over  my  people 

8  Israel.     And  1  was  with  thee,  whithersoever  thou  wentest  ;  ami  1  cut  off  all  thy 

enemies  from  before  thee,  and   made   i lire  a  name  like  the  name  of  the  great  on 

9  the  earth.     And  I  ordained  a  place  for  my  people  Israel,  and  planted  them,  and 
they  dwelt  in  it,  and  were  no  more  troubled  ;  and  the  sons  of  evil  no  more  wasted 

10  them  as  before.  And  since  the  days  that  I  appointed  judges  over  my  peoplv 
Israel:  and  I  subdue  all  thy  enemies;  and   1  tell  thee  that  the  Lord  will  build 

11  thee  a  house.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  when  thy  days  are  fulfilled  to  go  unto 
thy  fathers,  that   I  will  raise  up  thy  seed  utter  thee,  which  shall  lie  of  thy  sons  , 

12  and  I  will  establish  his  kingdom.     He  shall  build  me  a  house,  and  1  will  estab- 

13  lish  his  house  for  ever.     I  will  lie  his  father,  and  he  shall  be  my  sun  ;  and  1  will 

14  not  take  my  mercy  from  him,  as  I  took  it  from  him  who  was  before  thee.  Hut 
I  will  settle  him  in  my  house  and  in  my  kingdom  for  ever  ;  and  his  throne  shall 
be  established  for  ever. 

15  According  to  all  these  words  and  all  this  vision,  so  Nathan  spake  unto  David. 
1G  And  King  David  went  and  sat  before  the  LOHD,  and  said,  Who  am  1,  0  Lord 

17  God,  and  what  is  my  house,  that  Thou  hast  brought  me  hitherto?  Anil  this  was 
a  small  thing  in  Thine  eyes,  0  God;  and  Thou  hast  spoken  of  the  house  of  Thy 
servant  for  a  great  while  to  come,  and  regardest  me  after  the  way  '  of  man  that 

18  raiseth   up,   0   LORD  God.      What  shall  David  add  to  Thee  of  the  glory  of  Thy 
ll)  servant  ?  *  and  Thou  knowest  Thy  servant.    0  Lord,  for  Thy  servant's  sake,  and 

after  Thy  heart,  hast  Thou  done  all  this  greatness,  to  make  known  all  these  great 

20  things.     O  Lord,  there  is  none  like  Thee,  and  no  God  besides  Thee,  according  to 

21  all  that  we  have  heard  with  our  ears.  And  what  one  nation  in  the  earth  is  like 
Thy  people  Israel,  whom  God  went  to  redeem  to  Himself  as  a  people,  to  make 
Thee  a  name  of  great  and  terrible  deeds,  to  drive  out  nations  before  Thy  people, 

22  whom  Thou  didst  redeem  from  Egypt  ?     And  raadest  Thy  people  Israel  a  people 

23  to  Thee  for  ever;  and  Thou,  Lord,  becamest  their  God.  And  now,  Lord,  let  the 
word  which  Thou  hast  spoken  of  Thy  servant  and  of  his  house  be  maintained  for 

24  ever,  and  do  as  Thou  hast  said.  Yea,  let  it  be  maintained,  and  let  Thy  name  be 
magnified  for  ever,  saying,  Jehovah  Zebaoth,  the  God  of  Israel,  is  God  to  Israel  ; 

25  and  the  house  of  David  Thy  servant  is  established  before  Thee.  For  Thou,  0  my 
God,  hast  opened  the  ear  of  Thy  servant,  that  Thou  wilt  build  him  a  house  ;  there- 

20  fore  Thy  servant  hath  found  [courage]  to  pray  before  Thee.     And  now,  Lord, 
27  Thou  art  God,  and  hast  spoken  this  goodness  concerning  Thy  servant.     And  now 
Thou  art  pleased  to  bless  the  house  of  Thy  servant,  that  it  may  be  before  Thee 
for  ever  ;  for  Thou,  Lord,  hast  blessed,  and  it  is  blessed  for  ever. 

1  Foi   "linS  "  goud  many  ass.  read  T]ij~13.  which  is  as  unsatisfactory  as  the  obscure  "11713,  or  as  n~lin,  2  Sam 

vii.  Ill,  or  as  the  le;iriing  (if  I  he  Sept. :   zaci  etc*  In  uli  its  c/>*iris  i*t^*Tei/,  xxt  C-^utris  ui.  or  that  of  the  Vulg.t  tt  ficisti  mi 
tpertabtttm  Miper  onws  homines. 

•  ^l^tQi^DX,  wanting  in  the  Sept.  and  in  2  Sam.  vii.  21.  is  perhaps  spurious.     But  see  Exeg.  Expl. 


EXEGETICAL. 

Preliminary   Remark. — After  the  history  ot 

the  transplanting  of  the  ark  to  Jerusalem,  the 
author  of  the  books  of  Samuel  has  given  the 
account  of  David's  purpose  to  build  a  temple,  and 
of  the  word  of  God  communicated  to  him  by 
Nathan,  2  Sam.  vii.,  and,  indeed,  in  a  form  sub- 
stantially agreeing  with  tiie  present  text,  though 
occasionally  deviating  from  it  in  words.  Besides 
the  expositors  of  Chronicles  are  therefore  here  to 
be  compared  also  those  of  the  corresponding 
parts  of  the  books  of  Samuel,  namely,  C.  A. 
CrnsmaiHiipom>mmatii,i\.  pp.  190-219),  Thenius, 
Keil,  Hengstenberg  (Ohristol.  2d  edit.  i.  143  11'.), 
L.  Reinke  {Dii  Weissagwigdes  Prophet&i  Nathan, 
in  his  contributions  to  the  explanation  of  the  0. 
T.,  vol.  iv.  p.  427  (f.),  and,  in  a  critical  respect, 
\\  ellhausi'ii  (p.  170). 


1.  David's  Purpose,  and  Nathan's  Consent  at 
first  to  it  :  vers.  1,  2. — As  David  sat  in  his  home, 
in  that  cedar  palace  described  in  xiv.  1,  xv.  1  If. 
Alter   i;T32     2    Sam.    vii.    1    has    the   furthei 

chronological  determination  :  "and  the  Lord  bail 
given  him  rest  round  about  from  all  his  enemie: 
Our  author  leaves  out  this  determination  inti  u- 
tionally,  to  avoid  the  apparent  contradiction  with 
tie-  circumstance  that  the  severest  wars  of  David 
are  introduced  afterwards,  and  so,  according  to 
his  arrangement  of  the  material,  following  the 
order  of  thought  rather  than  of  time. — Ver,  -. 
Do  all  .  .  .  for  God  is  with  lint.  In  2  Sam.: 
"Go  and  do  .  .  .  for  the  Lord  is  witli  thee." 
The  omission  of  -rh  before  nB>J7  "  ~K  ou  the 
strong  abbreviating  and  simplifying  tendency  of 
our    author  ;     the    substitution    of    D'fOK    for 


122 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


nilT  on  his  aim  to  choose  the  current  expressions 

of  his  day.  The  older  practical  expositors  justly 
designate  this  preliminary  consent  of  Nathan  as 
proceeding  "  from  his  merely  human  judgment  " 
(bona  intention?  et  sincero  animo,  non  tamen  ex 
d'mhia  revelalione,  1 .  H.  Mich.). — Luth.:  "The 
prophets  themselves  occasionally  err  and  sin,  as 
Nathan  whin  he  says  to  D  ivid  of  his  own  spirit 
that  he  shall  build  a  house  to  the  Lurd,  which  is 
soon  after  altered  by  a  divine  revelation." 

2.  God's  Revelation  to  Nathan :  vers.  3-15. — 
On  the  night  as  the  time  of  divine  revelations  by 
dreams,  visions,  etc.,  comp.  our  remarks  on  Job 
iv.  13  (pp.  75,  84). — Thou  shalt  not  build  me  a 
home  to  dwell  in.  in  2  Samuel  this  prohibition 
is  put  in  the  form  of  a  question:  "Shalt  thou 
build  me  a  house  ?  " — Ver.  5.  But  I  was  from  tent 
to  tent,  and  from  tabernacle ;  that  is,  from  one 
tabernacle  to  another.  For  this  sentence,  which 
is  obscure  from  its  pregnant  brevity,  2  Samuel 
gives  :  "  but  have  walked  (have  been  walking)  in 
a  tent   and    in   a   tabernacle."      The   tabernacle 

(pB>D)  >s  presented  along  with  the  tent  (Jjntf) 

as  the  more  comprehensive  notion,  including 
court,  altar  of  burnt-  offering,  etc. — Ver.  6.  With 
any  of  the  judges  of  Israel.  2  Samuel:  "with 
any  of  the  tribes  of  Israel  "    ('D3!^  '"or  'Sab')- 

Our  reading  is  perhaps  the  older  ;  comp.  Berth, 
and  Wellh. — Ver.  7  ff.  give  the  proper  contents 
of  the  divine  revelation,  as  far  as  it  concerns 
David's  relation  to  the  building  of  the  temple. — 
Ver.  8.  And  made  tliee  a  name,  like  the  name  of 
the  great  on  the  earth,  referring  to  the  kings  of 
the  heathen  monarchies.  These  words  (ver.  86) 
formed  the  text  of  the  memorial  sermon  preached 
in  all  the  churches  of  the  Prussian  state  on  the 
death  of  Frederick  n.  (1786).— Ver.  9.  And  I 
ordained  a  place  for  my  people  Israel.  The  per- 
fects (with  i  consec.)  vrobl,  inTiyDJl,  etc.,  may 

be  taken  as  future  statements  of  that  which  God 
will  further  show  to  His  people.  Yet  it  seems 
better  to  make  these  promises  of  future  salvation 
begin  with  ver.  11. — And  the  sons  of  evil  no  more 
wasted  them  as  before.  The  Egyptians  are  no 
doubt  chiefly  intended  ;  comp.  xvi.  20.  On  n^3 
in   the   sense  of  wasting   (=  njy  in  2  Samuel), 

comp.  Dan.  vii.  25.— Ver.  10.  And  since  the 
days   that  I  appointed  judges   over  my  people 

Israel.      D'D'qS,   "and  until  the  days"  (Ew.  § 

218,  b)  ;    comp.   the  still  more   definite   phrase : 

DiirnjD^,    2    Sam.    vii.    11.       The   whole   time 

from  Joshua  to  Saul  is  here  included. — And  I 
subdue  all  thy  enemies.  2  Samuel:  "and  I  give 
thee  rest  from  all  thy  enemies"  (yp  TlJTjni  f°r 
TlM3n'),  perhaps  more  original.     The  change  of 

the  suffix  of  the  2d  pers.  into  that  of  the  3d 
V Berth.,  Ew. )  is  not  necessary,  either  in  our  pas 
sage  or  there,  as  the  enumeration  of  the  divine 
benefits  extends  to  the  present,  and  even  to  that 
which  was  experience!  by  David  himself. — And  I 
tell  thee  that  the  Lord  will  build  tine  a  house,  and 
not  inversely  :  thou  build  Him  a  house.  The 
building  of  the  house  is  here  naturally  figurative 


of  the  bestowinent  of  a  blessed  posterity,  etc 
There  is  no  allusion  to  David's  house  of  eeuai 
(ver.  1,  xiv.  1).  Inadmissible  is  the  past  mean- 
ing  of   T3X1,    "and    I   have   told   them,"   etc. 

(Berth.,  Wellh.)  ;  for  we  cannot  discover  that 
such  an  announcement  was  made  before,  as  our 
historical  books  nowhere  mention  it.  Even 
2  Sam.   (Tam)   speaks  of  an  announcement   in 

the  present  or  immediate  future. — Ver.  11.  To 
go  unto  thy  fathers.  2  Sam.  vii.:  "to  lie  with 
thy  fathers."  For  the  phrase,  comp.  Deut.  xxxi. 
16  ;  1  Kings  ii.  2.  —  Thy  seed  .  .  .  which  shall 
he  of  thy  sons.  Instead  of  this  somewhat 
pleonastic  reference  to  Soloni")i,  2  Samuel  pre- 
sents perhaps  the  original  :   "  which  shall  proceed 

out  of  thy  bowels "  (sj'jnSD  SV1  TJ'S  ;  comp.  1 

Sam.  xvi.  11;  Gen.  xv.  4).  Piobably  the  chrono- 
logical difficulty  contained  in  this  phrase,  accord- 
ing to  which  Solomon  appeared  to  be  not  yet 
born  at  the  time  of  this  promise,  led  our  author 
to  choose  the  more  general  expression,  as  he  had 
in  ver.  1  altered  the  text  for  a  chronological 
reason  by  means  of  an  omission.  That  here,  as 
in  the  two  following  verses,  he  meant  to  designate 
not  so  much  Solomon  as  the  Messiah,  is  asserted 
by  the  older  orthodox  exegesis  (for  example,  L. 
Lavater  :  "*Si  tantum  de  Salomone  h.  I.  intelli- 
gendus  esset,  non  dixisset  semen  quod  erit  de  films 
tuU,  sed  quod  erit  de  te  ;"  and  so  Starke  and 
others),  and  recently  still  by  Keil.  But  the  very 
next  prediction:  "He  shall  build  me  a  house" 
(ver.  12),  applies  clearly  to  Solomon  only,  as  in 
2  Ohron.  vii.  18  his  person,  and  not  that  of  some 
future  Messianic  descendant,  is  manifestly  de- 
signated. Accordingly,  as  in  2  Samuel,  so  also 
in  Chronicles  the  Messianic  element  is  limited 
essentially  to  the  eternal  duration  that  is  pro- 
mised (vers.  12-14)  to  the  kingdom  of  Solomon  : 
comp.  Hengstenb.  Christol.  i.  152  if. —Ver.  13. 
And  he  shall  be  my  son.  The  words  following 
this  promise:  "whom  1  will  chasten  with  tlie 
rod  of  men,  and  with  the  stripes  of  the  sons  of 
men,"  tile  Chronist  has  designedly  omitted,  to 
bring  out  more  sharply  the  thought  of  the  ever- 
lasting divine  favour,  in  harmony  with  his  usual 
practice  to  set  the  light  before  the  shade  of  the 
house  of  Oavid. — From  him  who  was  before  thee, 
from  Saul,  whose  name  is  added,  2  Sam.  vii., 
perhaps  by  the  hand  of  a  glossator.  The  present 
text  is  certainly  more  original,  even  with  respect 

to    the    foregoing    tiDK  SO    (for    -llD'  SO)>  aa 

Bertheau  and  Wellh.  justly  assert  against 
Thenius. — Ver.  14.  But  I  will  settie  him  in  my 
house  ami    in    my    kingdom  for   ever;   "poi'n 

QPiy?.  ils  >n  2  Chron.   ix.  8,  1   Kings  xv.  4,  ol 

enduring  foundation  or  preservation,  causing  per- 
petual existence.  The  "  house  "  or  "  kingdom  " 
of  God,  in  which  this  preserva'ion  or  continuing 
of  the  seed  of  David  is  to  take  place,  is  first  the 
Old  Testament  theocracy,  then  the  Messianic 
kingdom  of  the  new  covenant.  The  text  of 
Samuel  differs  :  "  and  thy  house  and  thy  kingdom 
shall  endure  for  ever  before  thee,  and  thy  throne 
shall  be  established  forever,"  of  which  form  it 
can  (scarcely  be  so  absolutely  asserted,  as  is  done 
by  Bertheau  and  others,  that  it  is  the  more 
original.     Moreover,   the  sense  of  the  one  as  o' 


CHAP.  XVII.   15-27. 


128 


the  other  form  is  Messianic.  —  Ver.  15.  .1  cord 
imj  to  aH  these  words  and  all  this  vision.  A 
heudiadyoin,  by  which  the  words  addressed  by 
Jehovah  to  Nathan  art-  characterized  as  spoken, 

pin::  (eomp.  I   Sam.  iii.  1)  or  |ivn3  (2  .Sam.  vii. 

17),  as  a  divine  revelation  or  prophetic  message 
From  God.  It  is  to  be  observed  also  that  this 
prophetic  message  is  communicated  not  as  it  was 
related  by  Nathan  before  tin-  king,  but  as  it  was 
revealed  to  him  of  tin-  Lord  by  n  ght,  which  is  a 
plain  iiidiratii.n  that  we  are  to  hold  by  tin-  matti  i 
rather  than  the  form  of  the  woids  in  question. 
The  case  is  the  same  as  in  1  Sain.  iii.  10-14  (the 
disclosure  made  to  the  young  Samuel  concerning 
the  fate  of  Eli)  and  in  1  Sam.  viii.  7-9  (God's 
word  to  Samuel  on  the  introduction  of  the  king- 
dom in  Israel). 

3.  David's  Thanksgiving  for  the  Promise  made 
to  him  through  Nathan  :  vers.  16-27. — And  King 
David  went,  into  the  sanctuary  erected  by  him, 
us  the  following  words  :  "  and  sat  before  the 
Lord,"  show.—  Who  am  I,  0  Lord  God?  2 
Samuel:  "my  Lord  God,"  a  difference  actually 
not  existing  for  the  Masoretic  reader,  as  our  niiV 
is  to  be  read  by  ^-JX- — Ver.  17-  And  '''""'  "''"■  " 

small  thing  in  Thine  eyes.  This  is  the  literal 
rendering. — And  Thou  hast  spoken  of  the  house 
of  Thy  servant  for  a  [treat  while  to  come,  literally, 

"hast  spoken  that  which  points  far  away  ;"  pimc^ 

is  an  accusative  depending  on  -Q"in.  °'  tne  same 
force  as  in  Prov.  vii.  19,  Job  xxxix.  29  ;  comp. 
ver.  14. — And  regardest  me  after  the  way  of  man 
that  raiseth  up.     So  should  the  obscure  'JJVtPH 

rvl'ISn  DTNn  ~iiri3  perhaps  be  rendered;  "the 
way  of  man  leading  upwards  "  (tin,  abbreviated 
from  min)  would  then  be  the  gracious  and  up- 
holding (thus  not  merely  condescending,  but 
positively  furthering  and  improving)  disposition 
and  conduct  of  human  benefactors,  with  which 
the  gracious  procedure  of  God  towards  David  is 

here  compared.    Nearly  so  Kei],  who  makes  nSjftsn 

correspond  to  the  parallel  pirno?.  whereas  Heng- 

stenberg,  like  many  ancients,  conceives  the  phrase 
to  be  an  address  to  God:  "Thou  highest  Lord 
God  ;"  and  other  expositors  take  it  as  an  adverb 
of  place  equivalent  to  Diisa  (tt  me  intuit, is  es 

mort  hnminuin  in  coelis).  It  is  natural  enough  to 
assume  some  corruption  of  the  text  here,  as  in  the 
parallel   reading   of  Samuel:   DISH  rnifl  flMTV 

though  none  of  the  proposed  emendations  give 
satisfaction,     neither    Ewald's    and     Bertheau's 

change  of  the  Kal  'jniN~  'n'°  the  Hipli. 
OTM"irii  •""'  "'  n^yon  into  rbyob  (resulting 
31  the  sense,  "and  hast  caused  me  to  see,  as  it 
were,  the  order  of  men  upwards"),  nor  Bottcher's 
reading  'j'JVN'iV  "  so  that  I  saw  myself  as  the 

order  ot  mer.  that  is  upwards"  (saw  myself  as  the 
after-age  at  the  head  of  a  ruling  race),  nor  Well- 
hausen's  conjecture  that  Dili  'JJOni  lat  least  in 

2  Samuel)  should  be  read.  That  the  t]ij,3  of 
some  Heb.    mss.   affords   no  sufficient   help,   see 


('lit.  Not,-.-  Ver.  Is.  What  shall  David  add  to 
Thee  of  tht  glory  of  Thy  servant,  of  tin-  h  uou.' 
pertaining  to  Thy  servant,  of  the  high  honooj 
which  Tin. u  I  ifed  to  Thy  servant  (me, 

David).  So  conceived,  TpayriK  gives  a  toler- 
able sense,  and  need  not  be  erased,  with  tin/ 
modern  critics,  though  its  absence  in  the  Sept. 
and  in  2  Samuel  (where  there  is  merely.  "  what 
shall  David  say  further  to  Thee?")  is  fitted  to 
ereate  suspicion.— Ver.  19.  0  Lord,  for  Thy 
servant's  sake.  2  Sam.  vii.  21:  "tor  Thy  wind's 
sake."  The  original  reading  is  not  necessarily  to 
be  sought  in  the  text  of  Samuel  .see  W.llh.l.  In 
'y  our  author  has  contracted  the  longer  form  of  the 
other  text. — Ver.  21.  Whom  God  went  to 
to    Himself  as   a  people.      Alter    this    ce) 

correct  reading  (D'TOM  T]Sn»  is  that  in  2  Samuel 
(D'r6x  13^n  1"'S)  to  be  altered.  —  To  make 
Thee  a  name  of  great  and  terrible  deeus.  The 
words  niSIUl  ni^na  appear  to  be  loosely  an- 
nexed to  ct^,  to  define  the  way  in  which  God 
made  him  a  name  (comp.  Ew.  §  2S3).  If  this 
construction  seem  too  harsh,  niK'Jp  must  be 
inserted  (as  in  2  Sam.  vii.  23)  after  rjgf :  "that 

Thou  makest  Thee  a  name,  and  doest  great  and 
terrible  tilings."  —  To  drive  out  nations  before 
Thy  people.  The  here  much  deviating  text  in 
2  Samuel  should  be  altered  partly  according  to 
the  present  text,  namely,  by  inserting  the  certainly 
original  EH37 ;  see  Geiger,  Ursclni/t  und  Ueber- 

setzung  des  A.  T.,  and  Wellh.,  wdio  follows  him. 
— Ver.  24.  Yea,  let  it  be  maintained,  etc.  This 
|DN,1  is  wanting   in   2  Samuel,  and  is   perhaps 

repeated  from  ver.  23,  to  set  forth  more  clearly 
the  connection  with  the  following:  "  and  let  Thy 
name   be   magnified."     On   the   copula  ),  in  the 

sense  of  our  "yea,"  comp.  Dan.  x.  19. — Ver.  25. 
For  Thou,  0  my  God,  hast  opened  the  ear  of  Thy 
servant,  revealed,  disclosed,  made  known  to  him  ; 
comp.  1  Sam.  ix.  15. — Thai  Thou  wilt  build  him 
a  house,  figuratively,  by  the  increase  of  his  pos- 
terity and  the  prosperity  of  his  dynasty;  comp. 
ver.  10.  —  Therefore  Thy  tenant  hath  found  to 
pray   before    Thee,   namely,    "  the  courage,   the 

heart  to  do  so  "  (ij^rnK,  2  Sam-  ™-  28)>  which 

is,  at  all  events,  here  to  be  supplied,  if  not  neces- 
sarily inserted  in  the  text. — Ver.  27.  For  Thou, 
Lord,  hast  blessed,  and  it  is  blessed  for  <  m  r  : 
comp.,  for  the  sentence  and  the  expression,  Ps. 
xxxiii.  9.  On  the  credibility  of  the  thanksgiving 
of  David  given  here  and  2  Sam.  vii.  IS  ft'., 
Thenius  and  Bertheau  express  themselves  very 
favourably.  They  refer  its  main  elements  to 
1  lavid,  on  account  of  its  many  properties  harmon- 
izin  ;  with  other  genuine  Davidlc  documents.  In 
particular  the  last  words  of  David  (2  Sam.  xxiii. 
off.),  in  which  the  joyful  confidence  founded  on 
the  divine  promises  in  the  happy  continuance  of 
his  house  has  found  a  quite  similar  expression, 
count  with  them  as  a  proof  that  our  verses  rest 
on  a  definite  recollection  of  the  utterance  of  David, 
and  that  exact  reports  of  important  expre&sionj 


124  I.  CHRONICLES. 


xmcprning  the  history  of  salvation,  as  they  were    him,  must  have  been  contained  in  the  sources    f 
handed  down  partly  by  David,  partly  concerning  |  the  books  of  Samuel  and  of  Chronicles. 

;.  David's  Wars  ami  Officers  < if  State,  especially  his  Victorious  Batiks  with  the  Ammonites  ana 

Hie  Philistines:  ch.  xviii.-xx. 

Ch.  xviii.  1.  And  after  this  it  came  to  pass,  that  David  smote  the  Philistines,  and 
subdued   them,  and  took   Gath  and   her   daughters  out  of  the  hand  of  the 

2  Philistines.  And  he  smote  Moab  ;  and  the  Moabites  became  David's  servants, 
and  brought  gifts. 

3  And  David  smote  Hadadezer  '  king  of  Zobah  towards  Hamath,  as  he  went 

4  to  set  up  his  sign  at  the  river  Euphrates.  And  David  took  from  him  a  thousand 
chariots,  and  seven  thousand  horsemen,  and  twenty  thousand  footmen  :  and 

5  David  lamed  all  the  teams,  but  reserved  of  them  a  hundred  teams.  And  the 
Syrians  of  Damascus  2  came  to  help  Hadadezer  king  of  Zobah  ;  and  David  slew 

6  of  the  Syrians  twenty  and  two  thousand  men.  And  David  put  [men  3]  in  Syria 
Damascus  ;  and  the  Syrians  became  David's  servants,  and  brought  gifts  :  and 

7  the  Lord  preserved  David  wherever  he  went.  And  David  took  the  arms  of 
gold  that  were  on  the  servants  of  Hadadezer,  and  brought  them  to  Jerusalem. 

8  And  from  Tibhath  and  from  Chun,  cities  of  Hadadezer,  David  took  very  much 
brass,  of  which  Solomon  made  the  brazen  sea,  and  the  pillars,  and  the  brazen 
vessels. 

9  And  Tou  king  of  Hamath  heard  that  David  had  smitten  all  the  host  of 

10  Hadadezer  king  of  Zobah.  And  he  sent  Hadoram  his  son  to  King  David,  to 
greet  him  and  to  bless  him,  because  he  had  fought  against  Hadadezer  and 
smitten  him  ;  for  Tou  was  at  war  with   Hadadezer  ;   and  [wit*  Mm]  all  manner 

1 1  of  vessels  of  gold,  and  silver,  and  brass.  These  also  King  David  dedicated  unto 
the  Lord,  with  the  silver  and  the  gold  that  he  had  taken  from  all  the  nations, 
from  Edom,  and  from  Moab,  and  from  the  sons  of  Ammon,  and  from  the  Philis- 
tines, and  from  Amalek. 

12  And  Abshai  the  son  of  Zeruiah  slew  of  Edom  in  the  valley  of  salt  eighteen 

13  thousand.  And  he  put  garrisons  in  Edom  ;  and  all  the  Edomites  became 
servants  of  David  :  and  the  Lord  preserved  David  wherever  lie  went. 

14  And  David  reigned  over  all  Israel,  and  executed  judgment  and  justice  for  all 

15  his  people.     And  Joab  the  son  of  Zeruiah  was  over  the  host ;  and  Jehoshaphat 

16  the  son  of  Ahilud  was  recorder.    And  Zadok  the  son  of  Ahitub,  and  Abimek-ch  * 

17  the  son  of  Abiathar,  were  priests  ;  and  Shavsha  was  scribe.  And  Benaiah  the 
son  of  Jehoiada  was  over  the  Cherethi  and  Pelethi ;  and  David's  sons  were  the 
chief  beside  the  king. 

Oh.  XIX.  1.  And  it  came  to  pass  after  tins,  that  Nahash  king  of  the  sons  of  Ammon 

2  died,  and  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead.  And  David  said,  I  will  show  kindness 
unto  Hanun  the  son  of  Nahash,  because  his  father  showed  kindness  to  me  ;  and 
David  sent  messengers  to  comfort  him  concerning  his  father :  and  the  servants  of 

3  David  came  to  the  land  of  the  sons  of  Ammon,  to  Hanun,  to  comfort  him.  And 
the  princes  of  the  sons  of  Ammon  said  to  Hanun  :  Thinkest  thou  that  David 
doth  honour  thy  father,  that  he  hath  sent  comforters  unto  thee  1  are  not  his 
servants  come  to  thee  to  search  and  to  turn  over,  and  to  spy  out  the  land  1 

4  And   Hanun   took  David's  servants,  and  shaved  them,  and  cut  off  half  their 

5  garments  by  the  breech,  and  sent  them  away.  And  they  went,  and  they  told 
David  about  the.  men,  and  he  sent  to  meet  them  ;  for  the  men  were  greatly 
ashamed  :  and  the  king  said,  Tarry  at  Jericho  until  your  beard  be  grown,  and 
then  return. 

6  And  the  sons  of  Ammon  saw  that  they  had  made  themselves  stink  with  David : 
and  Hanun  and  the  sons  of  Ammon  sent  a  thousand  talents  of  silver  to  hire 
them  chariots  and  horsemen  out  of  Mesopotamia,  and  out  of  Syria-maachah.  and 

7  out  of  Zobah.  And  they  hired  them  thirty  and  two  thousand  chariots,  and  the 
king  of  Maachah  and  his  people ;  and  they  came  and  pitched  before  Medeba  : 
and  the  sons  of  Ammon  gathered  together  from  their  cities,  and  came  to  battle. 


JHAP.  XV1II.-XX. 


S,  9  And  David  heard,  and  sent  Joab,  and  all  the  host  of  the  mighty  men.  And  the 
sons  of  Amnion  came  out,  and  set  the  battle  in  array  at  the  gate  of  the  city  ;  and 
the  kings  that  were  come  stood  by  themselves  in  the  held. 

10  And  Joab  saw  that  the  battle  was  directed  against  him  before  and  behind, 
and  he  chose  out  of  all  the  choice  in   Israel,  and  drew  up  against  the  Syrians. 

11  And  the  rest  of  the  people  he  gave   into  the   hand  of  Abshai   his   brother,  and 

12  they  drew  up  against  the  sons  of  Amnion.  And  he  said,  If  the  Syrians  be  too 
strong  for  me,  thru  thou  shalt  come  to  my  help;  and  if  the  sons  of  Amnion  be 

13  too  strong  for  thee,  then  I  will  help  thee.  Be  courageous,  and  let  us  do  valiantly 
for  our  people  and  for  the  cities  of  our  God  ;  and  the  Lord  do  that  which  is  good 

14  in  His  sight      And  Joab,  and  the  people  that  were  with  him,  drew  nigh  before 

15  the  Syrians  ,o  the  battle;  and  they  fled  before  him.  And  the  sons  of  Amnion 
saw  that  the  Syrians  tied,  and  they  also  fled  before  Abshai  his  brother,  and  went 
into  the  city  ;  and  Joab  went  to  Jerusalem. 

16  And  when  the  Syrians  saw  that  they  were  smitten  before  Israel,  they  sent 
messengers,  and  drew  forth  the  Syrians  that  were  beyond  the  river ;  and  Sho- 

17  phach,  captain  of  the  host  of  Hadudezer,  went  before  them.  And  it  was  told 
David  :  and  he  gathered  all  Israel,  and  passed  the  Jordan,  and  came  to  them,5 
and  drew  up  against  them  ;  and  David  drew  up  against  the  Syrians  for  battle, 

18  and  they  fought  with  him.  And  the  Syrians  fled  before  Israel ;  and  David  slew 
of  the  Syrians  seven  thousand  teams,  and  forty  thousand  footmen  ;  and  he  killed 

19  Shophach,  captain  of  the  host.  And  when  the  servants  of  Hadadezer  saw  that 
they  were  smitten  before  Israel,  thev  made  peace  with  David,  and  served  him  ; 
and  the  Syrians  would  not  help  the  sons  of  Amnion  any  more. 

Ch.  xx.  1.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  year  was  ended,  at  the  time  when  the 
kings  go  out,  that  Joab  led  forth  the  strength  of  the  host,  and  wasted  the  land 
of  the  sons  of  Amnion,  and  came  and  besieged  Kabbah;  but  David  tarried  in 

2  Jerusalem  :  and  Joab  smote  Kabbah,  and  destroyed  it.  And  David  took  the 
crown  of  their  king  from  his  head,  and  found  it  in  weight  a  talent  of  gold,  and 
set  with  precious  stones  ;  and  it  was  put  upon  David's  head,  and  he  brought 

3  very  much  spoil  out  of  the  city.  And  he  brought  out  the  people  that  were  in 
it,  and  cut  them  with  saws,  and  iron  threshing-carts  and  saws;6  and  so  David 
did  to  all  the  cities  of  the  sons  of  Ammon  ;  and  David  returned  with  all  the 
people  to  Jerusalem. 

4  And  it  came  to  pass  after  this,  that  a  war  arose  at  Gezer  with  the  Philis- 
tines ;  then  Sibbecai  zhe  Hushathite  slew  Sippai,  one  of  the  sons  of  Kapha  ;  and 

5  they  were  subdued.  And  there  was  a  war  again  with  the  Philistines  ;  and 
Elhanan  the  son  of  Jair  slew  Lachmi,  brother  of  Goliath  the  Gittite  ;  and  his 

6  spear's  staff  was  like  a  weaver's  beam.  And  again  there  was  war  in  Gath.  where 
was  a  man  of  [great]  stature,  and  his  fingers  were  six  and  six,  twenty  and  tour 

7  [in  »n]  :  and  he  also  was  born  to  Kapha.     And  he  reproached  Israel ;  and  Jona- 

8  than  the  son  of  Shima,  David's  brother,  slew  him.  These  were  born  to  Rapha 
in  Gath ;  and  they  fell  by  the  hand  of  David,  and  by  the  hand  of  his 
servants 

'  T?lTtn  is  the  Kethtb  ir.  all  passages  of  our  chapter,  but  the  Keri .  "Itjnln  (so  in  2  Sam.  x.  16-19)  The  first 
fi  tin,  the  more  usual  in  the  book*  of  Samuel  and  Kings,  is  also  the  more  original,  because  Tin,  a  S>rian  idol  name, 
occurs  in  other  Syrian  propi-r  n.imes. 

Properly  Darmascus  (pCTD"!^ — so  here  and  ver.  6,  also  2  Chron.  xvi.  2,  xxiv.  23,  without  variation  ;  elsewhere  always 

ptfCT). 

After  "VPt    Dbtt1  there  seems  to  have  fallen  out  C*2^ ;  comp.  Sept.  ($pijp&>)  and  Vug.  (miiilts),  and  see  Exeg. 
Expl.  ■ 

'  For  "pQ'^X  read  rather  (with  the  Sept.,  Vulg.,  and  xxiv.  3,  G)   '•pDTIS- 

1  For  DH7X    N3'1   the  text  in  Samuel  (2  Sam.  x.  17)  has   H^JOn    N35V   "and  went  to  Helam.  '  perhaps  mort 
,■•■-:  ,-  ,      ,v 

comet  and  original  (comp  Exeg.  Expl.).  though  all  the  translations  and  Mss.  confirm  the   DilVK  of  our  passage. 
•  Rather,  perhaps,  ••  and  scythes "  as  for  nilJQiT  is  (with  2  Sam.  xii.  31)  no  doubt  nni;"53i  to  be  read. 


126 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


EXEGKTICAL. 

Preliminary  Remark.— The  present  group 
of  war  reports  runs  parallel  to  four  sections  ol 
2  Samuel,  separated  from  one  another  hy  other 
accounts.  To  the  present  summary  accounts  of 
the  victorious  warfare  of  David  with  all  surround- 
ing enemies  in  general,  in  cli.  xviii.,  corresponds 
2  Sam.  viii. ;  to  the  more  copious  description  of 
the  peculiarly  ilifficato  war  with  Amnion,  in  ch. 
xix.,  corresponds  2  Sam.  x. ;  the  close  of  this  war, 
described  in  ch.  xx.  1-3,  hy  the  taking  of  Rabbah, 
has  its  parallel  in  2  Sam.  xii.  26-31;  the  shorter 
reports  of  the  several  heroic  acts  of  David's 
warriors  in  conflict  with  giants  from  the  land 
of  the  Philistines,  ch.  xx.  4-8,  corresponds  with 
the  section  2  Ham.  xxi.  18-22.  The  statements 
of  2  Samuel  coming  between  these  sections  (namely 
ch.  ix.  and  xi.  1-12,  25;  but  also  ch.  xiii.  and 
xiv.-xviii.)  are  particulars  from  the  private  life 
and  domestic  history  of  David,  which  therhronist, 
in  conformity  with  his  plan,  neither  could  nor 
would  take  up. 

1.  General  Report  of  David 's  Victorious  Wars 
with  his  Neighbours:  ch.  xviii.  1-13.  Ver.  1 
treats  of  the  Victories  over  the  Philistines. — And 
took  Gath  ami  her  daughters  out  •>/  H<>  hand  of 
the  Philistine*.  This  statement  is  surprising, 
because  2  Sam.  viii.  1  has  the  more  general  and 
withal  poetical  expression  :  "and  David  took  the 
arm-bridle  from  the  hand  of  the  Philistines"  (jrra 

TOSH  for  rrrilTI  na)-  To  assume  a  purely  arbi- 
trary change  of  text  on  the  part  of  our  author  isques- 
tionable  ;  and  against,  at  least,  a  passing  seizure 
of  the  metropolis  Gath  with  its  daughter  towns 
(vii.  28)  by  David,  it  can  scarcely  be  maintained 
that  in  Solomon's  time  Gath  was  again  an  inde- 
pendent city  under  its  own  king.— Ver.  2.  And 
the  Moabites  became  David's  Si  rvants,  ami  brought 
gifts,  in  short,  became  tributary  subjects  (ver.  n'). 
Why  our  author  has  omitted  the  notice,  following 
here  in  2  Sam.  viii.  2,  of  the  severe  handling  of 
the  Moabites  by  David,  is  uncertain.  It  scarcely 
rests  on  an  apologetic  tendency  in  favour  of 
David  ;  comp.  in  xx.  3  the  account  of  the  cruel 
punishment  of  Kabhath  Amnion.  Moreover,  this 
war  of  David  with  Moab  seems  to  be  that  in 
which  Benaiah  slew  the  two  sons  of  the  king  of 
Moab,  xi.  22.— Vers.  3-8.  The  War  with  Hada- 
dezerof  Zobah.— Kingof  Zobah  towards  Harnath. 
This  closer  determination  of  the  situation  of  Zo- 
bah (nnon).  which  is  peculiar  to  our  text,  places 

it  pretty  far  north,  not  far  from  Harnath,  the  later 
Epiphania,  on  the  Orontes ;  scarcely  Haleb  or 
Xisibis,  both  of  which  lay  farther  north  than 
Harnath,  and  can  scarcely,  from  an  Israeli'. ish 
point  of  view,  be  described  as  lying  "towards 
Harnath"  (against  the  Rabbis  of  the  middle  ages 
on  the  one  hand,  and  J.  D.  Mich,  on  the  other). 
Zobah  is  perhaps  =  Zabe  of  Ptolemy  ;  at  all  events, 
it  is  to  be  sought  north  or  north-east  of  Damascus 
(with  Ew.,  Tlo-n.,  Berth.,  etc. ).'  On  the  spelling 
peculiar  to  Chronicles  and  2  Sam.  x.  16-19,  Ha- 
darezer  (Sept.  'AS;«a£«/>>,  see  Crit.  Note.—  As  he 
went  to  sit  up  hi*  sign  at  the  river  Euphrates,  to 


'  Recently Th.  Msehnff  (Dai  Aiutand,  1873, p.  136  iinnk- 
ik-  hu  found  the  nun-  f  Zobah  south-east  "f  Aleppo.  ■  ear 
me  salt  lake  Jabul     Ho  appears  to  menu  the  same  rains 

Irilich    -I      W     Heifer    III, '■■'■'    /:.i„n    in     v„r.ler„sirn.    by 

Counter  Pauline  Kossiiz,  Lelp«    1873,  i    P   174  B  I  saw  in 
1880. 


establish  his  power  (properly  "hand")  there; 
comp.  1  Sam.  xv.  12.  Whether  these  words 
refer  to  David  or  Hadadezer  is  doubtful  ;  the 
latter  (which  J.  H.  Mich.,  Ew.,  Berth.,  etc., 
assume)  may  be  the  more  probable,  mi  account  ol 
the  mention  of  David  as  subject  at  the  beginning 
of  the  following  verse.     The  various  reading  in 

2  Sam.  viii.  3:  i"p  TL"r6,   "to  turn  his  hand," 

is  perhaps  to  be  amended  from  our  passage,  as  it 
gives  a  less  suitable  sense. — Ver.  4.  And  David 
took  from  him  a  thousand  chariots,  and  seven 
thousand  horsemen,  and  twenty  thousand  footm  it. 
For  this  2  Sam.  viii.  4  has  "1700  horsemen  and 

20,000  footmen,"  perhaps  defectively;  after  spx, 

and  before    rfitCDTDOTi  il  appears  necessary  to 

insert  33-1  there,  for  which  also  the  Sept.  speaks. 

Yet  comp.  Wellh.  on  this  passage,  who  questions 
the  insertion  of   33-1,  on  account  of  the  close  of 

the  verse.— And  David  lamed  all  the  teams,  but 
reserved  of  them  a  thousand  teams,  for  his  own 
use  ;  in  fact,  therefore,  he  lamed  only  900.  For 
this  custom  of  laming  (ipjy)  war-horses,  comp. 

Josh.  xi.  6,  9.— Ver.  6.  And  David  put  in  Syria 
Damascus,  men,  soldiers,  garrison  troops.  From 
■1  Sam.  viii.  6  ami  ver.  13  of  our  chapter  the 
word    D'a'XJ    appears  to   have  fallen   out  after 

TY1   Ct;'!1 :    comp.   also  xiii.  3 ;   1   S.un.   x.   5. — 

Ver.  7.  And  David  took  the  arms  (or  equipments) 

of  gold,    arnmufe  ;    s°  rightly   the  moderns, 

instead  of  the  golden  collars  («X««i)  of  the  Sept.. 
the  quivers  (pharetroe)  of  the  Vulg.,  and  the 
golden  shields  of  the  Chald.,  of  some  Rabbis, 
and  of  Luther. —  Which  were  on  the  servants  of 
Hadadezer,  his  military  servants,  soldiers.  On 
the  addition  of  the  Sept.,  in  2  Sam.  viii.  7  rela- 
tive to  the  later  capture  and  carrying  away  of 
these  golden  arms  by  Shishak  of  Egypt,  under 
Rehoboani.  comp.  the  expositors  of  that  passage. 
—Ver.  8.  And  from  Tibhatli  and  from  Chan,  etc. 
Tibhath  (nrob).  or.  ^  i*  is  perhaps  to  be  read, 
Tebah  (mt3,  for  which,  2  Sam.  viii.,  stands 
erroneously  nU3).  appears  ti  be  identical  with 

the  family  mentioned,  Gen.  xxii.  24.  among  the 
descendants  of  Nahor  ;  whether  it  he  the  present 
Taibeh,  on  the  caravan  road  between  Aleppo  and 
the  Euphrates,  is  questionable.  In  place  ,if  pg 
2  Samuel  gives  Tn2  (= Barathena,  Ptol.  v. 
19  ?  or  nn'13,  Ezek.  xlvii-  16  ?)-  °"  what  tllis 
diversity  of  name  rests,  whether  on  the  corrup- 
tion of' the  original  >rn3  into  p3,  as  Berth. 
thinks,  or  on  a  double  name  of  the  place  in  ques- 
tion, must  remain  doubtful  —0/  which  Sotommi 
mad*  th<  hrazen  sea,  and  the  pillars,  and  Uu 
brazen  vessels.  These  words,  wanting  in  2  Sam, 
viii.  8  in  the  Masoretic  text,  are  perhaps.to  be 
restored  according  to  our  passage,  and  according 
t,,  the  Sept.  and  Vulg.— Vers.  9-11.  Embassy 
and  Present  of  Ton  King  of  Hanoi! h  to  David. 
In  the  parallel  account,  2  Sam.  viii.  9-12,  this 
Ton  is  called  Toi  c;t)  -  Ver.  10.  And  he  sent 
Hadoram  hi*  son.     2  Samuel:   "Joram,"  at  all 


cn.\i\  win.  io-xix.  s. 


127 


events  incorrect,  as  a  name  compounded  with 
rtirv  would   scarcely  have  suited   a   men 

i  Syrian  royal  house;  and  the  Sept.  gives  there 
'hiiavfift  (here  'Ahvfip). —  7*0  greet  him,  to  wi  li 

him  health.     So  is  ai^>"'$  v"?KK^  to  be  taken, 

in rding  to  the  parallel  passages,  as  (!eu.  xliii. 

27,  not,  with  the  Sept.  and  Vulg.,  in  the  sense  of 
i  prayer  for  peace  (ut  postulant  a«  eo  pacem).— 
For  Ton  was  "I  war  with  Hadadezer,  literally, 
"  For  Hadadezer  was  a  man  of  wars  of  Ton,"  a 
constant  assailant  and  adversary  to  him  ;  comp. 
xxviii.  3;  Isa.  xlii.  13.  After  these  words,  which 
form  a  parenthetical  explanation  to  the  foreg . 

follows  the  wider  object  of  r6w'!V  "and  all  man- 
ner of  vessels  of  gold  ami  silver  and  brass."  which 
Luther  erroneously  refers  to  ver.  11.  Ver.  11. 
With  ilie.  silver  and  the  gold  that  he  hail  taken. 
For  Nt;'3  tj;x   2   Samuel  presents  B'Hpn  ")L"X. 

perhaps  the  original  form. — From  'ill  the  nati  mt 

.   .  .  and  from   Amaleic.     In   2  Samuel  a  more 

tomplete  and  probable  text  is  found  (in  which, 

D1K0  's  to  be  read  lor  DIKO)- — ^crs- 

12,  13.  Abshai's  Victory  over  the  Edomites  in  tlu 
Valley  of  Salt.  —  And  .4U«i  .  .  .  slur  of  Edmn 
(literally,   "slew  Edom")   in  the  valley  of  salt, 

18,000  "mm.  In  Bertheau's  combination  of  the 
very  different  reading  in  2  Sam.  viii.  13  with  our 
passage,  for  "  Abshai  son  of  Zeruiah"  would 
have  to  be  read  "Joab,  etc.,"  and  after  "slew  of 
Edom"  would  have  fallen  out  the  words  "when 
he  (Joab)  returned  from  the  conquest  of  Aram." 
Otherwise  Ew..  Then.,  Wellh.,  Keil,  etc.,  the 
latter  of  whom  upholds  the  statement  of  Chroni- 
cles, that  Abshai  gained  this  victory,  by  reference 
to  eh.  x.  10  II'.  of  our  book  (when  Abshai  appears 
as  commander  under  his  brother  Joab),  and  de- 
clares it  consistent  as  well  with  Ps.  lx.  2  as  with 
1  Kings  xi.  15. — Ver.  14.  And  all  the  Edomit,  - 
'•'. ■'!,„,  servants  of  David.  For  this  2  Samuel 
has  more  fully,  and  perhaps  originally  :  "and  in 
all  Edom  he  appointed  officers:  and  all  the  Edom- 
ites became  David's  servants." 

2.  David's  Offici  rs  of  State :  vers.  14-1 7, — a  list 
in  2  Sam.  viii.  also  appended  to  the  above  sum- 
mary war  reports*  —  2  Sam.  viii.  15-18),  tl  at  was 
certainly  found  here  in  the  old  common  sources 
of  both  authors,  introduced  by  the  general  remark 
on  the  ability  and  excellence  of  the  government 
of  David  (ver,  14). — Ver.  15.  For  Joab,  comp.  on 
ii.  16. — Jehoshaphat  the  son  of  Ahilud  was  re- 
corder.     "V3JO,   properly   "remembrancer,"  that 

is,  not  annalist  (Sept.  i  i«ri  ™»  iTiuvrua-vv ; 
Vulg.  a  commentariis),  but  chan  ellor,  who  makes 
i"  the  king  a  report  of  all  that  takes  place  in  the 
kingdom,  ami  conveys  his  commands  ;  comp.  the 
magister  memorial  of  the  later  Romans,  and  the 
Waka  Nuvis  in  the  Persian  court  (Chardin,  Voy- 
ages, v.  p.  258). — Ver.  16'.  For  Zadok,  comp.  on 
v.   30  tl — Ahimeleeh  the  son  of  Abiathar.      For 

u6d'2K  >s  certainly  to  be  read,  with  the  Sept., 

Vulg.,  and  2  Sam.   viii.  17,   Tlfe'ns  ;  fci   so  is 

this  priest  called  in  xxiv.  3,  fi,  31,  where  he  is 
likewise  named  as  the  representative  of  Ithamar 
with  Zadok  of  Eleazar,  and  where  he  appears  as 
the  son  of  Abiathar.  That  Abiathar's  father  was 
also  called  Ahimeleeh,  1  Sam.  xxii.  20,  does  not 


warrant  the  assumption  that  in  our  passage,  as  in 
xxiv.,  there  is  an  exchange  of  the  father  and  the 
son  :  and  thus  a  transposition  ol  Ihe  names  into 
"  Abiathar  the  sun  of  Ahimeleeh  "  is  nee.  ssary 
(as  Movers,  Then.,  Ew  ,  Wellh.  thinkV  Rather 
is  our  Ahimeleeh  to  be  regarded  as  a  bod  ol  the 
same  name  with  his  grandfather,  according  to  the 
known  Hebrew  custom,  who,  even  during  his 
lather's  lifetime,  acted  in  the  priestly  office. 
Comp.  the  frequent  recurrence  of  the  gran 
father's  name  in  the  grandson  in  v.  30-41.-  And 
Shavsha  was  scribe,  that  is,  secretary  of  state. 
This  shavsha  (I.uth.  "Sausa")  is  called  in  1 
Kings  iv.   3   Sbisha    (st;"'J'.    differing  only   in 

spelling   from    Nts'lfi')*    but    in    2    Sam.    xx.    25 

XVJ"  (N"C')-      If  2  Sam.  viii.   17  exhibits  rTT".'. 

this  is  to  be  considered,  perhaps,  an  error  of  the 
pen.— Ver.  17.   And  Benaiah  .   .   .  was  over  the 

i 'It,  i, till   and   the   Pelethi.      So  also  2  Sun.    viii. 

18,  with  the  more  correct  reeding  <rnsn  ?])  for 

'"13m,  as   in   2   Sam.    xx.   23.     That    "Chcrethi 

and  Pelethi"  denote  the  two  divisions  of  the 
royal  guard  (the  rwftaTtfiiXaxts,  Joseph.  An  tig. 
vii.  5.  4)  is  undoubted,  though,  with  Gesen., 
Then.,  Bcihr  (on  1  Kings  i.  36),  Keil,  etc.,  thi 
former  name  be  explained  by  confossores,  '•  .ton  -. 
executioners,  the  hitter  by  celeres,  xyyxpoi,  run- 
ners (couriers),  and  thus  both  appellatively,  for 
which  the  passages  1  Kings  ii.  25,  2  Kings  xi.  4 
appear  to  speak,  or  though  (with  Lakemacher, 
M>. vers,  Ew.,  Berth.,  Hitz.,  etc.)  they  be  re- 
garded as  the  nationalities  of  the  Cretans 
(Carians)  and  the  Philistines.  Comp,  the  latest 
discussion  of  this  controversy  by  J.  <!.  Miiller 
[Die  Semiten  in  ihrem  Verhaltniss  .»  Chamiten 
und  Japhetiten,  1S72,  p.  2b'3  tl.  i.  who  deci  les  foi 
the  latter  interpretation.  For  Benaiah.  comp. 
also  xi.  22  If. — And  David's  sons  weri  the  chief 
Inside  the  king,  the  next  to  him.  In  2  Sam.  viii. 
18  the  ancient  term  D'JilS,  privy  counsellors,  is 

chosen  to  designate  rite  high  rank  of  the  royal 
princes  (comp.  1  Kings  iv.  5). 

3.  The  War  with  Amman  and  Syria:  ch.  six. 
1-xx.  3;  comp.  2  Sam.  x. — And  it  cam*  to  pass 
after  this.      The   loose  form  of   connection    'n'l 

p  '"inx  serves  sometimes  to  introduce  new  re- 
ports, even  if  there  be  no  strict  chronoli 
order,  or  if,  as  here  (comp.  xviii.  3-5  with  xix. 
M  tl'.  i.  that  which  is  to  be  related  has  bei  n  partly 
mentioned  before.  Comp.  for  example,  2  Sam. 
viii.  1,  x.  1,  xiii.  1.  For  the  Ammonite  king 
Nahash,  and  his  war  with  Saul,  see.  1  Sam.  xi. — 
And  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead.  The  followiug 
certainly  shows  t.iat  this  son  was  .ailed  Hanun  . 
yet  the  name  ;^n,  from  2  Sam.  x.  1,  appears  to 

'  T 

have  originally  stood  in  the  text  after  133, 
versely  there,  the  omitted  name  'CTM  must  ap- 
parently be  supplied  from  our  passage. — Ver.  3. 
Thinkest  thou  that  David  doth  honour  thy  father? 
literally,  "Does  David  honour  thy  father  in  thine 
eyes?"     The  emphasis  in  this  rests  on 

the  notion  of  honouring,  of  which  the  questioners 
doubt  whether  it  really  forms  the  objei  ;  of  David's 
embassy. —  To  search  und  to  turn  over  (turn  up- 


128 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


side  down,  examine  thoroughly),  and  to  spy  out 
tlie  land.  This  sentence  is  also  in  Hebrew  a 
question,  but,  as  an  affirmative  answer  is  ex- 
pected, introduced,  not  with   n,  hut  with  fcjpn: 

"Are  they  not  come  to  search,  etc.?"  In  2  Sam. 
x.  3,  the  sentence  runs  somewhat  different,  so 
that  not  the  land  (}»"isn),  but  the  city  (TJjn), 

is  the  object  of  the  verbs,  and  the  'nsn  removed 

to  the  end  has  the  sense,  not  of  turning  over,  but 
of  destroying.  But  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to 
change  our  text  accordingly  (against  Berth.). — 
Ver.  4.  And  shared  them.  2  Samuel  more  exactly: 
"shaved  off  the  half  (the  one  side)  of  their  beard." 
— And  cut  off  half  their  garments  by  the  breech. 
ni'b'BSH,  properly,  "the  step,  the  step-region  in 

the  middle  of  the  body,"  here  euphemistic  for 
nij")w;.  mites,  which  is  used  in  2  Samuel. — Ver.  5. 

And  they  icent.  This  is  wanting  in  2  Samuel, 
but  not  therefore  to  be  erased  as  superfluous 
(against  Berth.). — Ami  the  king  said,  Tarry  at 
Jericho.  So  far  they  were  then  come  on  their 
way  to  Jerusalem.  The  following  "then  return" 
is  naturally  completed  by  adding  "to  Jerusalem" 
or  "hither." — Ver.  6.  That  they  had  made  them- 
selves stink  willi  David,  had  drawn  his  hatred  on 
them.  For  the  Hithp.  VCHinn  2  Samuel  has 
the  Xiph.  of  the  same  verb,  in  the  same  reflexive 
sense. — Ha,inin  .  .  .  sent  a  thousand  talents  of 
silver  to  hire,  etc.  The  statement  that  this  hiring 
of  auxiliaries  took  place  is  wanting  in  2  Samuel, 
but  is  certainly  genuine.  —  For  Mesopotamia  = 
Aram-naharaim,  2  Samuel  names,  as  the  first  of 
the  countries  from  which  Hanun  hired  his  auxili- 
aries, Aram-beth-rehob,  which  can  scarcely  be 
only  another  name  of  Mesopotamia  (as  some 
ancients  have  assumed,  identifying  the  city  Beth- 
rehob  with  Rehobath,  now  Rahabe,  on  the  Eu- 
phrates, Gen.  xxxvi.  37),  but  the  kingdom  or 
territory  of  Beth-rehob,  a  Syrian  city,  Num.  xiii. 
21,  Judg.  xviii.  28,  lying  south  of  Hamath.  For 
the  following  name,  Aram-Maaehah,  2  Sam.  x.  (as 
ver.  7  of  our  ch.)  has  only  JIaaehah  (on  which 
region,  bordering  northward  on  the  trans-jordanie 
Palestine,  eomp.  Deut.  iii.  14;  Josh.  xii.  5,  xiii. 
11).  On  the  contrary,  Zobah  is  there  called  more 
fully:  Aram-Zobah  (eomp.  on  xviii.  3). — Ver.  7. 
And  they  hired  them  32,000  chariots,  that  is, 
chariots  with  riders,  CC'IDI  331,  as  the  fore- 
going verse  shows.  The  number  32,000  agrees 
substantially  with  the  deviating  statement  in 
2  Samuel,  in  which  these  auxiliaries  appear 
rather  as  footmen,  and,  indeed,  consisting  of 
20,000  footmen  from  Aram  and  Aram-beth-rehob, 
It 00  men  from  Maachah,  and  12,000  men  from 
the  kingdom  of  Tob  (Judg.  xi.  3),  which  latter 
c/s  author  has  left  undistinguished. — And  they 
•■nine  and  pitched  before  Medeba,  the  city  of  the 
tribe  of  Reuben  mentioned  Josh.  xiii.  16,  two 
miles  (about  nine  English  miles)  south-east  of 
Heshbon.  This  statement  as  well  as  the  follow- 
ing, relative  to  the  simultaneous  assembling  of 
the  Ammonite  troops,  is  wanting  in  2  Sam.  x., 
but  was  found  no  doubt  in  the  old  sources  used 
by  our  writt-r,  in  common  with  the  author  of  the 
books  of  Samuel.— Ver.  8.  And  all  the  host  if  the 
mighty.  Different,  but  merely  in  expression,  from 
2  Samuel:  "the  who]?  host,  the  mighty  men." — 


Ver.  9.  And  the  sons  of  Amnion  .  .  .  at  the  gate 
of  the  city,  before  the  gates  of  Rabbah,  their 
capital.  This  reading :  -ryn  nDB,  is  to  De  pre- 
ferred, as  clearer  than  that  in  2  Sam.  x.  :  nns 
"ll'U'H,  "at  the  gate,  outside  the  gate." — Ver.  10. 

And  Joab  saw  that,  the  battle  was  directed  against 
him  before,  and  behind,  literally,  "that  the  face 
of  the  batt'.e  (  =  the  front  of  the  line)  was  before 
and  behind  him : "  that  before  him  stood  the 
Ammonites,  and  in  his  rear  the  Syrians.  Oppo- 
site the  latter,  as  the  stronger  foe,  Joab  took  bis 
ground,  while,  ver.  11,  he  entrusted  the  engage- 
ment with  the  Ammonites  to  his  brother  Abshai. 
— Ver.  13.  For  our  people,  and  for  the  city  of  our 
God:  that  these  may  not  fall  into  the  hands  of 
the  heathen,  and  from  cities  of  the  Lord  become 
cities  of  idols. — Ver.  15.  And  went  into  the  city, 
tied  into  their  capital  Rabbah,  while  Joab  first 
returned  to  Jerusalem,  reserving  the  siege  and 
capture  of  this  strong  fortress  for  the  following 
campaign.  —  Vers.  16-19.  The  Conquest  of  the 
Syrians  allied  with  the  Ammonites. —  They  sent 
messengers,  and  drew  forth  the  Syrians  that  were 
beyond  the  river  Euphrates,  the  Mesopotamians, 
who  must  have  been  somehow  subject  to  Hadad- 
ezer,  and  laid  under  tribute;  eomp.  2  Sam.  x.  16. 
— Ver.  17.  And  came  to  them.  Instead  of  this 
notice,  which  is  superfluous,  along  with  the  follow- 
ing words:  "and  drew  up  against  them,"  should 
be  read,  with  2  Sam.  x.  16  (see  Git.  Note) : 
"and  he  came  to  Helam. "     This  elsewhere  not 

occurring  local  name  QpTI  or  DN7n  (Sept.  A/x«,u, 

Vulg.  Helam)  the  Chronist  quite  omits  in  its 
first  place  (in  2  Sam.  x.  16  =  ver.  16  of  our  ch.), 
and  changes  it  the  second  time,  whether  inten- 
tionally or  not,  into  DiTPN-  Comp.  Joseph.  Antiq. 
vii.  6.  3,  where  the  name  is  regarded  as  a  proper 
name  of  a  king  beyond  the  Euphrates,  the  master 
of  the  general  Shophach  (Sabekos).  It  is,  more- 
over, not  impossible  that  the  local  name  Helam 
corresponds  to  the  Alamatha  on  the  Euphrates  in 
Ptolem.  xv.  5,  in  which  case  ch.  xviii.  3  might 
be  combined  with  our  passage,  if  the  same  war 
with  Hadadezer  and  the  Syrians  be  spoken  of 
there  as  here. — Ver.  IS.  And  David  slew  of  the 
Syrians  7000  teams  (chariot  horses)  and  40,000 
footmen.  On  the  contrary,  2  Samuel  has  700 
teams  and  40,000  horsemen.  Perhaps  the 
smaller  number  of  teams  in  2  Samuel  and  the 
designation  of  the  40,000  as  footmen  in  our  text 
deserve  the  preference;  comp.  Wellh.  p.  180. — 
Ver.  19.  And  when  the  servants  or'  Hadadezer, 
here  not  his  warriors,  but  his  allies  or  subject 

kings  (vassals);  comp.  2  Sain.  x.  19:  Q^PBH  73 
-ijjmn  H3V- — Ch.  xx.  1-3.  The  Siege  and  Con- 
quest of  Rabbah,  here  more  briefly  related  than  in 
2  Sam.  xi.  1,  xii.  26-31,  and  therefore  without 
any  reference  to  the  death  of  Uriah.  —  When  the 
year  was  ended,  at  the  lime  when  the  kings  go  out, 
in  the  spring,  as  most  suitable  for  re-opening  the 
campaign.  The  last  described  battle  with  the 
Syrians  appears  accordingly  to  have  fallen  in  the 
autumn  of  the  previous  yen.— Joab  led  forth 
the  strength  of  the  host;  more  circumstantially 
2  Sam.  xi.  1:  "David  sent  Joab,  and  his  servants 
with  him,  ami  all  Israel."     On  {<3Sn  7'n.  comp 


CHAT.  XX.  3-6. 


1  ■_".> 

333 ;  that  passage  is  not  inversely  to  be  amende*! 

from  ours  (against   Berth.). — Then  Sibbecai  tfu 

II 'uilrrtliiii  (..He  of  David's  Gibborim;  see  zi.  29 
and  xxvii.  11)  slew  Sippai,  om  of  tfu  sons  01 
one  of  the  Rephaites  or  descendants  "i 
Kapha,  that  gigantic  tribe  thai  before  the  inva- 
sion of  the  Philistines  inhabited  the  south-west 
of  Canaan,  and  of  which  several  families  of  gigantic 
size  still  lived  among  the  Philistines  :  comp.  Josh, 
xi.  22;  Deut.  ii.  6,  23. — And  they  were  subdued, 
namely,  by  the  conquest  of  1 1 1  i  -.  giant  ;  comp. 
Jn.lg.  xi.  33;  1  Sam.  vii.  13.  The  absence  of 
this  remark  in  2  Samuel  does  not  make  its 
originality  suspicious.  —  Ver.  5.  And  (her*  wo' 
a  war  again  with  the  Philistbu  9,  namely,  2  Sam 
xxi.  19,  at  Gob  (or  Noli),  and  so  at  the  sami 
place  as  the  former.  —  Elhanan  tfu  son  of  Jail 
slew  Lachmi,  brother  of  Goliath  the  Gitlite,  Ac- 
cording to  this  certainly  original  reading  is  the 
defective  text,  2  Sam.  xxi.  19:  "Elhanan  the 
son  of  Jaare-oregim,  a  Bethlehemite,  slew  Goliath 
the  I  in  lite,"  to  be  amended  (with  Piscat.,  Clerie., 
Mich.,  Mov.,  Then.,  Keil,  Wellh.).  "The  form 
»")JJ\    instead    of  -py   of  Chronicles,  would   be 

cai:sed  by  the  following   Ds2~iX,  the   accidental 

insertion  of  which  from  the  line  underneath  :s 
easily  understood"  (Wellh.).  Besides,  the  heie 
quite  unexplained  mention  of  the  celebrated 
captain  of  David,  Elhanan  of  Bethlehem  (xi.  26\ 
will  have  occasioned  a  change  of  'QrPVIN  i n t«i 

'OfPn  JV3-  Accordingly,  the  question  started  by 
Berth.,  as  defender  of  the  originality  of  the  text 
of  Samuel:  "Have  there  been  two  Goliaths?" 
falls  to  the  ground  as  an  idle  one.  —  Ver.  6  11'.  The 
Last  of  the  Four  Heroic  Deeds.—  Where  was  a  man 
of  (great)   stature:    HID  K>'K  =  the    pja  ;;"x, 

'rir  mensurarum,  in  2  Samuel. — And  his  finger) 
were  six  and  six  (namely,  on  the  hands  and  the 
feet,  therefore  in  all),  twenty  and  four.  Comp. 
the  sedigiti  mentioned  by  Plin.  //.  X.  xi.  43; 
also  Trusen,  Sitten,  Gebrhuche,  und  Krank/teiten 
der  nit, a  Hebraer,  p.  19S  f.  :  Carlisle,  "An 
i  -.-■.-: 1 1 r  of  a  family  having  hands  and  feet  with 
supernumerary  lingers  and  toes"  (in  Philos. 
Transac.  1814,  part  1,  p.  94)  ;  Rosbach,  Diss. 
<A  tiumero  digitorum  adaucto,  Bonn  1838; 
Fall  von  Ueberzahl  dee  Zehen,  in  Sie- 
bold's  Journ.  fur  Gebnrtshiilfe,  vol.  xiii.  Art.  1; 
also  Loii'/.  Medic.  Gaz.  vol.  xiv.  Apr.  1834, 
and  Friedrich,  Zur  Bibel,  i.  p.  298  f.  Recently 
the  well-known  Arabian  traveller  F.  v.  Maltzan, 
in  the  Berlin  Anthropological  Society,  reported 
as  follows:  "Among  the  Himyarites  (in  Son  h 
Arabia),  in  the  dynasty  of  Forli,  the  six  lingers 
are  hereditary,  and  the  pride  of  the  ruler  and  tin 
people.  Indeed,  this  property  of  six  liiiyers,  a 
sign  of  bodily  or,  if  not  bodily,  of  mental  strength 
among  the  Arabs,  is  still  kept  up  artificially,  as 
the  six-fingered  princes  of  the  reigning  house  aiv 
allowed  to  many  only  six-lingered  members  of 
the  family,  to  avoid  as  much  as  possible  the 
appearance  of  five  fingers.  In  short,  the  twenty- 
four  lingers  and  toes  of  the  ruler  are  the  pride  of 

the  country;  and  any  one  out  of  th mntry  might 

prove  his  nearer  or  farther  connection  with  the 
ruling  house  by  a  greater  or  smaller  superfluity  ol 
fingers"  {Correspondence  Sheet  of  the  German 
Society  for  Anthropology,   Etlinol.,  etc.,   1872, 

I 


the  similar  {OY  ^>T\,  2  Chr.m.    xxvi.    13.  —  Ami 

Joab  smote  Ilabhah,  and  destroyed  it,  properly, 
pulled  it  down ;  comp.  Ezek  xvi.  39,  xxvi.  4, 
12;  Lam.  ii.  2,  17.  Compared  with  2  Sam.  xii. 
26  tf.,  where  it  is  reported  that  Joab  first  only 
took  the  so-called  <-i ty  of  waters,  but  called  King 
David  to  the  taking  of  the  proper  fortress  (citadel, 
acropolis),  that  the  honour  of  completing  the 
con o nest  and  destruction  of  the  city  might  be 
nis,  the  p resent  report  appears  brief  and  summary. 
— Ver.  3.  And  cut  them  with  saws,  and  iron 
threshing-carts  anil  ships.     -)j."5l,   **"•  *■'}••,   from 

the  root  -nj,,)  "cut";  comp.  "lit-'Q,  "saw,"  from 
the  coguate  root  "/&}.  In  2  Sam.  xii.  81,  D!L"'l 
is  perhaps  only  an  error  of  the  pen  for  -pj''l  or 
DIC'M  (Bbttcher). — For  ntllBM,  as  in  -  Samuel, 
nViT3D3Di  "and  with  scythes"  (or  like  iron-cut- 
ting instruments,  scarcely  "wedges,"  as  Luthei-, 
or  "axes,"  as  Kamph.,  thinks),  is  perhaps  to  be 
read.  A  twofold  mention  of  saws,  first  in  the 
sing.,  then  in  plur.,  would  be  an  intolerable 
tautology.  Moreover,  this  cutting  and  grinding 
of  the  vanquished  Ammonites  with  iron  saws, 
threshing  sledges,  and  the  like,  is  in  itself  horrible 
and  barbarous  enough  (comp.  Prov.  xx.  26;  Amos 
i.  3);  and  we  need  not  assume  that  the  Chronist 
intentionally,  and  from  an  apologetic  tendency, 
passed  over  a  still  more  horrid  kind  of  punish- 
ment then  inflicted  on  the  vanquished  Ammonites, 
burning  in  tile-kilns  (2  Sam.  xii.  31);  comp.  on 
xviii.  2. 

4.  Appendix:  Briefer  Report  of  the  Heroic 
Deeds  of  some  of  David's  Warriors  in  the  '  on- 
flict  with  Philistine  Giants:  vers.  4-8. — This 
report  is  also  treated  as  an  appendix  in  2  Samuel, 
where  it  is  found  quite  at  the  end  of  the  history 
of  David,  ch.  xxi.  15-22,  and,  indeed,  enlarged 
by  a  fourth  heroic  deed  (vers.  15-17),  there  related 
in  the  first  place,  hut  here  wanting  — the  danger- 
ous conflict  of  David  with  the  giant  Ishbi-benob, 
whom  Abshai  at  length  slew.  It  appears  as  if  the 
Chronist  had  omitted  this  story  intentionally, 
because  it  might  have  lessened  the  military  fame 
of  David.  Comp.  Ligbtfoot,  Chronol.  V,  T.  p. 
68:  Illud  prcelium,  in  quo  David  in  periculum 
venit  et  unde  decore  et  illcesus  prodire  non  yotu.it, 
omasum  est;  as  Starke  :  "The  dangerous  combat 
of  David  with  Ishbi  is  not  mentioned  here,  as 
the  book  of  Chronicles,  as  some  remark,  conceals 
or  passes  over  the  shame  of  the  saints  ;  whence 
also  nothing  occurs  here  of  the  adultery  and 
murder  by  David,  or  of  the  idolatry  of  Solomon." 
— Ver.  4.  And  it  came  to  pass  after  this.  This 
formula  stood  here  originally  not  so  unconnected 
as  in  xix.  1;  but  the  event  to  which  it  referri  I, 
2  Sam.  x.xi.  Is,  was  that  history  of  the  combat 
with  Ishbi  which  is  intentionally  omitted  by  our 
author,  on  which  account  the  formula  does  not 
now  appear  very  suitable.  —A  war  arise  at  Gi  :■  r. 
Ifoynil  (perhaps  arising  out  of  -|ij»  «nFf1,  '-  Sam. 

xxi.  18),  here  =  Dpm.  according  to  later  nsa 

For  Gezer  (in  the  tribe  of  Ephraim,  to  the  south- 
west, near  the  north  bolder  of  the  Philistines), 
see  vii.  2S.     For  -1J33,  moreover,  we  should  ap- 

pirently  (2  Sam.   xxi.    18)   read  3J3,  or  perhaps 


!S0  i.  chronicles;. 


No.    8,  p.  60). — Ver.    7.    Jonathan   the  son  of  yijfl  rf?X  >n  2  Sam.  xxi.  22,  win-re  it  is  preceded 
Sli'ana,  David's  brother,  slew  him.    Comp.,  on  this       '■'•■     '■""  „„      „     ,.  , 

bv  the  number   '  four    (which  is  naturally  omittea 
Shima,  ii.  13.— Ver.  S.    7%e*e  »we  fior».    i?x  for   by  the  Chronist).— And  they  fell  by  the  hand  of 

;       .  ,    .         .,    ,  .   ,  .    ..  i  David,  and  i>>/  the  hand  of'  his  .« remits,  namelv, 

H^   is  an  archaism,  that  occurs  eight  times  IB    ,,v  p^  ^  ^  g  ^^  ^  M  ^  wag  ^ 

the  Pentateuch,  but  always  with  the  article  6kh),    s"1!"1'1'"'  commander  and   military  chief  of  the 

■  >  victorious  Israelites,  but  immediately  by  the  hand 
and  stands  only  here  without  it,  for  which  reason  of  his  so-called  servants  or  heroes.  The  whole 
it  appears   suspicious  ;   the   following  rfan  also    remark   forms    a   concluding    subscription,    that 

:  i  appears  no  less  suitable  in  our  passage  than  in 

prrbably  contains  an  error  ;    comp.   the  regular  I  2  Sam.  xxi.  22  (against  Berth. ). 

x.    The  Census  and  the  P.ar/ue:  ch.  xxi. 

On.  xxi.  1.    And   Satan  stood  up  against  Israel,  and  provoked  David  to  number 

2  Israel.  And  David  said  unto  Joab,  and  to  the  rulers  of  the  people,  Go, 
number  Israel  from  Beersheba  even  to  Dan  ;  and  bring  it  to  me,  that  I  may 

3  know  tin  ir  number.  And  Joab  said,  The  Lord  add  to  His  people  an  hundred- 
fold as  many  as  they  are.  Are  they  not,  my  lord  the  king,  all  my  lord's  ser- 
vants?    Why  doth  my  lord  require  this  thing?     Why  shall  it  be  a  trespass 

4  to  Israel  1     But  the  word  of  the   king  prevailed  against  Joab ;  and  Joab  de- 

5  parted,  and  went  through  all  Israel,  and  came  to  Jerusalem.  And  Joab  gave 
the  sum  of  the  number  of  the  people  unto  David  ;  and  all  Israel  were  a 
thousand  thousand   and   a   hundred    thousand   men   that   drew   sword;    and 

6  Judah  was  four  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  men  that  drew  sword.  But 
Levi  and  Benjamin  he  counted  not  among  them  ;  for  the  king's  word  was 
abominable  to  Joab. 

7,  8         And  God  was  displeased  with  this  thing  :  and  He  smote  Israel.     And 

David  said  unto  God,  I  have  sinned  greatly,  because  I  have  done  this  thing  : 

but  now  take  away  the  iniquity  of  Thy  servant ;  for  I  have  done  very  foolishly. 

0,  10  And   the  Lord  spake  unto  Gad,  David's  seer,  saying.     Go  and  tell  David, 

saying.  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Three  things  I  lay  before  thee  ;  choose  thee,  one 

11  of  them,  that  I  may  do  it  unto  thee.    And  Gad  came  to  David,  and  said  unto 

12  him.  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Choose  thee  either  three  years  of  famine  ;  or  three 
months  to  be  driven1  before  thy  foes,  and  the  sword  of  thy  enemies  to  over- 
take thee  ;  or  three  days  the  sword  of  the  L<>RD  and  pestilence  in  the  land, 
that  the  angel  of  the  Lord  may  destroy  in  all  the  border  of  Israel  ;  and  now 

13  consider  what  word  I  shall  return  to  Him  that  sent  me.  And  David  said 
unto  Gail,  I  am  in  a  great  strait :  let  me  now  fall  into  the  hand  of  the 
Lord  ;  for  very  great  aie  His  mercies  :  but  let  me  not  fall  into  the  hand  of 
man. 

14  And  the  Lord  sent  pestilence  upon  Israel ;  and  there  fell  of  Israel  seventy 

15  thousand  men.  And  God  sent  an  angel  to  Jerusalem  to  destroy  it  ;  and  as 
he  was  destroying,  the  Loud  beheld,  and  repented  of  the  evil,  and  said  to  the 
destroying   angel,    It   is   enough  now,  stay  thy  hand  :  and  the  angel  of  the, 

16  Lord  stood  by  the  floor  of  Oman2  the  jebusite.  And  David  lifted  up  his 
eyes,  and  saw  the  angel  of  the  Lord  standing  between  the  earth  and  the 
heaven,  having  a  drawn  sword  in  his  hand  stretched  over  Jerusalem  ;  and 

17  David  and  the  elders,  clothed  in  sackcloth,  fell  on  their  faces.  And  David 
said  unto  God,  Have  not  I  commanded  to  number  the  people  ?  it  ;s  I  that 
have  sinned,  and  done  evil  indeed  :  and  these,  sheep,  what  have  tiny  done  1 
0  Lord  my  God,  let  Thy  hand  now  be  on  me  and  on  my  father's  house,  and 
uot  on  Thy  people  to  smite. 

18  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  commanded  Gad  to  say  unto  David,  that 
David  should  go  up  and  set  up  an  altar  unto  the  Lord  in  the  floor  of  Oman 

l(.i  the  Jebusite.     And  David  went  up  at  the  word  of  Gad,  which  he  spake  in 

20  the  name  of  the  Lord.     And  Oman  turned,  and  saw  the  angel ;  and  his  four 

21  sons  with  him  hid  themselves  :  and  Ornan  was  threshing  wheat.  And  David 
went  to  Ornan  ;  and  Ornan  looked,  and  saw  David,  and  came  out  of  the  floor, 


CHAP.  XXI.   1. 


I;!l 


22  and  bowed  to  David  with  his  face  to  the  ground.  And  David  said  unto 
Oman.  Give  me  the  place  of  this  floor,  that  I  may  build  therein  an  altar 
unto  the  Lord  :  thou  shalt  give   it  me  for  the  full  price,  that   the  plague   be 

23  stayed  from  the  people.  And  Oman  said  unto  David,  Take  thee,  and  let  my 
lord  the  king  do  that  which  is  good  in  his  eyes  :  hi,  I  give  thee  the  oxen  for 
burnt-offerings,  and   the  threshing-rollers   fur  wood,   and    the   wheat    for  the 

24  meat-offering:  I  give  all.  And  King  David  said  unto  Oman.  Nay  ;  hut  I  will 
verily  buy  it  for  the  full  price  ;  for  I  will  not  take  that  which  is  thine  for  the 

25  Lord,  nor  offer  burnt-offerings  without  cost.     And  David  gave  to  Oman  lor 

26  the  place  six  hundred  shekels  of  gold  by  weight.  And  David  built  there 
an  altar  unto  the  Lord,  and  offered  burnt>offerings  and  peace-offerings  ;  and 
he  called  upon  the  Lord,  and  He  answered  him  by  fire  from  heaven  on  the 

27  altar  of  burnt-offering.  And  the  Lord  commanded  the  angel  ;  and  he  put 
his  sword  again  into  its  sheath. 

28  At  that  time,  when  David  saw  that  the  Lord  had  answered  him  in  the  floor 

29  of  Oman  the  Jebusite,  he  sacrificed  there.  For  the  tabernacle  of  the  Lord, 
which  Moses  made  in  the  wilderness,  and  the  altar  of  burnt-offering,  were  at 

30  that  time  in  the  high  place  at  Gibeon.  And  David  could  not  go  before  it 
to  inquire  of  God  ;  for  he  was  afraid  before  the  sword  of  the  angel  of 
the  Lord. 

according  to  the  parallel  text  2  Sam.  xxiv.  IS  (^D3  for  ilBDj),  rather  "flight"    So  the  Sept ,  Vulg,  a  id  Luther. 

p"lS  the  Sept  renders  here  and  in  the  whole  chapter  by  'Ctpvd,  as  it  conforms  to  nJ"liX,  the  Kethib  In  2  Sam.  xxiv. 
,-  tfbr  which  elsewhere  there  the  Keri  HjlIK  always  stands).  Our  text  has  throughout  invariably  p~lX.  which  the 
V-  'g  gives  rightly  Oman,  Luther  wrongly   *  Anian." 


EXEGETICAL. 

Preliminary  Remark.  Relation  oftke  Fore- 
going Account  of Chronicles  to  -  Sam.  xxiv. — As 
clearly  as  the  mostly  verbal  agreement  of  our 
account  with  the  parallel  text  of  Samuel  points 
to  "lie  common  source  of  both,  so  numerous  ami 
important  are  also  their  deviations  from  one. 
another.  They  chiefly  consist  of  the  following  : — 
a.  The  position  of  the  history  of  the  census  in  2 
Samuel  is  that  of  an  appendix  to  the  history  of 
David's  reign  already  in  the  main  completed.  In 
our  book,  on  the  contrary,  it  closes  only  that 
section  of  the  history  of  this  king  which  refers 
to  the  external  security  ami  enlargement  of  his 
power  by  wars,  buildings,  etc.;  but  it  thereby 
leads  (in  connection  with  the  following  description 
nt  ins  preparation  for  the  building  of  the  temple, 
xxii.)  to  a  new  section,  that  by  means  of  full  de- 
tails of  his  temple,  state  and  war  officers,  is  fitted 
to  present  a  picture  of  the  inner  character  of  his 
government.  6.  The  event  is  so  introduced  in 
_'  -  iiiiiK-1.  that  reference  is  made  to  a  former 
plague,  .i  famine  (2  Sam.  xxi.  1-14)  which  God 
had  brought  on  the  kingdom,  so  that  David's 
pernicious  project  of  a  census  is  represented  as 
tie-  direct  effect  of  the  divine  anger  ("Ami  again 
he  anger  of  the  Lord  was  kindled  against  Israel : 
mi  lie  moved  David,  etc."),  but,  in  our  account, 
so  that  the  whole  is  referred  to  a  tempting  in- 
fluence of  Satan  on  David,  and  connected  neither 
with  that  famine  nor  any  former  visitation  of 
Israel  under  David  (not,  for  example,  with  the 
insurrections  of  Absalom  and  Shebna,  which, 
like  the  famine,  are  entirely  unnoticed  by  i  in 
author).  For  bin  question,  v  let  In  r  the  repre 
sentation  of  Satan  as  the  moral  originate]  of  the 
census  rests  on  the  influence  of  the  religious 
ideas   of   a  later    time,   see    on    ver.    1.     c.    The 


census  executed  by  Joab  at  the  command  of 
David  is  described  pretty  fully  in  2  Sam.  xxiv. 
4-9,  but  only  summarily  in  our  chapter,  with  tin 
chief  emphasis  on  the  numerical  result,  and  tin- 
notice  of  a  special  circumstance  unmentioned  in 
2  Samuel,  namely,  that  Joab,  liecau.se  the  royal 
commission  was  repugnant  to  him,  neglected  to 
enumerate  the  tribes  of  Levi  and  Benjamin  (vers. 
4-6).  d.  On  the  purchase  of  Oman's  (or,  as  the 
Keri  is  in  2  Samuel,  Araunah'si  floor  and  the 
sacrifice  by  David,  our  text  (vers.  19-27)  is  more 
full  than  2'  Sam.  xxiv.  19-25.  e.  The  statement, 
forming  the  close  of  our  account  ami  its  connec- 
tion with  what  follows,  regarding  the  selection  of 
the  floor  of  Oman  for  the  constant  place  of  sacri- 
fice by  David  (and  for  the  site  of  the  temple),  in 
vers.  28-30,  is  wholly  wanting  in  2  Sam.  xxiv.. 
as,  indeed,  an  express  reference  to  the  fai 
that  place  attained  a  special  sacredness  under 
David  by  the  angelic  appearance  and  the 
during  the  plague  is  absent  there,  while  tin- 
whole  occurrence  is  presented  under  the  prevailing 
view  of  such  a  judicial  punishment  as  tin  ri 
hellions  of  Absalom  and  Shebna,  and  the  famine 
already  reported  there,  but  by  our  author  entirely 
omitted.  That  the  most  of  these  deviations  are 
occasioned  by  the  peculiar  pragmatism  and  the 
special  tendency  of  the  author  of  the  books  ol 
Samuel  on  the  one  hand  and  of  the  Clironist  on 
the  other,  is  already  apparent  from  this  brief  sur- 
vey, and  will  receive  further  confirmation  from 
the  following  exposition. 

1.  The  Census,  its  Occasion  ami  Effect:  vers. 
1-6. — Ami  Satan  to  •!  up  against  Israel.  That, 
instead  of  tin-  divine  anger,  hen-  Satan,  tin  per- 
sonal evil   principle  -  i.  6,   ii.   1 1,  is 

.       lie  hostile  power  that   - 
pernicious  expedient  of  the  census,  is  now  usually 
explained  (even  by   Keil)  as  a  latei   idea  of  the 


isa 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


Israelites,  and  accordingly  reckoned  among  the 
proofs  that  our  book  was  composed  after  the  exile. 
That  this  view  is  at  least  hasty,  if  it  does  not 
involve  an  error,  is  plain  when  we  reflect — 1.  That 
the  way  in  which  the  prologue  of  the  book  of  Job 
presupp  >ses  the  idea  of  Satan,  as  long  naturalized 
in  the  belief  of  Israel,  speaks  for  the  origin  of  this 
idea,  not  only  before  the  exile,  but  before  the  time 
of  Solomon;  2.  That  passages  such  as  Gen.  iii.  1  If. 
and  1  Kings  xxii.  19  If.,  though  the  name  pb' 
does  not  occur  in  them,  show  that  the  materials 
of  this  idea  arose  from  that  early  time  ;  and  3. 
That  to  the  parallel  passage  2  Sam.  xxiv.,  though 
not  using  the  name,  the  notion  of  an  intervention 
of  Satau  in  the  temptation  of  David  is  by  no 
means  foreign  ;  indeed,  even  a  positive  hint  of 
this  is  implied  in  it.  Ew.  and  Wellh.  justly 
assume  that  in  the  verb  used,  2  Sam.  xxiv.  1, 
JlO'l.  "provoked,"  lies  an  allusion  to  a  personal 
tempting  power,  which  cannot  he  God  or  the 
divine  anger ;'  that,  indeed,  according  to  the 
original,  now  mutilated,  text  of  Samuel,  probably 
}Ut?n  was  the  subject  of  nD'V — And  provoked 

Dav'ul  to  number  Israel.  The  injury  of  the  census, 
indicated  by  this  expression,  rests  on  this,  that 
such  an  undertaking  in  and  of  itself  counted  as 
an  act  exciting  the  anger  of  God,  ami  therefore 
demanding  propitiation  (comp.  the  expiatory 
customs  in  the  enumerations  of  the  Romans,  ac- 
cording to  Valerius,  Maximus,  Varro,  and  Livius, 
as  also  that  census  instituted  by  Moses,  Ex.  xxx. 
',  1-16,  which  did  not  provoke  God,  only  because  the 
money  collected  by  it  as  a  gift  to  the  tabernacle 
had  a  holy  purpose,  and  therefore  an  expiating 
significance  in  itself).  But  a  special  wrong  and 
blame  was  attached  to  the  census  of  David,  be- 
cause it  was  a  work  of  proud  boastfulness  and 
wicked  haughtiness,  not  valuing,  but  over-valuing, 
his  own  power  and  greatness  (comp.  Joab's  warn- 
ing, ver.  3).  The  measure  can  scarcely  be 
regarded  as  an  expression  of  despotic  wilfulness 
and  tyrannic  oppression  of  the  people,  or  as  a  pre- 
paration for  the  imposition  of  an  oppressive  war 
tax  or  other  tribute  (Berth.,  etc.),  or  even  as 
expressive  of  a  lust  for  warlike  conquest  in  the 
king  (J.  D.  Mich.;  comp.  Kurtz  in  Herzog's 
Real-Encyl.  iii.  306);  at  least  the  text  in  nowise 
indicates  that  blame  was  attached  to  it  on  any  of 
these  grounds. — Ver.  2.  Go,  number  Israel  from 
Tieersheba  even  to  Dan,  the  usual  formula  to 
designate  the  land  of  Israel  in  all  its  length  ;  comp. 
Judg.  xx.  1 ;  1  Sam.  iii.  20;  1  Kings  iv.  25,  etc. 
The   plain    customary   phrases:    "Go,    number" 

(nSD  0?)>  are  simplifying  and  explanatory  for 
those  selected  in  2  Samuel :  X3"t31G'  (specially  ad- 
dressed ti  Joab)  and  Vipg  (including  the  assist- 
ants of  Joab  in  the  enumeration,  the  captains  or 
commanders  of  the  army). — And.  bring  it  to  me, 
that  I  may  know  their  number,  the  number  of  the 
Israelites. — Ver.  3.  Joab's  Warning. — The  Lord 

1  Comp  Volck,  Dt  summa  earminis  .lobi  smteiitia.  p.  33 
sqq  :  Hoc  si  trues,  Deum  tton  sine  cawa  populo  suo  argue  ejus 
rt.it,  super'irtift  tilt  qiidem.  SUC&nxtlisse,  Sat.iituaiqiie  eum 
esse,  q'.i,  ut  himines  propter  delicto  upud  Deum  arruset  forum 
poeims  rrpetiturw,  t'a  hue  efficiot,  tit  peccati  pullutantis  vis 
erumpat:  dijfiiiifiitem  tin  expedies,  ut  Davidem,  qiiin  Deus 
trains  pi  arte. tits  pirivtin  trrogarevotueril  adinfe'ix  illu.l  am- 
silium  addurt'im  tutssr  dicas  dial. ..It  divinte  volant <tt  inser- 
virntii  urpuisu.  ore. — Comp,  also  Hofmann,  Sfhriflbttc.  II.  p. 
43.'  If..  iu,3  Sch'ottnmnn,  bos  Bitch  Biob,  p.  38ff. 


add  to  His  people  a  hundredfold  as  many  as  they 
are.  In  2  Samuel  stands,  in  accordance  with  tht 
preference  of  this  author  for  repetitions  of  the 
same  phrase  (comp.  1  Sam.  xii.  8),  a  double  DH3, 

"so  manv  as  they  are,  so  many  as  they  are,  a 
hundredfold, "or  more  briefly:  "so  and  so  many  as 
they  are  a  hundredfold."  For  the  present  simpler 
expression,  comp.  Deut.  i.  11. — Are.  they  not  all 
.  .  .  my  lord's  servants  ?  Does  any  one  doubt 
that  this  great  multitude  of  people  is  subject  to 
thee  ?  Will  any  one  check  thy  joy  in  the  great- 
ness and  power  of  thy  kingdom  ?  This  question 
is  wanting  in  the  often  deviating  text  of  Samuel, 
in  place  of  which  are  the  words:  "  that  the  eyes 
of  my  lord  the  king  may  see  it  "  (the  hundred- 
fold increase  of  the  people).—  Why  shall  it  be  a 
trespass  to   Israel?  —  a  trespass    (HD'C'tf)    that 

brings  divine  punishment  on  the  people  instead 
of  thee,  the  king,  who  art  guilty  of  this  wicked 
haughtiness. — Ver.  4.  But  the  word  of  the  king 
prevailed  against  Joab,   literally,   "  was   strong 

above  Joab  "  (which  foi-m  ^y  pjn  is  perhaps  to 
be  restored  in  2  Samuel  in  place  of  the  present 
PX  'n),  overcame  his  resistance  (Luth. :  "suc- 
ceeded against  Joab");  comp.  2  Chron.  viii.  3, 
xxvii.  5. — Ver.  5.  And  all  Israel  were  a  thousand 
thousand  and  a  hundred  thousand  men  that  drew 
sword,  literally,  "that  bare  the  sword  :"  comp. 
Judg.  viii.  10,  xx.  2,  15,  17,  46,  etc.  The  num- 
ber 1,100,000,  compared  with  the  800,000  men-at- 
arms  in  2  Sam.  xxiv.  9,  involves  an  actual  devia- 
tion, which  either  depends  on  an  ancient  variety 
in  the  traditions  concerning  the  numerical  result 
of  the  census,  or  what  is  more  probable,  must  be 
derived  from  a  confusion  of  the  numbers  ;  comp. 
the  cases  of  this  kind  cited  in  the  Introd.  §  6, 
No.  5.  The  difference  in  the  number  of  the 
Jewish  men-at-arms  is  smaller,  in  which  the 
500,000  in  2  Samuel  is  merely  a  round  number, 
for  the  more  exact  one,  470,000,  contained  in  our 
text.  Moreover,  differences  in  the  later  traditions 
might  the  more  easily  arise  in  this  Davidic  census, 
because  it  was  merely  oral,  as,  according  to  1 
Chron.  xxvii.  24,  the  result  was  not  entered  in 
the  annals  of  the  kingdom.  The  general  correct- 
ness of  the  account,  that  Israel  then  numbered 
about  a  million,  and  Judah  about  half  a  million 
warriors,  is  warranted  by  the  communications  of 
the  author,  which  attest  even  for  much  later 
times  the  extraordinary  density  of  the  population 
in  the  formerly  so  fruitful  land  of  promise.  Ami 
that  the  actual  army  of  David,  1  Chron.  xxvii. 
1  ff.,  amounted  only  to  288,000  men,  by  no  means 
contradicts  the  present  statement  relative  to  the 
total  number  of  men  fit  to  bear  arms  ;  comp.  our 
remark  on  iv.  18. — Ver.  6.  But  Levi  and  Benja- 
min he  counted  not  among  them  ;  for  the  king's 
word  was  abominable  to  Joab  ;  on  account  of  the 
reluctance  with  which  he  obeyed  the  command  of 
the  king,  the  numbering  was  not  quite  completed : 
it  was  stopped,  perhaps  at  the  king's  command, 
before.  Benjamin,  the  last  of  the  tribes  to  be  num- 
bered, was  taken  in  hand  ;  comp.  the  more  exact 
statements  in  2  Sam.  xxiv.  5  ff.  concerning  the 
order  pursued  by  the  commission  under  Joab,  that, 
starting  from  the  southern  tribes  east  of  Jordan, 
went  round  over  the  north  of  the  land  to  the  south 
of  Judah,  and  thence  arrived  at  Jerusalem.  .\s 
no  time  remained  for  the  numbering  of  Benjamin 


CHAP.  XXI.  7-16. 


133 


(comp.  xxvii.  23  f. — the  express  statement  thai 
the  numbering  was  not  completed  ;  also  Joaephus, 

Aiiti*/.  vii  13.  1:  X"'16  T^s  $t*utfiiTi&ot  fyxij;. 
\\ttfi$^.nTti  }«p  auriiv  oi/K  f$Pcfrt*\  sn  the  tribe  ol 
Levi  waso  nit  ted  on  account  of  its  legal  exemption 
from  numerations  for  political  or  military  objects 
(comp.  Num.  i.  47—54).  In  the  present  state 
iiu nt,  therefore,  there  is  nothing  incredible  ;  ami 
neither  its  absence  in  2  Samuel,  nor  the  circum- 
stance that  the  Chronist,  instead  of  the  unfinished 
state  of  the  census,  puts  forward  in  his  subjective 
pragmatism  the  reluctance  of Joab  as  the  cause  of 
the  omission  of  those  tribes,  justifies  the  suspicions 
entertained  by  de  Wette  and  Grainberg  against  it. 
Comp.  Keil,  Apologet.   Versuch,  p.  349  tf. 

2.  The  Divine  Displeasurt  with  the  Numbering 
of  the  People  by  the  Voice  of  the  Seer  Cud:  vers. 
7-13.  —  And  God  was  displeased  with  this  thing, 
literally,   "and  it  was  evil  (jm)  in  God's  eyes 

for  this  thing:"  the  same  construction  appears  in 

Gen.  xxi.  22  ;  usually  with  >ut  Jij;  before  the  .lis- 

pleasing  object,  Gen.  xxxviii.  10;  2  Sam.  xi.  27, 
etc  —  And  He  smote  Israel.  This  is  not  so  much 
an  anticipation  of  that  which  is  narrated  ver.  14  11.. 
as  a  generalizing  description  of  the  mode  in  which 
God's  anger  took  effect  on  Israel.  It  does  not 
appear  that  the  words  are  to  be  amended  t  Berth.  I, 

according  to  2  Sam.   xxiv.   10:  inx  T1T3?  !JSV 

"and  the  heart  of  David  smote  him."  We  hive 
here  simply  two  modes  of  narrative,  one  of  which 

regards  more  the  human  thought  and  d 1,  the 

other  more  the  divine. — -Ver.  10.  Thret  things  I 
lay  '-  fori  thee,  concerning  thee,  with  thee,  laying 
the  choice  before   thee.      Wellh.  justly  declares, 

not  the  strange  puj  of  Samuel,  but  our  HJ23 
to  be.  original  (against  Berth.). — Ver.  12.  Either 
thret  ^ears  of  famine.  This  time  is  certainly  the 
original,  not  the  seven  years  of  the  text  in  Samuel, 
which  has  arisen  by  the  easy  change  of  the  letters 

(l'2"'  f°r  KvEOi  and  finds  its  emendation  in  the 
Sept. — Or  three  months  to  be  driven  before  tin/ 
foes.     What  is  here  original,   whether  H3D3    of 

our  text  {num.  particip.  Niph.:  "to  perish,  be 
swept  away")  or  ^qj  in  2  Samuel,  must  remain 

doubtful.  On  the  contrary,  the  following  sini 
njw'*;"'  <P21Ki  "and  the  sword  of  thy  foes  to 
overtake"  (=so  that  the  sword  of  thy  foes  over- 
take thee),  is  certaiuly  to  be  preferred  to  the 
reading  rj^lT  XlDI  in  2  Samuel.  —  Tltnt  tin  angel 

of  the  Lord  destroy  in  ail  the  border  of  Israel. 
This  enforcing  addition  to  the  third  question  is 
wanting  in  2  Samuel,  but  must  be  no  less  original 
than  that  parallel  addition  to  the  second  question. 
And  the  nendiadyoin:  "the  sword  of  the  Lord 
and  pestilence,"  for  the  simple  pestilence  ("Ql) 

in  2  Samuel,  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  an  arbi- 
trary addition  of  the  Chronist.  Comp.,  moreover, 
with  respect  to  the  triad  of  divine  judgments — 
famine,  sword,  and  pestilence — the  parallels,  Lev. 
\\vi.  25  f. ;  1  Kings  viii.  37  ;  2  Chron.  xx.  9;  Jer. 
xxv.  12tf.,  xxi.  7-9,  xxiv.  10,  xxvii.  8,  13.  xxix. 
17  f.,  xxxii.  24-36,  xxxiv.  17,  xxxviii.  2,  xlii. 
17.  22,  xliv.  13;  Ezek.  v.  12,  vi.  11  f.,  vii  15, 
zi:    16 ;    also   Ezek.   xxi.    19,   where  this  woful 


triad  is  indicated  by  the  figure  of  three  swords  ; 
likewise  Kzek.  v.  17,  xiv.  13-19,  Rev.  vi.  8,  win  re 
th.-  tri  id  is  extended  to  a  quatrain  by  the  addition 
of  beasts  of  prey  (comp.  still  other  appropriate 
parallels  in  my  Theol.  natural  is,  i.  p.  637). 

3.  TheJudgm  nt,  and  Davids  Repentant  En- 
treaty for  its  Removal:  ver-,.  14-17. — And  the 
Lord  s<  nt  pestilence  upon  Israel,  That  this 
pestilence  continued  "from  the  morning  even  to 
the  time  appointed"  is  stated  in  tile  precise 
account  in  2  Samuel;  likcwi.se  that  it  affected 
all  the  people  "from  Dan  even  to  Beel  .  ■> 
Wellh.  tp.  220)  defends,  perhaps  not  unjustly, 
tic  extended  form  of  our  hist  vcise-mernber, 
which  the  Sept.  presents,  as  original:  "And 
David  chose  the  pestilence;  and  when  tic  days 
of  wheat  harvest  came  (comp.  ver.  20),  the 
plague  began  among  the  people." — Ver.  15.  And 
Ood  sent  an  angel  to    Jerusalem.      The    7]xi>.0 

without  the  article,  "an  angel,"  is  strange,  as  the 
angel  in  question,  ver.  12,  was  named  before. 
Berth,  gives  the  preference  to  the  text  2  Sam. 
xxiv.  16:  "  And  the  angel  stretched  out  his  hand 
to  Jerusalem,"  whereas  .Movers  tp.  ;ili  defends 
our  text  as  original.  Perhaps  neither  text  now 
contains  exactly  and  fully  the  original,  whether 
we  amend,  with  Keil:  "And  the  angel  of  Col 
stretched  out  his  hand  toward  Jerusalem,"  or  de- 
clare the  restoration  of  the  original  now  impos- 
sible (with  Wellh.). — And  as  he  was  destroying, 
the  Lord  beheld,  and  repented  of  the  evil ;  that  is, 
as  soon  as  the  angel  had  begun  to  destroy, 
Jehovah  considered,  and  repented  that  He  had 
decreed  the  heavy  stroke.  On  this  repentance  of 
God,  comp.  Gen.  vi.  16  ;  Ex.  xxxii.  14  :  Jer.  xlii. 
10  ;  Jon.  iii.  10;  lJs.  cvi.  23. — It  is  enough  »""', 
stay  thy  hand.  Notwithstanding  the  ace,  dis 
tinct.  over  31,  this  word  is  to  be  connected  with 

the   following    DDJ),   aud   taken   in   the   sense  of 

"  enough "  (aufficU) ;  comp.  Deut.  i.  6  ;  1  Kings 
xix.  4.  Against  Berth.,  who  in  2  Sam.  xxi  . 
16    connects    3-1  with  Qj;3.  and  regards  this  "a 

great  mass  of  people"  as  the  original  reading, 
see  not  only  Keil,  but  also  Wellh. — And  the 
angel  of  the  Lord  stood  by  the  floor  of  Oman  the. 
Jebmite.  That  this  Oman  (or  Araunah,  as  the 
Keri  writes  his  name  in  2  Samuel  ;  comp.  frit. 
Note  here)  had  been  king  of  the  Jebusites 
cannot  be  inferred  from  2  Sam.  xxiv.  23,  as  the 
word   '•pon    there   is  either   to    be    erased,    with 

Then.,  or  (with  Bbttcher  and  Wellh.)  to  be  re- 
ferred by  emendation  to  David  (there  addressed 
by  Araunah).  That  the  floor  of  Oman  was  on 
.Mount  Moriah,  the  subsequent  site  of  the  temple, 
north-east  of  Zion,  is  stated  in  the  sequel  ;  see 
ver.  28  ff. — Ver.  16.  And  David  .  .  .  saw  the 
angel  of  the  Lord  standing  between  tin  earth  and 
the  heavens.  This  whole  verse,  as  also  ver.  'Jo, 
with  the  statement  of  the  hiding  of  Oman  and 
his  four  sons  before  the  angel,  and  ver.  26,  with 
the  mention  of  the  fire  coming  dnwn  from  Ood 
on  David's  offering,  are  wanting  in  the  shorter 
and  simpler  account  in  2  Samuel.  These  may  be 
called  embellishments  of  tradition,  but  they  are 
not  to  be  regarded  as  inventions  of  our  historian 
(against  Berth.,  etc.). — And  David  ,ind  the  elders 
.  .  .  fell  on  their  faces.  The  mention  of  the 
elders  is  wanting  in  2  Samuel,  but  is  not  the 
least  strange,  as  it  was  a  solemn  act  of  ex|  iatioi 


134 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


aud  penitence  on  behalf  of  the  whole  nation. 
Comp.  also  the  mention,  2  Sara.  xxiv.  20,  of  the 
retinue  of  servants  accompanying  the  king  when 
lie  went  to  Oman. — Ver.  17.  Have  not  I  com- 
manded to  number  the  people?  In  2  Samuel  the 
prayer  of  David  is  much  briefer.  But  for  this 
very  reason  the  attempt  of  Bertheau  to  show  that 
our  text  here  and  in  the  sequel  arises  from  the 
effort  to  explain  and  improve  the  other  text  is 
altogether  unjustified.     Neither  are  the  present 

words    Dj/3   m:oi>   M11QM  "'JS    N^n    corrupted 

from  those  in  Samuel :   nSDH  1l6orrnK  fflK"Q 

□jn,  nor  is   Tlijlin  jnni   to  be  changed  into  a 

supposed  original  »rfjnn  njjin  "33X1.    "  and  I, 

the  shepherd,  have  done  wrong  ; "  for  the  ques- 
tion :  "  but  these  sheep,  what  have  they  done  ?  " 
is  easily  understood  without  the  previous  men- 
tion of  the  shepherd  ;  comp.  Ps.  xcv.  7,  c.  3, 
etc. 

4.  The  Purchase  of  Oman's  Floor,  and  the 
Offering  of  the  Burnt-Sacrifice  there ;  vers.  18- 
27. — Ver.    20.    And    Oman    turned.      So  3B»l 

is  certainly  to  be  translated  (comp.  2  Kings  xx. 
5  ;  Isa.  xxxviii.  5  ;  and  such  New  Testament 
passages  as  Luke  xxii.  61,  etc.),  not  "returned," 
as  Bertheau  does  against  the  context,  at  the  same 
time  defending  the  conjecture  that  3tJ"l  's  cor- 
rupted from  npt,';,V — And  Oman  was  threshing 

wheat,  a  clause  wanting  in  2  Samuel,  but  cer- 
tainly original,  which  is  confirmed  by  the  notice 
of  the  Sept.  already  mentioned  on  ver.  15  con- 
cerning the  wheat  harvest  as  the  time  when  the 
pestilence  began  — Ver.  22  Give  rue  the  place  of 
this  floor.  So  it  is  to  be  translated,  not  as  in 
Luther:  "Give  me  space  in  this  floor."  The 
whole  floor  was  necessary  for  the  king's  object ; 
it  is  also  all  bought  by  him.  The  history  of  this 
purchase  recalls  in  general  the  similar  incident  in 
the  life  of  Abraham,  Gen.  xxiii.,  but  does  not 
necessitate  the  assumption  that  the  recollection 
of  Gen.    xxiii.   9  affected  the  forms  of  the  text, 

nor   in   particular   that   the    twofold  ^p>;  C1D32 

was  taken  thence. — Ver.  23.  Lo,  I  give  the  oxm 
for  burnt-offerings.    Along  with  D,3'HiG.'"ll  stands 

also  2  Samuel  :  "ip3n   v31,  "and  the  harness  of 

the  oxen,"  their  wooden  yokes,  a  certainly 
original  phrase,  that  has  only  fallen  out  of  otir 
text  by  a  mistake.  The  other  text  also  requires 
the  mention  of  "the  wheat  for  the  meat  offer- 
ing," which  can  be  no  late  addition. — Ver.  24. 
Sor  offer  burnt-offerings  without  cost,  that  is, 
without   having   paid   the   full   price   for   them. 

ihe  infiu.  flvl'ni  after  the  finite  verb  as  a  con- 
tinuation is  not  surprising  ;  comp.  Ew.  §  851,  c. 
Here  also  Bertheau's  emendations  are  superfluous. 
— Ver.  25.  Ami  David  gave  to  Oman  for  the 
place  six  hundred  shekels  of  gold  l>y  freight. 
Otherwise  2  Samuel  xxiv.  24,  where  David  pur- 
chases the  floor  with  the  oxen  for  fifty  shekels  of 


silver.  The  one  of  these  two  contradictory  state- 
ments is  certainly  corrupt,  and  more  probably 
that  in  2  Samuel,  as  fifty  shekels  of  silver  is  too 
low  a  price  ;  comp.  Abraham's  400  shekels  oj 
silver  for  the  cave  of  Machpelah,  Gen.  xxiii.  15. 
The  sum  of  600  shekels  of  i;old  appears,  indeed, 
tuo  high  ;  but  an  over-payment  corresponds  bettei 
with  the  crisis  than  a  much  smaller  price,  which 
might  have  been  interpreted  as  an  act  of  mean 
covetousness.  That  the  Chronist  has  "inten- 
tionally exaggerated  "  (Then.)  is  a  conjecture  as 
little  to  be  justified  as  the  different  harmonizing 
attempts  of  the  ancients  ;  for  example,  that  each 
of  the  twelve  tribes  must  have  given  fifty  shekels, 
whereby  the  600  shekels  mentioned  by  the 
Chronist  were  raised  (Rasehi),  or  that  the  600 
shekels  are  to  be  reckoned  as  silver,  but  to  be 
paid  in  gold,  and  with  fifty  pieces  of  gold,  of 
which  each  was  =  twelve  silver  shekels  (Noldius, 
ad  concord.  Part.  not.  719),  etc. — Ver.  26.  And 
David  .  .  .  offered  bumt-offerings  and  peaci  - 
offerings.  After  the  sentence  corresponding  t) 
these  words  in  2  Sam.  xxiv.  25  is  found  in  the 
Sept.  an  addition  that  anticipates  in  brief  the 
■contents  of  xxii.  1-6. — And  he  called  upon  the 
Lord,  and  He  answered  him  by  fire  (or  heard 
him  with  'Live)  from  heaven  on  the  altar  of  burnt- 
offering.  For  these  words,  to  be  understood 
according  to  Lev.  ix.  24,  1  Kings  xviii.  24,  38, 
2  Kings  i.  12,  and  2  Chron.  vii.  1,  2  Samuel  has 
simply:  "and  the  Lord  was  entreated  for  the 
land"  (comp.  on  ver.  16)  ;  likewise  for  our  ver. 
27,  with  its  mention  of  the  angel's  sword  returned 
hito  its  sheath,  the  plainer  and  less  poetical  : 
"and  the  plague  was  stayed  from  Israel." 

5.  David's  repeated  Offering  on  the  Floor  of 
Oman,  with  the  Beaton:  vers.  28-30. — At  that 
time  .  .  .  he  nacrificed  there ;  that  is,  repeatedly, 
frequently:  Luther  lightly:  "  was  wont  to  offer 
there."  Only  this  sense  of  Qt;>  DSJ'l  agrees  with 
the  sequel,  especially  with  xxii.  1. — Vers.  29,  30 
explain  this  selection  of  Oman's  floor  foi  the 
regular  place  of  sacrifice  for  the  king  more  pre- 
cisely, by  referring  to  the  older  sanctuary  at 
Gibeon,  and  to  the  apparent  neglect  of  it ;  cornp. 
on  eh.  xv.  1,  xvi.  39  f. — And  David  could  not  go 
before  it,   the  tabernacle  at  Gibeon,  and  the  altar 

there  ;  comp.  for  133^  in  this  connection,  xvi.  4, 

137,  39. — For  he  was  afraid  before  the  sword  oj 
the  angel  of  the  Lord ;  the  appearance  of  the 
angel,  with  its  desolating  effects,  had  left  in  his 
mind  an  awfully  strong  impression  of  the  holi- 
ness of  the  place,  so  that  he  did  not  venture  to 
sacrifice  in  any  other  place.  This  interpretation 
only  (comp.  Berth.)  suits  the  fact  and  the  con 
text,  not  that  of  various  recent  expositors,  who 
wish  to  extract  strange  motives  out  of  the  words  ; 
forexainp  e,  J.  H.  Mich.-  "  quia  ex  terrore  visicmU 
angelica'  infirmitatem  corporis  contraxerat,"  or 
' '.  v.  Gerlach  :  "  because  Gibeon  was  too  far 
away,"  or  Keil  :  "  because  Gibeon,  notwithstand- 
ing the  sanctuary  existing  there  with  the  Mosaic 
altar,  was  not  spsred  by  the  plague,"  etc. 

C p.,  moreover,  fur  the  variout  details  of  the 

present  account,  the  evangelical  and  ethical  refkv 
tions  at  the  close  of  tile  exposition  of  this  book. 


CHAP.  XXII. 


M 


Oaviu's  Arrangements  for  the  Building  of  the  Temple  ;  other  Spiritual  add 
Temporal  Regulations;  last  Will  and  Death. — Ch.  xxn.-xxix. 


for  the  Building  of  the  Temple:  ch.  xxi 


md  this  is  the 


Ch.  xxii.  1.  Ami  David  said.  This  is  the  house  of  the  Lukd  God, 
altar  of  burnt-offering  for  Israel. 

2  Ami  David  commanded  to  gather  the  strangers  that  were  in  the  land  of 
Israel ;  and  he  appointed  masons  to  hew  square  stones  to  build  the  house  of 

3  God.     And  David  prepared  iron  in  abundance  for  the  nails  for  the  doors  of 

4  the  gates,  and  for  braces ;  and  brass  in  abundance  without  weight.  Ami 
cedar-trees  without  number;  for  the  Zidonians  and  Tyrians  brought  much 

5  cedar-wood  to  David.  And  David  said,  Solomon  my  son  is  young  and 
tender,  and  the  house  to  be  builded  for  the  Lord  must  be  highly  magnifies] 
for  name  and  glory  in  all  countries:  I  will  now  prepare  for  it  :  and  David 
prepared  abundantly  before  his  death. 

G         And  he  called  for  Solomon  his  son,  and  charged  him  to  build  a  house  for 

7  the  Loud  God  of  Israel.     And  David  said  to  Solomon,  My  son,1  I  had  it  in 

8  mind  to  build  a  house  unto  the  name  of  the  Lord  my  God.  But  the  word  or 
the  Lord  came  unto  me,  saying,  Thou  hast  shed  much  blood,  and  made  great 
wars;  thou  shalt  not  build  a  house  unto  my  name,  because  thou  hast  shed 

9  much  blood  on  the  earth  iu  my  sight.  Behold,  a  son  shall  be  born  to  thee, 
who  shall  be  a  man  of  rest ;  and  I  will  give  him  rest  from  all  his  enemies 
around  ;  for  Solomon  shall  be  his  name,  and   I  will  give  peace  and  rest  unto 

10  Israel  in  his  days.  He  shall  build  a  house  to  my  name  ;  and  he  shall  be  my 
son,  and  I  will  be  his  father ;  and  I  will  establish  the  throne  of  his  kingdom 

11  over  LsraeJ  for  ever.     Now,  my  son,  the  Lord  be  with  thee;  and  prosper 

12  thou,  and  build  the  house  of  the  Lord  thy  God,  as  He  hath  said  of  thee.  Also 
the  Lord  will  give  thee  wisdom  and  understanding,  and  ordain  thee  over 

13  Israel,  that  thou  mayest  keep  the  law  of  the  Lord  thy  God.  Then  shalt  thou 
prosper,  if  thou  takest  heed  to  fulfil  the  statutes  and  judgments  which  the 
Lord  commanded  Moses  concerning  Israel :  be  firm  and  strong  ;  fear  not,  nor 

14  be  dismayed.  And,  behold,  in  my  trouble  I  have  prepared  for  the  house  of 
the  Lord  a  hundred  thousand  talents  of  gold,  and  a  thousand  thousand 
talents  of  silver,  and  of  brass  and  of  iron  without  weight ;  for  it  is  in  abun- 
dance :  ami   I  have  prepared  timber  and  stone,  and  thou  shalt  add  thereto. 

15  And  with  thee  are  workers  in  abundance,  hewers  and  carvers  of  stone  and  of 

16  timber,  and  all  skilful  men  in  all  work.  Of  the  gold,  the  silver,  and  the  brass, 
and  the  iron  there  is  no  number :  arise  and  do,  and  the  Lord  be  with  thee. 

17  And  David  commanded  all  the  princes  of  Israel  to  help  Solomon  his  son  : 
IS   Is  not   the  LORD  your  God  with  you?  and  hath  He  not  given   you  rest  on 

every  side  1  For  He  hath  given  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  into  my  hand  ;- 
19  and  the  land  is  subdued  before  the  Lord,  and  before  His  people.  Now  give 
your  heart  and  your  soul  to  seek  the  Lord  your  God  ;  and  arise  and  build 
the  sanctuary  of  the  Lord  God,  to  bring  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Loud. 
and  the  holy  vessels  of  God,  into  the  house  that  is  to  be  built  to  the  name  "1 
the  Lord. 

1  '33,  according  to  the  Keri;  the  Ketlub  has  1J3.  "  unto  Soloraun  his  sou ; "  but  it  scarcely  deserve*  the  preterenae, 

»*    fa3   might  easily  arise  from   fa3    HD^wy,    ver-  <>• 

1  So  the   Masoretic  text  and  a  part  of  the  MS3.  of  the  Sepl.  (A-  F  X:  in  xufi  itov).      But  the  Sept,  coil.  Vnt  ,  \  u'_ 
Luther,  etc.:  "  into  your  hands." 


EXEGETICAL. 

1,  Connection  n-ith  the  Foregoing  Section:  ver. 

t. — The  present  chapter,  which  opens  the  second 


half  of  David's  history  referring  to  the  inner  side 
of  his  government,  is",  by  its  introductory  verse, 
closely  connected  with  the  foregoing  account  ol 
the  pestilence,  and  the  consequent   deration  of 


136 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


the  floor  of  Oman  to  be  the  place  of  sacrifice  for 
the  king.  The  further  accounts,  relating  directly 
or  indirectly  to  the  security  of  David's  kingdom 
for  his  successor,  to  the  end  of  the  book,  are  thus 
in  a  suitable  way  connected  with  the  last-men- 
tioned important  event  in  the  external  history  of 
the  government  of  David.  —  This  is  the  house  of 
the  Lord  God,  or :  "shall  be  a  house  of  the  Lord 
God."  David  gives  this  determination  to  the 
former  threshing-floor  on  the  same  ground  that 
moved  Jacob  to  consecrate  his  resting-place  at 
Luz  to  be  a  Bethel  (Gen.  xxviii.  17),  because 
Jehovah  had  there  revealed  to  him  His  saving 
presence. 

2.  The  Preparation  of  Materials  for  the  future 
Temple:  vers.  2-5. — Ami  David  commanded  to 
gather  the  strangers  that  were  in  the  land  of 
Israel,  the  descendants  of  the  Canaauites  sub- 
dued in  the  conquest  of  the  land,  who  lived  as 
bondmen  under  his  government ;  comp.  2  Chron. 
viii.  7-10  and  ch.  ii.  16,  17,  where  the  number 
of  these  bondmen  under  Solomon  is  stated  to  be 
150,000,  whom  he  employed  as  bearers  and  work- 
men in  building  the  temple.  —  Masons  to  hew 
square  stones.  Comp.  1  Kings  v.  17,  31  ;  also 
the  simple  rvT3,  square  stones,   1  Kings  vi.   36, 

vii.  9  tf. ;  Ex.  xx.  25;  Isa.  ix.  9.— Ver.  3.  For 
the  nails  for  the  doors  of  the  gates,  and  for  braces. 

n1"l3PIO^,  properly,  "for  joining  things "  (Sept. 

TTftpiTs ;  more  correctly  Vulg.  commissural  atque 
juncturai)  ;  comp.  2  Chron.  xxxiv.  11,  where, 
however,  braces  of  wood  are  meant.  — Ver.  4.  For 
the  Zidonians  and  Tyrians  ( =  Phenicians  ; 
comp.  Ezra  iii.  7)  brought  much  cedar-wood  to 
David;  this  at  first  naturally,  as  an  article  of 
trade  for  the  exports  of  Palestine,  corn,  wine, 
fruit,  etc.,  not  yet  by  a  contract  of  supply  for 
building  the  temple,  such  as  Solomon  afterwards 
made  with  Hiram,  1  Kings  v.  15  ff. — Ver.  5. 
Solomon  my  son  is  young  and  tender.     So  (-iy; 

;pi,  panndus  el  delicatus,  Vulg.)  David  names 

Solomon  also,  ch.  xxix.  1,  in  one  of  his  last 
speeches  to  the  people,  although,  born  shortly 
after  the  Syrian  Ammonite  wars  (2  Sam.  xii.  24), 
he  must  have  been  at  this  time,  shortly  before 
David's  end,  above  twenty  years  of  age.  But 
even  shortly  after  the  beginning  of  his  reign, 
Solomon  calls  himself  pop  1JV},  1  Kings  iii.  7 ; 

comp.,  for  example,  also  Benjamin,  Gen.  xliii.  44; 
Joshua,  Ex.  xxxiii.  11 ;  Eehoboam,  2  Chron.  xiii. 
7,  etc. — And  the  house  to  be  budded  for  the  Lord 
must  be  highly  magnificat  (properly,    "great  to 

make").      i"6j?£7,  properly,   "upward,"  "above 

measure  great;"  comp.  on  xiv.  2.—  For  name 
and  glory  in  all  countries,  that  it  tend  to  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  in  all  countries  ;  comp.  xiv. 
17. — /  will  nolo  prepare  for  it.  The  meaning  of 
this  cheerful  offering  is  somewhat  weakened,  if, 
with  the  Vulg.  (prceparabo  ergo,  etc.)  and  Luther 
("therefore  will  1  make  preparation"),  we  take 
({J  as  a  particle  of  inference. 

3.  The  Chanje  to  Solomon  to  build  the  Temple: 
vers.  6-16.  This  charge  is  obviously  to  be  re- 
garded as  given   to   Solomon   shortly  before  the 

4eath  of  David;  see  the  V")iC   *}sh  'lt  tue  c'ose  °f 


ver.  5.  The  whole  address  on  to  ver.  16,  besidft. 
being  a  legacy  of  the  predecessor  to  his  successor, 
is  therefore  to  be  regarded  in  some  measure  as 
parallel  to  1  Kings  ii.  2-9,  and  as  essentially  con- 
temporary with  the  contents  of  ch.  xxviii.  and 
xxix.  of  our  book.  On  its  perhaps  not  strictly 
historical  but  ideal  character,  which  is  common 
to  it  with  those  addresses  of  David  in  ch.  xxviii. 
and  xxix.,  see  Introd.  §  6,  No.  6. — Ver.  7.  On 
the  Ktri  »J3  to  be  preferred  to  the  Kethib  133,  see 

Crit.  Note. — 1  had  it  in  mind,  literally,  "  I,  itwas 
in  my  heart  ; "  quite  so  (with  the  same  emphatic 

position  of  'jx  before  '33?  DJW  also  c"-  xxviii.  2. 

The  phrase  :  "  it  is  or  was  in  my  heart,"  for:  "  I 
have  (had)  in  mind,"  appears  also  in  2  Chron.  i. 
11,  vi.  7  f.,  ix.  1,  xxiv.  4,  xxix.  10,  as  in  other 
historical  books,  Josh.  xiv.  7;  1  Kings  viii.  17  f. , 
x.  2. — Ver.  8.  But  the  word  of  the  Lord  came 
unto  me,  saying.  What  was  a  historical  necessity 
in  the  course  of  David's  government  is  by  this 
concrete  description  referred  to  a  definite  word  of 
the  Lord  communicated  somewhere  and  sometime 
to  David,  as  in  ch.  xxviii.  3  (comp.  1  Kings  v. 
17).  It  is  not  necessary  to  seek  a  definite  place, 
where  such  a  divine  command  was  at  least  inti- 
mated to  him.  What  Nathan  says,  xvii.  4  ff.,  of 
David's  wars,  concerns  only  the  help  which  God 
gave  him  in  these,  but  does  not  give  prominence 
to  the  circumstance  that  he  was  by  those  frequent 
wars  unfitted  for  building  the  temple.  Comp. 
also  Hengstenb.  Gesch.  des  Seiches  Gottes,  iii. 
124. — Ver.  9.  Behold,  a  son  shall  be  born  to  thee. 

The  participle  ("pij)  is  here  in  the  sense  of  the 

future  ;  comp.  ver.  19  and  1  Kings  xiii.  2. — 
I(7(o  shall  be  a  man  of  rest,  not  a  man  who  makes 
rest  (Jer.  Ii.  59  ;  comp.  Hitzig  on  this  passage), 
but,  as  the  sequel  shows,  a  man  who  enjoys  rest, 
who   has  the   blessings  of  peace,   and    therefore 

rightly  bears  his  name  flb^C'-  Comp.  the  de- 
scription of  the  profound  peace  during  the  reign 
of  Solomon,  1  Kings  v.  4  f. — On  ver.  10,  comp. 
ch.  xvii.  12  f.,  which  prediction  of  Nathan  is 
briefly  repeated  in  our  passage.  —  Ver.  11.  The 
Lord  bewith  thee  (comp.  vers.  16,  IS);  and  prosper 
thou;  comp.  ver.  13;  Josh.  i.  S;  and  lastly,  on  "13* 

->jj,  to  charge  any  one,  ver.  8  ('PJ')  and  x4.  10. — 

Ver.  12.  Also  the  Lord  will  give  'hee  wisdom,  and 
understanding ;  the  same  terms  are  so  connected 
in  2  Chron.  ii.  11.  Tin-  fulfilment  of  this  pro- 
phecy, as  of  the  similar  one  of  Nathan  (2  Sam. 
vii.  11),  see  in  1  Kings  iii.  5  ff.  —  That  thou  maytsi 
keep  the  laic  of  the  Lord,  properly,  "and  to  keep 
the  law,  "etc.     Comp.,  on  this  continuation  of  the 

verb  fin.  by  the  infn.  with  p,   Ew.   §  351,  c. — 

Ver.  13.  If  thou  takest  heed  to  fulfil  ("to  do") 
the  statutes  and  judgments.  The  language  here 
frequently  coincides  with  the  prescriptions  and 
promises  of  Deuteronomy :  comp.  Deut.  iv.  1, 
v.  1,  vii.  4,  11,  xi.  32 ;  and  respecting  the  closing 
admonition:  "be  firm  and  strong,"  Deut.  xxxi. 
6,  8;  Josh.  i.  7,  etc. — Ver.  14.  And  behold,  in 
my  trouble,  etc.      So  is   "JJJ3   to  he  taken  here 

(comp.  Gen.  xxxi.  42,  and  the  parallel  meaning, 
ch.  xxix.  2),  not  "in  my  labour, "  as  the  Sept., 


CHAP.  XXII.   16-19. 


1S7 


Vulg.,  and  Luther  have  misunderstood  the  phrase. 
The  following  numbers,   100,000  talents  ol  gold 

and  1,000,01)0  talents  ol '  silwr,  are  only  live  from 
the  suspicion  of  wilful  exaggeration  by  thel  'hronist 
or  an  error  of  transcription,  if  we  are  permitted 
to  introduce  ft  reckoning  according  to  other,  that 
is,  smaller  units  than  those  customary  in  the 
O.  T.  (comp.  Introd.  §  6,  No.  5).  If  we  reckon 
the  talent  (133)  of  silver  a1  3000  shekels  of  silver, 

according  to  the  usual  Mosaic  or  sacred  value  of 
about  2s.  3fd.  each,  it  would  amount  to  £342, 
and  therefore  1,000,000  such  silver  talents  would 
make  the  large  sum  of  £312,000,000  :  and  ln.i.nou 
talents  of  gold,  if  the  gold  shekel  be  sixteen  times 
that  of  silver,  would  reach  the  still  higher  sum  of 
£547,500,000.  The  gold  and  Bilver  thus  gathered 
by  David  would  amount  to  £889,500,000,  a  sum 
incredibly  high  for  the  requirements  of  worship 
at  that  time.  On  the  contrary,  if  we  assume,  with 
Keil,  that  the  present  shekel  is  not  the  sacred 
(Mosaic)  but  the  civil  so-called  shekel,  after  tic- 
king's weight,  and  that  these  royal  shekels  \\  ere 
only  half  as  weighty  as  the  others,  and  so  equal 
in  weight  and  value  to  the  bekah  or  Mosaic  half- 
shekel  (Ex.  xxxviii,  26),  —  an  assumption  that 
seems  to  be  corroborated  by  the  comparison  of 
1  Kings  x.  17  with  2  Chron.  ix.  16,'  the  sum 
named  is  reduced  by  at  least  a  half.  That  so 
large  a  sum  gathered  and  saved  by  David  is  not 
inconceivable,  but  has  its  parallel  in  other  high 
sums  ol  oriental  antiquity,  Movers  \Die  Phdnizier, 
ii.  3,  p.  45  If.)  and  Keil  (p.  1S-2  f.  of  his  Comment.) 
have  rendered  probable  by  examples  from  the 
history  of  Persia  and  Syria,  those  exceedingly 
rich  countries  adjacent  to  the  kingdom  of  David; 
comp.  the  £34,000  of  gold  and  500,000  talents 
of  silver  which  Cyrus  seized  in  the  conquest  of 
Athens  (Varro,  in  l'lin.  Hist.  Nat.  xxxii.  15),  the 
40,000  talents  of  uncoined  gold  and  silver  and 
90u0  talents  of  coined  silver  which  Alexander 
seized  in  Susa  alone,  the  120,000  talents  which 
the  same  conqueror  acquired  in  Persepolis  ;  like- 
wise the  colossal  treasures  of  Syria,  with  its 
numerousgre.it  idols  of  solid  gold,  its  gold  shields 
for  the  servants  of  Hadadezer,  2  Sam.  viii.  7  11'.,  its 
gold  pins  as  ornaments  of  the  hoots  of  the  common 
soldiers  of  an  Antiochus  the  Great,  etc.  At  all 
events,  it  is  hasty  in  liertheau,  who,  besides,  com- 
mits a  great  error  in  asserting  that  5000  millions 
of  thalers  (about  £750,000,000)  would  suffice  to 
pay  off  the  debt  of  all  European  states,  to  deny 
the  credibility  of  the  present  high  numbers,  and 
suppose  that  they  could  be  "nothing  but  the 
first  circumlocution  of  the  notion,  'great,  exceed- 
ingly great,' — a  circumlocution  that  may  still  be 
heard  in  the  mouth  of  those  who  have  not  re- 
dected  on  the  value  and  import  of  the  numbers, 
and  therefore  deal  quite  freely  with  thousands 
end  hundred  thousands.  "  Neither  the  fact  that 
Solomon's  annual  revenue  amounted  only  to  666 
talents  of  gold,  nor  that  the  queen  of  Sheba  made 
him  a  present  of  120  talents  of  gold  (comp. 
1  Kings  x.  10,  14;  2  Chron.  ix.  9),  is  sufficient  to 
.onfirm  this  suspicion  of  a  boastful  exaggeration 

1  See  Mosis  Maimon  Constitutwnei  dt  siclis. — quas  illu.\- 
.ravit,  Jo  Eseers,  Linrd.  Hat.  1718,  p  19.  and  eomp  the 
.vmarks  on  2  Chron  iii.  3  concerning  the  relation  of  the  older 
(saered  or  Mosaic)  cubit  to  the  shorter  civil  cubit  of  later 
rimes.  (In  the  text,  English  money  has  been  substituted  for 
foreign. J 


as  the  ground  of  the  present  statements.  For, 
besides  the  666  talents  in  gold  expressly  mt  utioned 

in  those  passages,  Solomon  must  have  bad  Still 
other  revenues  considerably  higher  in  then  tot  il 
amount  (especially  from  tolls  and  tributes  of  the 
subject  nations);  but  the  value  of  a  single  gift  in 
money  and  precious  metals  cannot  in  itseli  be 
compared  with  that  of  a  great  treasure  amassed 
during  several  years.  And  should  not  David  have 
actually  contemplated  the  foundation  of  a  temple 
treasure,  oi  which  the  surplus  remaining  alt.  i 
defraying  the  cost  of  building  should  be  kept  in 
the  sanctuary,  and  saved  for  covering  the  future 
expenses  ol'  it  (as  Solomon  actually  .lid  alter  the 
building  was  finished  with  the  money  remaining 
over,  2  Chron.  v.  1;  1  Kings  vii.  51),  and  there- 
fore have  accumulated  so  vast  a  sum'  Comp. 
that  which  is  expressly  reported  to  this  effect, 
and  see  Keil's  full  discussion  of  all  questions  and 
opinions  on  this  matter  (pp.  181-184). — And  thou 
shall  udil  thereto.  That  Solomon  followed  this 
advice  of  his  father,  to  add  to  the  buildiiiL; 
materials,  is  clear  from  2  Chron.  ii.,  where  also 
the  activity  of  the  here  (ver.  15,  and  in  vei.  2) 
mentioned  workers  in  stone  and  wood,  as  well  as 
the   "skilful  men  in  all  work"  (con,  to  denote 

the  ingenious  mastery  in  the  crafts  of  building 
and  figuring,  as  in  Bezaleel,  Ex.  xxxi.  3),  is  again 
mentioned.  — Ver  16.  Ofthegold,  the  silver,  and 
tlie  brass,  and  the  iron,  there  is  no  number,  pro- 
perly, "  for  gold,"  etc.     The  $>  before  the  several 

words  serves  to  make  more  prominent  that  which 
is  hitherto  enumerated  (Ew.  §  310,  a).  On  the 
following  HC'VI  Dip,  "arise  and  do,"cornp.  Ezra 
x.  4. 

4.  Invitation  to  the  Princes  of  Israel  to  aid  in 
the  building  of  the  Temple:  vers.  17-19. — Is  not 
the  Lord  your  God  with  you  ?  The  remembrance 
of  God's  former  grace  toward  the  people  is  a 
ground  for  the  invitation.  That  the  words  com- 
municated here  and  in  ver.  19  are  David's  words 
to  the  princes,  is  sufficiently  clear  even  without 

ibN?  from  the  foregoing  ivi ;  comp.   the  same 

immediate  introduction  of  the  address  in  xxiii.  4. 
He  hath  given  the  inhabitants  of  th<  land  into  my 
hand,  the  Canaanites,  Jebusites,  Philistines  ; 
comp.  xiv.  10 f.,  Josh.  ii.  24,  as  on  the  following; 
"the  land  is  subdued,"  Josh,  xviii.  1,  Num. 
xxxii.  22,  29.— Ver.  19.  Now  give  your  heart  and 
soul  to  seek  the  Lord  your  God ;  comp.  2  Chron. 
xvii.  4,  Ezra  iv.  2,  where  the  same  construction 

°f  BHT   with  •>  is  found,   whereas   elsewhere   it 

usually  has  the  simple  ace.  of  the  object  after  it 
(xvi.  12,  xxi.  30,  etc.).  — To  bring  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  (xv.  1;  2  Chron.  v.  2) .  .  .  into  the  hiuse, 

etc.      'j  in  jvab  stands   (as   in   Josh.    iv.   5)  for 

7X.  and  is  not  perhaps  nota  accusative  ■  Perth,  i.  as 

X'Qn  is  never  constructed  with  the  ace   loci,  but 

with  ^{<i  or  with  the  ace.  and  n  local.     For  the 

future  sense  of  Dj33n,  comp.  od  ver.  9. 


138  I.  CHRONICLES. 


fi.  Distribution  of  the  Levites  and  Priests,  and  Order  of  their  Service:  ch.  xxiii.-xxvi. 

Ch.  xxiii.  1.  And  David  was  old  and  full  of  days,  and  he  made  his  son  Solomon 
king  over  Israel. 

1.  Enumeration  of  the  Levites,  and  Arrangement  of  their  Work:  vers.  2—5. 

2  And  he  gathered  all  the  princes  of  Israel,  and  the  priests  and  the  Levites. 

3  And  the  Levites  were  numbered  from  the  age  of  thirty  years  and  upwards  ; 

4  and  their  ljumber  by  their  polls  in  men  was  thirty  and  eight  thousand.  Of 
these,  twenty  and  four  thousand  were  to  oversee  the  work  of  the  house  of  the 

5  Lord,  and  six  thousand  were  to  be  officers  and  judges.  And  four  thousand 
porters  ;  and  four  thousand  praising  the  Lord  with  instruments  which  I  have 
made1  for  praise. 

2.  The  Twenty-four  Houses  of  the  Levites:  vers.  6-23. 

6  And  David  divided  them2  into  courses  for  the  sons  of  Levi,  for  Gershon, 
Kohath,  and  Merari. 

7,  8         Of  the  Gershonites  were  Ladan  and  Shimi.     The  sons  of  Ladan  were  the 

9  chief  Jehiel,  and  Zetham,  and  Joel,  three.     The  sons  of  Shimi  were  Shelomith,8 

and  Haziel,  and  Haran,  three  :  these  were  the  chiefs  of  the  fathers  for  Ladan- 

10  And  the  sons  of  Shimi  were  Jahath,  Zina,  and  Jeush,  and  Beriah  :  these  four 

11  were  Shimi's  sons.  And  Jahath  was  the  chief,  and  Zizah  the  second;  and 
Jeush  and  Beriah  had  not  many  sons  ;  and  they  formed  one  father-house  and 
one  class. 

12,  13  The  sons  of  Kohath  :  Amram,  Izhar,  Hebron,  and  Uzziel,  four.  The  sons 
of  Amram  :  Aaron  and  Moses ;  and  Aaron  was  separated  to  sanctify  him  as 
most  holy,  he  and  his  sons  for  ever,  to  burn  incense  before  the  Lord,  to 

14  minister  to  Him,  and  to  bless  in  His  name  for  ever.     And  Moses,  the  man  of 

15  God,  his  sons  were  called  after  the  tribe  of  Levi.     The  sons  of  Moses  were 
IC,  17  Gershom  and  Eliezer.     Of  the  sons  of  Gershom,  Shebuel  was  the  chief.     And 

the  sons  of  Eliezer  were  Rehabiah  the  chief:  and  Eliezer  had  no  other  sons  ; 

18  but  the  sons  of  Rehabiah  were  very  many.     The  sons  of  Izhar,  Shelomith  the 

19  chief.     The  sons  of  Hebron  :  Jeriah  the  first,  Amariah  the  second,  Jahaziel 

20  the  third,  Jekamam  the  fourth.  The  sons  of  Uzziel  :  Micah  the  first,  and 
Jesiah  the  second. 

21  The  sons  of  Merari :  Mahli  and  Mushi ;  the  sons  of  Mahli :  Eleazar  and 

22  Kish.     And  Eleazar  died,  and  had  no  sons,  but  only  daughters  ;  and  their 

23  brethren,  the  sons  of  Kish,  took  them.  The  sons  of  Mushi :  Mahli,  and 
Eder,  and  Jeremoth,  three 

3.  Closing  Remarks  on  the  Levites:  vers.  24-32. 

24  These  are  the  sons  of  Levi  after  their  father-nouses  ;  the  chief  of  the 
fathers  for  those  mustered  by  the  number  of  the  names  for  their  polls,  doing 
the  work  for  the  service  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  from  twenty  years  old  and 

25  upwards.     For  David  said,  The  L>rd  God  of  Israel  hath  given  rest  to  His 

26  people,  and  He  dwelleth  in  Jerusalem  for  ever.     And  also  the  Levites  have 

27  no  more  to  carry  the  tabernacle,  with  all  its  vessels  for  its  service.  For,  by 
the  last  words  of  David,  these  were  the  number  of  the  Levites  from  twenty 

28  years  old  and  upward.  For  their  post  was  at  the  hand  of  the  sons  of  Aaron, 
for  the  service  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  for  the  courts,  and  for  the  chambers, 
and  for  the  purifying  of  everything  holy,  and  the  work  of  the  service  o    the 

29  house  of  God.  And  for  the  shew-bread,  and  the  tine  Hour  for  meat-otfering, 
and  the  unleavened  cakes,  and  pancakes,  and  that  which  is  fried,  and  all 

30  measures  of  capacity  and  length.     And  to  stand  every  morning  to  thank  and 

31  praise  the  LORD,  and  so  in  the  evening.  And  to  offer  all  burnt-offerings  to 
the  Lord  for  the  Sabbaths,  tor  the  new  moons,  and  the  set  feasts  by  number, 


CHAP.  XXIII.-XXVI.  i:>9 


32  after  the  order  of  them,  continually  before  the  Lord.  And  they  shall  kee"p 
the  charge  of  the  tent  of  meeting,  and  the  charge  of  the  sanctuary,  and  the 
charge  of  the  sons  of  Aaron  their  brethren,  for  the  service  of  the  house  of  the 
Lokd. 

4.  The  Twenty-four  Classes  of  Priests:  ch.  xxiv.  1-19. 

Ch.  xxiv.  1.   And  for  the  sons  of  Aaron,  these  are  the  divisions:  the  sons  of  Aaron  : 

2  Nadab  and  Abihu,  Eleazar  and  Ithamar.     But  Nadab  and  Ahihu  died  before 

3  their  fathers,  and  had  no  sons  ;  and  Eleazar  and  Ithamar  became  priests.  And 
David  distributed  them,  so  that  Zadok  of  tin'  sons  of  Eleazar  and  Ahimelech 

4  of  the  sons  of  Ithamar  were  for  their  office  in  their  service.  And  the  sons  of 
Eleazar  were  found  more  numerous  in  chief  men  than  the  sons  of  Ithamar; 
and  they  were  thus  divided  :  for  the  sons  of  Eleazar  sixteen  chiefs  of  father- 

5  houses  ;  and  eight  of  father-houses  for  the  sons  of  Ithamar.  And  they 
divided  them  by  lot,  one  with  the  other;  for  the  holy  princes  and  the  princes 

6  of  God  were  of  the  sons  of  Eleazar,  and  of  the  sons  of  Ithamar.  Ami 
Shemaiah  son  of  Nethaneel,  the  scribe  of  the  Levites,  wrote  them  before  the 
king  and  the  princes,  and  Zadok  the  priest,  and  Ahimelech  the  son  of  Abiathar, 
and  the  chiefs  of  the  fathers  for  the  priests  and  for  the  Levites  :  one  father- 
house  being  taken  for  Eleazar,  and  one4  taken  for  Ithamar. 

7,  8         And  the  first  lot  came  out  to  Jehoiarib,  the  second  to  Jedaiah.     The  third 

9  to   Harim,  the   fourth    to   Seorim,      The   fifth   to  Malchijah,   the   sixth    to 

10,11   Mijamin.     The  seventh  to  Hakkoz,   the  eighth  to  Abijah.     The  ninth  to 

12  Jeshuah,  the  tenth  to  Shecaniah.     The  eleventh  to  Eliashib,  the  twelfth  to 

13,  14  Jakim.      The   thirteenth    to    Huppah,    the   fourteenth   to   Jeshebab.      The 

15  fifteenth  to  Bilgah,  the  sixteenth  to  limner.     The  seventeenth  to  Hezir,  the 

16  eighteenth   to    Hapizez.     The   nineteenth    to    Pethahiah,    the   twentieth    to 

17  Jehezkel.     The  one  and  twentieth  to  Jachin,  the  two  and  twentieth  to  Gamul. 

18  The  three  and   twentieth   to  Delaiah,  the  four  and  twentieth  to  Maaziah. 

19  These  are  their  offices  for  their  service,  to  go  into  the  house  of  the  LORD 
according  to  their  order  by  Aaron  their  father,  as  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  had 
commanded  him. 

5.  The  Classes  of  the  Levites:  vers.  20-31. 

20  And  for  the  remaining  sons  of  Le\  i :  for  the  sons  of  Amram,  Shubael ;  for 

21  the  sons  of  Shubael,  Jehdeiah.     For  Rehabiah  :  for  the  sons  of  Rehabiah,  the 

22  chief  was  Isshiah.     For  the  Izharites,  Shelomoth  ;  for  the  sons  of  Shelomoth, 

23  Jahath.       And  the  sons   [..f  Heimn]* :  Jesiah    [the  first],   Amariah  the  second, 

24  Jahaziel  the  third,  Jekamam  the  fourth.     The  sons  of  Uzziel,  Micah  ;  for  the 

25  sons  of  Micah,  Shamir.6     The  brother  of  Micah  was  Isshiah  ;  for  the  sons  of 

26  Isshiah,  Zechariah.     The  sons  of  Merari  were  Mahli  and  Mushi  :  the  sons  of 

27  Jazziah,  Beno.r     The  sons  of  Merari,  by  Jaaziah  his  son  :    Shoham,8  and 
28,29  Zaccur,  and  Ibri.     To  Mahli  belonged  Eleazar;8  and  he  had  no  sons.     Con 

30  cerning  Kish,  the  sons  of  Kish,  Jerahmeel.  And  the  sons  of  Mushi  :  Mahli, 
and   Eder,   ami   Jerimoth  :  these   were   the   sons  of  the   Levites   after  their 

31  father-houses.  And  these  also  east  lots  like  their  brethren  the  sons  of  Aaron, 
before  David  the  king,  and  Zadok.  and  Ahimelech,  and  the  chiefs  of  the 
fathers  for  the  priests  and  for  the  Levites  :  the  fathers,  the  chief  like  his 
younger  brother. 

6.  The  Twenty-four  Classes  of  Singers:  ch.  xxv. 

Ch.  xxv.  1  And  David  and  the  captains  of  the  host  separated  for  service  the  sons 
of  Asaph,  and  Heman,  and  Jeduthun,  who  prophesied10  with  harps,  with 
psalteries',  and  with  cymbals  :  and  the  number  of  the  workmen  for  the  service 

2  was.     For  the   sons  of  Asaph  :    Zaccur,   and  Joseph,   and    Nethaniah,   and 

3  Asharelah  sons  of  Asaph,  under  Asaph,  who  prophesied  under  the  king.  For 
Jeduthun  :  the  sons  of  Jeduthun  were  Gedaliah,  and  Zeri,  and  Jeshaiah, 
Hashabiah,  and  Mattithiah,  six,  under  their  father  Jeduthun,  on  the  harp  who 


140  I.  CHRONICLES. 


4  prophesied  to  thank  and  praise  the  Lord.     For  Heman  :  the  sons  of  Heman 
Bukkiah,    Mattaniah,    Uzziel,    Shebuel,    and   Jerimoth,    Hananiah,    Hanani, 
Eliathah,    Giddalti,    and    Romamti-ezer,    Joshbekashah,    Mallothi,    Hothir, 

5  Mahazioth.     All  these  were  the  sons  of  Heman,  the  king's  seer  in  the  words 
of  God,  to  lift  up  the  horn  :  and   God   gave  Heman  fourteen   sons  and  three 

6  daughters.     All  these  were  under  their  father  for  song  in  the  house  of  the 
Lord,  with  cymbals,  psalteries,  and  harps  for  the  service  of  the  house  of  God 

7  under  the  king,  with  Asaph,  and  Jeduthun,  and  Heman.     And  their  number 
with   their  brethren  that  were  instructed    in   singing   to  the  Lord,  all  that 

8  were  cunning  were  two  hundred  eighty  and  eight.     And  they  cast  lots  for  the 
charge,  the  small  as  the  great,  the  teacher  with  the  scholar. 

9  And    the   first  lot  came  forth  for  Asaph  to   Joseph:11    the  second   to 
]  0  Gedaliah  ;   he  and  his  sons  and  his  brethren  were  twelve.     The  third  to 

1 1  Zaccur,  his  sons  and  his  brethren,  twelve.     The  fourth  to  Izri,  his  sons  and 

12  his   brethren,  twelve.     The   fifth   to   Nethaniah,  his   sons  and   his   brethren, 
13,  14  twelve.     The  sixth  to   Bukkiah,   his   sons   and   his   brethren,    twelve.     The 

15  seventh   to   Je.sharelah,  his   sons   and   his   brethren,  twelve.     The   eighth   to 

16  Jeshaiah,  his  sons  and  his  brethren,  twelve.     The  ninth  to  Mattaniah,  his 

17  sons   and    his    brethren,  twelve.     The   tenth   to   Shimei,   his  sons  and  his 

18  brethren,  twelve.     The  eleventh  to  Azarel,  his  sons  and  his  brethren,  twelve. 
19,  20  The  twelfth  to  Hashabiah,  his  sons  and  his  brethren,  twelve.     The  thirteenth 

21  to  Shubael,  his  sons  and  his  brethren,  twelve.     The  fourteenth  to  Mattithiah, 

22  his  sons  and  his  brethren,  twelve.     The  fifteenth  to  Jerimoth,   his  sons  and 

23  his  brethren,  twelve.     The  sixteenth  to  Hananiah,  his  sons  and  his  brethren, 

24  twelve.     The  seventeenth  to  Joshbekashah,  his  sons  and  his  brethren,  twelve. 
25,  26  The  eighteenth  to  Hanani,  his  sons  and  his  brethren,  twelve.     The  nineteenth 

27  to  Mallothi,  his  sons  and  his  brethren,  twelve.     The  twentieth  to  Eliathah, 

28  his  sons  and  his  brethren,  twelve.     The  one  and  twentieth  to  Hothir,  bis  sons 

29  and  his  brethren,  twelve.     The  two  and  twentieth  to  Giddalti,  his  sons  and 

30  his  brethren,  twelve.     The  three  and  twentieth  to  Mahazioth,  his  sons   and 

31  his  brethren,  twelve.     The  four  and  twentieth  to  Romamti-ezer,  his  sons  and 
his  brethren,  twelve. 

7.   The  Classes  of  Purlers:  eh.  xxvi.  1-19. 

Ch.  xxvi.  I.  Concerning  the  divisions  of  the  porters  :  to  the  Korhites  was  Meshele- 

2  miah  son  of  Korah,  of  the  sons  of  Asaph.12    And  Meshelemiah  had  sons  : 

Zechariah  the  first-born.  Jediael  the  second,  Zebadiah  the  third,  Jathniel  the 

3,  4  fourth.     Elam  the  fifth,  Jehohanan  the  sixth,  Elioenai  the  seventh.     And 

Obed-edom  had  sons  :  Shemaiah  the  first-born,  Jehozabad  the  second,  Joah 

5  the  third,  and  Sacar  the  fourth,  and  Nathaneel  the  fifth.     Ammiel  the  sixth, 

6  Issachar  the  seventh,  Peulthai  the  eighth  ;  for  God  blessed  him.     And  to 
Shemaiah  his  son  were  born  sons,  that  ruled  in  the  house  of  their  father ;  for 

7  they  were  valiant  men.     The  sons  of  Shemaiah  :  Othni,  and  Rephael,  and 

8  Obed,  Elzabad, — his  brethren,  strong  men, — Elihu,  and  Semachiah.     All  these 
of  the  sons  of  Obed-edom,  they  and  their  sons  and  their  brethren,  strong  men 

9  of  ability  for  service,  were  sixty  and  two  of  Obed-edom.     And  Meshelemiah 

10  had  sons  and  brethren,  strong  men,  eighteen.     And   Hosah,  of  the  sons  of 
Merari,  bad  sons:  Shimri   the  chief;  for  he  was   not  thi.   first-born,  but  his 

11  father  made  him  chief.     Hilkiah  the  second,  Tebaliah  the  third,  Zechariah 
the  fourth  :  all  the  sons  and  brethren  of  Hosah  were  thirteen. 

12  To  these  divisions  of  the  porters,  to  the  chiefs  of  the  men,  were  the  wards 
1.3  like  their  brethren,  to  minister  in  the  house  of  the  Lord.     And  they  cast 

14  lots,  the  small  as  the  great,  after  their  father-houses,  for  every  gate.     Ami 
the  lot  eastward  fell  to  Shelemiah  :  and  for  Zechariah  his  son,  a  wise  coun- 

15  sellor,  they  cast  lots,  and  his  lot  came  out  northward.     To  Obed-edom  south- 

16  ward  ;  and  to  his  sons  the  house  of  Asuppim.     To  Shuppim13  and  to  Hosah 
westward,  at  the  gate  Shallecheth,  by  the  causeway  of  ascent,  one  ward  like 

17  another.     Eastward  were  six  Levites,  northward  four  a  day,  southward  four 


CHAP.  XXIII.-XXVI.  141 


18  a  day,  and  towards  Asuppim  two  and  two.     At  Parbar  westward,  four  on 

19  the  causeway,  and  two  at  Parbav.  These  were  the  divisions  of  the  porters 
for  the  sons  of  Kore,  and  for  the  sons  of  Merari 

3.   The  Administrators  of  the  Treasures  of  the  Sanctuary,  with  the  Officer*  for  the 
External  Business:  vers.  20-32. 

2  And  the  Levites  their  brethren  '»  were  over  the  treasures  of  the  house  of 

21  God,  and  over  the  treasures  of  the  holy  things.  The  sons  of  Ladan,  the,  sons 
of  the  Gershonite  of  Ladan,  chiefs  of  the  father-houses  of  Ladan  the  Ger 

22  shonite,  Jehieli.     The  sons  of  Jehieli :  Zetham,  and  Joel  Lis  brother,  over  the 

23  treasures  of  the  house  of  the  Loud.     Of  the  Amramites,  the  Izharites,  the 

24  Hebronites,  and  the  Uzzielite-.     Shebuel  son  of  Gershom,  the  son  of  Moses, 

25  was  ruler  of  the  treasures.  And  his  brethren  by  Eliezer  were  Rehabiah  his 
son,  and  Jeshaiah  his  son,  and  Joram  his  son.  and  Ziehri  his  son,  and  Shelo- 

2C  moth ls  his  son.  This  Shelomoth  and  his  brethren  were  over  the  treasures  ot 
the  holy  things,  which  David  the  king  had  dedicated,  and  the  chiefs  of  the 
fathers,  and16  the  captains  of  thousands  and  hundreds,  and  the  captains  of 

27  the  host.     Out  of  the  wars  and  of  the  spoil  they  dedicated  to  maintain  the 

28  house  of  the  LORD.  And  all  that  Samuel  the  seer,  and  Saul  the  son  of  Kish, 
and  Abner  the  son  of  Ner,  and  Joab  the  son  of  Zeruiah,  had  dedicated  ;  every- 
thing dedicated  was  under  Shelomoth  and  his  brethren. 

29  Of  the  Izharites  was  Chenaniah  with  his  sons,  for  the  outer  business  over 

30  Israel,  for  officers  and  judges.  Of  the  Hebronites  were  Hashabiah  and  his 
brethren,  valiant  men,  a  thousand  and  seven  hundred,  for  the  oversight  of 
Israel  on  this  side  Jordan  westward,  for  all  the  business  of  the  Lord,  and  for 

31  the  service  of  the  king.  Of  the  Hebronites  was  Jeriah  the  chief;  for  the 
Hebronites,  in  their  generations  for  the  fathers,  in  the  fortieth  year  of  the 
reign  ot  David,  they  were  sought,  and  there  were  found  among  them  men  of 

32  valour  in  Jazer  of  Gilead.  And  his  brethren,  valiant  men,  two  thousand  and 
seven  hundred  fathers  of  tamilies ;  and  David  the  king  appointed  them  over 
the  Reubenites,  the  Gadite.s,  and  the  half-tribe  of  Manasseh,  for  every  matter 
of  God,  and  of  the  king. 

1  For  VPC'V  the  Sept.  (amnrraO  and  Vulg.  (fecerat)  have  the  3d  person.    But  see  Exeg.  Expl. 
■'  For  Dppn'l  rend  (here  and  xxiv.  3)  DpPlTV     See  Exeg.  Expl. 

8  So  the  Keri:  in  the  Kel/tib  the  name  is  Shelomoth.    The  same  difference  appears  in  another  Shelnmith,  xxvi.  2o. 

4  For  TrlXI   is  p.  rhaps  to  he  read  TflSO    (with  L.  Cappell.,  H  Grotius,  Gesen.,  etc.),  as  some  lute  and  unimportant 
rnss.  in  de  Rossi  exhibit  in  the  rnr.  led. 

5  The  insertion  of  P"Qn  alter   *33  (Luther.,  Berth.,  ami  most  moderns)  is  certainly  confirmed  neither  by  the 

Hebrew  Cod.  nor  by  the  old  translations  (Sept.,  Vulg,  etc.),  but  appears  necessary  from  xxiii.  In. 
•  So  the  Keri'  the  Kethib  has  Shamnt  :  ihe  old  Vers   (Sept.  'Zv.u.i.p   Vulg.  Samir)  as  th  •  Keri. 
7  Before  133  a  name  seems  tc  have  fallen  out.     The  text  in  vers.  26  and  27  is  corrupt.    See  the  Exeg.  Expl. 
Properly   "and  Shoham  "  (DHC'l) 

9  After  the  name  of  Eleazar  the  Sept.  ycod    Vat )  ndds  xai  'lOapitp,  xoe)  i.v'i8a.*iv  'EA£asa/>,  a  g'o>s  which  is  wanting 
in  A  EFX 

10  The  Kethib  D^S^Zl^H  is  an  error  of  transcription  fir  the  c  rtainly  correct  Keri  D^NZSH  (p  irlic.  Niph.) ;  eonip.  the 

sing.  N23H  in  vers.  2  and  3.  and  see  Exeg.  Expl. 

11  After  P]D1  V,  the  notice  constantly  recurring  in  the  following  verses:  "  his  sons  and  his  brethren,  twelve."  sppefcri 

tc  have  fallen  out  by  an  oversight.    Yet  it  is  to  be  obseived  that  this  notice  in  ver.  96,  after  ^^'H   inv~l3-  is  iliffel      ' 

from  that  in  at",  subsequent  cases,  namely,  "he  and  his  brethren  and  his  sons"   (VHiS  before,  not  VJ2.    as  afterwards) 

whence  it  is  probable  th^t  the  writer  did  not  mention  with  the  first  singer  the  .  loven  conip  inions,  w  h  on  he  precede  I  a* 
the  twelfth. 

12  For   CjDX*  according  to  ch.  ix.  19,   PjD^X  appears  to  have  been  read  though  no  external  evidence  i  onfti-ms  this 
conjecture. 


142 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


u  B*S~V  (Sept.  tZ  Scfiifr;  but  cod.  Vat.  tk  UiiTtpon  appears  to  have  come  into  the  text  by  the  repetition  of  the 
ast  two  svllables  of  the  foregoing  B^BDXH,  which  was  perhaps  aided  by  an  obscure  remembrance  of  the  root 
B'Sy',  vii.  14. 

14  So  according  to  the  Sept.  (K«)  oi  AvjTtki  aSeX^ei  xvtvv),  which  has  here  certainly  the  right  text;  comp    Qin^ 

BiTTIX,  2  Chron.  xxix.  31  If  the  HTIK  of  the  Masoretic  text  be  original,  E'VHO  must  have  stood  in  place  of 
D'vni    (comp.  the  Vulg,  which  lias  wholly  omitted  that  CviTO- 

14  Ketfiib:  T\\  -7w';  Keri:  JVDSkr  (comp.  xxiii  9).  The  Kethib  is  proved  by  ver.  '-'6  to  be  more  coirect,  thcngn 
the  name  recurs,  ver.  28,  as  JVD^C  without  variation. 

18  For  B^DPXiV^bv  should  apparently  be  read   'iV*"1E>1  ;  comp.  xxU.  6. 


EXEGETICAL. 

Pkeuminatcy  Remark,  especially  regarding 
the  introductory  notice,  eh.  xxiii.  1. — Tlie  con- 
nected survey  of  the  condition,  distribution,  and 
ministerial  functions  of  the  tribe  of  Levi  at  the 
end  of  the  reign  of  David,  which  tills  the  four  ch. 
xxiii. -xxvi.  (and  falls  into  eight  subdivisions,  as 
is  noted  in  the  superscriptions  of  the  above  trans- 
lation), is  introduced  by  the  statement,  ch.  xxiii. 
1,  that  the  aged  and  life-weary  King  David  ap- 
pointed his  son  Solomon  to  lie  king  over  Israel, 
formally  appointed  him  his  successor  on  the 
throne,  and  regularly  delivered  over  the  kingdom 
to  him.  The  numbering  and  classification  of 
the  Levites,  and  the  order  of  their  service  in  the 
sanctuary,  appears  accordingly  to  be  the  principal 
measure  by  which  David  introduces  the  trans- 
ference of  the  kingdom  to  his  successor.  A 
survey  of  the  state  of  his  army  and  of  his  mili- 
tary and  civil  officers  (ch.  xxvii.)  is  appended  as 
the  second  of  these  measures,  after  which  the 
final  arrangements  committed  in  solemn  assembly 
to  Solomon  and  the  heads  of  the  people,  referring 
chiefly  to  the  building  of  the  temple  (ch.  xxviii,, 
xxix.),  form  the  close  of  these  measures,  and  the 
immediate  transition  to  the  death  of  the  king  (ch. 
xxix.  26  ff. ).  As  sources  in  communicating  these 
accounts  of  the  order  of  the  Levitts  anil  their 
service,  the  Chronist  had  no  doubt  liturgical 
precepts  and  statistical  notes  proceeding  (me- 
diately or  immediately)   from    David,    that  3H3 

1H,  which  he  mentions,  2  Chron.  xxxv.  4,  along 

with  a  ribSt"  3ri3D,  and  which  we  may  regard 

either  as  part  of  the  royal  annals  of  this  king  or 
as  an  independent  document.  Comp.  Introd.  §  5. 
—And  David  was  old  and  full  of  days,     jpf  is 

here  not  an  adjective,  but  3d  p.  perf.  of  the  verb, 
as  in  Gen.  xviii.  12 ;  and  so  jnt"  with  its  accusa- 

of    restriction    n«v,    for   which   elsewhere 


tive 


usually   the    adj.     B'C  jQjp    (Ren.    xxxv.    29  ; 

Job  xii.  17),  or  even  yzfc'  alone  (Gen.   xxv.   Si. 

— He  made  his  son  Solomon  king  over  Israel. 
This  notice  does  not  perhaps  forestall  the  mole 
precise  and  definite  statement  ol  the  appointment 
of  Solomon  to  be  king  in  ch.  xxix.  22  (which 
reports  also  the  mode  of  appointment,  by  the 
anointing  of  the  successor),  but  forms  a  general 
introduction  to  all  that  follows  to  the  end  of  our 
book  (comp.  the  similar  general  but  not  forestal- 


ling statement  in  ch.  xxii.  7),  and  serves  to  place 
all  that  is  here  related  of  the  Levites,  the  military 
and  civil  officers,  under  the  head  of  the  last  will 
and  concluding  acts  of  the  king.  A  statement 
in  many  respects  similar  occurs  in  John  xiii.  1, 
which  characterizes  all  that  follows  to  the  end  of 
this  Gospel  as  a  "loving  of  his  own  unto  the 
end."  Against  the  opinion  of  Bertheau,  that  the 
Chronist  has  in  our  verse  given  briefly  the  con- 
tents of  the  narrative  1  Kings  i. ,  the  remarks  of 
Keil  suffice  ;  comp.  also  our  exegetical  exposition 
of  ch.  xxix.  22. 

1.  Enumeration  i>f  tin  Levites,  and  Arrange- 
ment of  their  Work':  ch.  xxiii.  2-5. — And  he 
gathered  all  the  princes  of  Israel.  These,  the 
representatives  of  the  tribes,  had  to  co-operate  in 
this  mustering  and  regulation  of  the  Levites, 
because  this  was  a  general  concern  of  the  king- 
dom. The  present  account  concerning  the  hold- 
ing of  a  great  census  Levitarum  in  a  solemn 
assembly  of  the  spiritual  and  temporal  chiefs  ol 
the  people,  shortly  before  the  end  of  David,  is 
confirmed  by  the  passage  xxvi.  30  f.,  which 
speaks  specially  of  the  result  of  this  muster  "in 
the  fortieth  year  of  the  reign  of  David"  with 
regard  to  the  family  of  Hebronites  in  Gilead. — 
Ver.  3.  And  the  Levites  m  re  numbered  from  the 
age  of  thirty  years  and  upwards  This  accords 
with  the  proceeding  of  Moses,  who,  Num.  iv.  3, 
23,  30,  39  tf.,  likewise  numbers  the  Levites  from 
thirty  years  of  age  (to  fifty)  for  service  in  the 
sanctuary.  But  as  he  had  already  included 
younger  men,  namely,  from  twenty-hie  years  of 
age  (Num.  viii.  23-26),  David's  muster  may  also 
have  extended  not  merely  to  those  of  thirty  years 
and  upwards,  but  rather,  according  to  the  express 
statement  of  ver.  24,  reached  the  Levites  of  twenty 
years  and  upwards.  That  this  iater  statement 
does  not  contradict  the  present  one,  and  that  it  is 
not  necessary  to  amend  our  passage  by  inserting 

CMC'JJ   for   D'Cvti'  (Keil),   see  on  ver.   24. — By 

their  polls  in   men,   thus  excluding  women  and 

children  ;  the  B'-QJ^  defining  more  exactly  the 

3n^ry?;6- — Ver.  4  f.  contain  the  words  of  the 
king,   as  appears  from   the    1st  perf.    TPtfJ)  at 

the  end  of  ver.  5,  for  which  the  Sept.  and  Vulg. 
have  unnecessarily,  and  only  from  ignorance  of 
the  true  state  of  the  matter,  substituted  the  third 
person. — Of '  UiAxe,  twenty  and  four  thousand  un  n 
to  oversee  the  work  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  the 
duties  of  the  Levitieal  temple  service  in  general, 
to  which    belonged    not — a.   the   proper    priestly 


CHA1'.  XXIII.  6-28. 


U.'i 


functions  (xxiv.  1-19)  ;  b.  those  of  the  Levitical 
civil  and  judicial  officers  (the  Q'lti"'  ftl'd 
S'BSC'.  ver.  46;  comp.  xxvi.  29-32);  c.  those 
of  the  porters  (ver.  5a;  comp.  xxvi.)  ;  </.  those 
of  the  singers  ami  musicians  (ver.  5  ;  comp. 
xxv.). —  With  instruments,  which  I  have  madi  for 
praise,  which  1  have  introduced  to  accompany 
the  sacred  singing  in  t lie  service  of  God  ;  comp. 
2  Chron.  xxix.  26  ;  Neh.  xii.  36  ;  also  Amos  vi. 
5,  where  David  is  mentioned  as  inventor  of  sacred 
musical  instruments. 

2.  The  Twenty -four  Houses  of  the  Levites : 
eli.  xxiii.  6-23. — And  David  divided  them  into 
courses  for  the  sons  of  Levi.  In  his  new  muster 
and  order  of  the  Levitieal  houses  he  thus  founded 
upon  the  three  old  well-known  branches  of  this 
tribe  (comp.  v.  27-vi.  15).  Qp^rPV  for  which, 
here  and  xxiv.  3,  R.  D.  Kimchi  would  read 
rather  Dp^lTI  (see  L'rit.  Note),  stands  for  Dp^lTl 

(comp.  ch.  xxiv.  4,  5),  and  is  merely  a  by-form  of 
the  imp,  if  Kn!,  not  Piel,  as  Ges.  and  Ew.  think. 
Bertheau  asserts  that  not  all  the  Levites,  but 
only  the  24, nun  specially  appointed  for  the  service 
in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  are  to  be  regarded  as  the 
object  of  Dp^rH;  and,  in  fact,  ver.  24  appears 
to  favour  this,  as  well  as  the  circumstance  that 
a  great  part  of  the  names  here  enumerated  recur 
in  xxiv.  20-31  and  xxvi.  20-28;  whereas  in 
the  enumeration  of  the  twenty-four  classes  of 
singers  (xxv.),  porters  (xxvi.  1-19),  and  officers, 
and  judges  (xxvi.  29-32),  quite  other  names 
occur.  What  Keil  ad. lines  against  this  (p.  18S) 
is  by  no  means  sufficient  to  invalidate  it. — a. 
The  Houses  of  the  Gershonites  :  vers.  7-11. — Of 
Die  Gershonites  wi  re  Ladan  and  slit  mi.  In  ch. 
vi.  2,  as  already  in  Ex.  vi.  17,  Num.  iii.  18,  these 
two  sons  and  founders  of  the  two  chief  brandies 
of  the  Gershonites  are  called  Libni  and  Shimi. 
Our  Ladan  appears  not  to  be  identical  with  Libni, 
but  rather  to  have  been  a  descendant  of  this  son 
of  Gershon,  after  whom,  in  David's  time,  a  greater 
branch  of  the  family  was  named.  Vers.  8,  9 
analyze  this  branch  of  the  Ladanites  as  falling 
into  the  two  chief  stems  of  the  sons  of  Ladan  and 
the  sons  of  Shimi,  a  descendant  of  Libni,  by 
name  Shimi,  not  the  brother  of  Ladan  or  Libni 
named  in  ver.  7,  whose  branch  is  more  fully 
described  in  vers.  10,  11.  Those  belonging  to 
the  branch  of  Ladan  fall  altogether  into  six 
houses,  namely,  three  of  the  sons  of  Ladan 
(ver.  8)  and  three  of  the  sons  of  Shimi  (ver. 
9).  On  the  contrary,  the  descendants  of  the 
other  Shimi  (brother  of  Ladan,  ver.  10)  form 
only  four,  or  rather  only  three,  houses,  as 
the  two  youngest  of  the  families  belonging  to 
them,  Jeush  and  Beriah,  from  their  iiiiiin  rical 
weakness,  are  included  in  one  house,  and  also 
in  one  class  trnpa,  ver.  11).      The  Gershonites, 

therefore,  in  David's  time  counted  in  all  nine 
houses. — b.  The  Houses  of  the  Kohathites  :  vers. 
12-20. — Amram,  Izhar,  Hebron,  ami  Uzziel.  So 
are  the  four  sons  of  Kohath  named  also  in  v.  28, 
vi.  3,  and  previously  in  Ex.  vi.  18;  Num.  iii.  27. 
— Aaron  was  separated  to  sancti  y  him  as   most 

hob).  So  is  D'Khp  BHp  iB>«1pni>  to  be  under- 
stood of  Aaron's  choice  and  anointment  to  be  the 
most  holy  person  of  a  high  priest,  not  from  his 


ministering  in  the  most  holy  place  (Vulg.  ut 
ministraret   in   sancto   sanctorum;   likewise   the 

Peschito),  nor  from  his  appointment  t osecrate 

the  most  holy  utensils  (ClericUS,  against  which 
see  Hengsten,  Chrietol.  ii.  50,  and  Keil  on  the 
passage).  — And  to  bless  in  His  name  for  ever,  ;.;, 
Jehovah's  name,  t . .  pronounce  the  blessing  on  the 
community  (after  the  prescription  of  Moses,  Xmn 
vi.  23,  xvi.  2;  Deut,  xxi.  5);  nol  to  bless  the 
name  of  Jehovah,  or  call  upon  Mini,  as  Ges.  am' 
Berth,  think. — Ver.  14.  And  Moses  the  man  of 
Hod,  A  is  sons  were  called  after  the  tribe  of  Levi, 
were  reckoned  among  the  simple  Levites,  and  not 
among  the  priests.     On   ^y  S")pJ,  comp.   Gen. 

xlviii.  6;  Ezra  ii.  61;  Neh.  vii.  63. — Ver.  15.  Of 
the  sons  of  Qershom,  Skebnel  was  the  chief,  pro- 
perly,   "Gershom's   sons,    Shebuel   the    chief;" 

comp.  the  numerous  cases  in  which  "sons"  are 
announced,  and  yet  only  one.  follows,  as  ch.  ii. 
31,  etc.  That,  moreover,  Gershom  had  other 
sons,  who  were  reckoned  with  the  house  of 
Shebuel  (or  Shnhael,  as  he  is  called  in  ch.  xxiv. 
20),  appears  to  follow  from  ver.  17,  where  it  is 
expressly  said  of  Eliezer  that  he  had  no  sons 
besides  Rehabiah.  Shebuel  and  Rehabiah  there- 
fore were  the  names  of  the  houses  of  the  family  of 
Amram  that  sprang  from  Moses.  To  these  two 
non-sacerdotal  houses  of  the  Kohathites  are  to  be 
added,  according  to  vers.  18-20,  of  the  family  of 
Izhar,  the  house  of  Shelomith  (or  Shelomoth,  ch. 
xxiv.  22);  of  the  family  of  Hebron  four  houses, 
Jeriah,  Amariah,  Jahaziel,  and  Jekamam  ;  of  the 
family  of  Uzziel  two,  Micah  and  Jesiah, — in  all, 
nine  Levitical  houses  of  Kohathite  origin. — c. 
The  Houses  of  the  Merarites  ;  vers.  21-23 — The 
sons  of  Merari :  Mahli  and-  Atushi.  So  are 
called  the  two  sons  of  Merari  also,  vi.  4;  Ex.  vi. 
19;  Num.  iii.  33;  whereas  in  xxiv.  27  a  third 
son  of  Merari  is  named,  Jaaziah,  the  founder  of 
the  three  houses  of  Shoham,  Zaccur  and  Ibn. 
The  conjecture  is  obvious,  that  the  name  of  this 
Jaaziah  with  his  three  sons  has  fallen  out  of  our 
passage  by  an  old  oversight,  as  Bertheau  assumes 
when  he  supplements  the  text  of  our  passage  from 
ch.  xxiv.  26,  27.  But,  1.  The  Sept.,  Vulg.,  and 
Syr.  present  our  text,  that  gives  only  two  sons 
of  Merari  ;  2.  The  books  of  Moses,  and  indeed 
the  whole  of  the  Old  Testament  elsewhere,  know 
nothing  of  a  third  son  of  Merari  and  his  descend- 
ants ;  3.  The  passage  xxiv.  26,  27  bears  manifest 
traces  of  an  interpolation  in  itself,  by  which  the 
name  Jaaziah  must  have  come  into  the  text ;  4. 
The  names  of  the  supposed  sons  of  Jaaziah  occur 
nowhere  else,  with  the  exception  of  Zaccur  alone 
(See  xxv.  2);  5.  The  only  gain  that  the  assump- 
tion of  the  names  in  question  into  our  text  could 
be, — that,  namely,  the  number  of  the  Merarite 
houses  should  be  brought  up  to  six,  and  so  a  total 
of  twenty  four  houses  of  Levites  should  be  shown 
in  our  section  (nine  Gershonite,  nine  Kohathite, 
and  six  .Merarite),  analogous  to  the  number  of 
twenty-four  houses  and  classes  of  priests  (ch. 
xxiv.),  and  of  twenty-four  classes  of  singers  (eh. 
xxv.),  and  corresponding  with  the  press  inser- 
tion of  .losephus  (Antiq.  vii.  14.  7),  that  David 
divided  the  Levites  into  twenty-four  classes, — this 
single  gain  is  lost  by  this,  that  there  should  be 
not  twenty-four  but  twenty-live  houses  resulting 
from  the  addition  of  the  three  sons  of  Jaaziah,  as 
our  passage  (vers.  21-23 1  derives  not  three  but 
four  houses  from  Merari :  one  from  Mahli  (named 


144 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


after  Eleazar  the  father  of  the  heiress,  or  after 
his  brother  Kish,  and  then  after  Jerahmeel,  chief 
son  of  this  Kish;  see  xxiv.  29),  and  three  Iron, 
Mushi,  namely,  Mahli,  Eder,  and  Jeren.o.h 
Now  of  these  three  sons  of  Mushi,  Bertheau  will 
certainly  exeh.de  from  the  text  the  first  Mahh, 
on  account  of  his  identity  of  name  with  Manli 
the  brother  of  Mushi,  to  obtain  the  desired  result 
of  six  Merarite  houses  ;  but  the  arbitrariness  of 
this  procedure  is  obviously  greater  and  more  un- 
justifiable than  the  badness  of  our  condemnation 
of  the  vers.  26  and  27  in  eh.  xxiv.  as  interpolated, 
that  has  sufficient  ground  ill  tire  clearly  CO rrup 
text  of  this  verse.  It  necessarily  follows  that  oui 
section  yields  onlv  four  Merarite,  and  therefore  in 
all  only  twenty-two  Levitical  houses. 

3  Closing  Remarks  respecting  the  Lewies:  ch. 
xxiii.  24-32  —These  are  the  son*  of  Levi  .  .  ■  for 
those  mustered,  arPTpd?  (c°™P-    Kx.   xxx.    14, 

Num  i.  21  ft'.,  as  on  the  following  words:  "by 
the  number  of  the  names,"  Num.  l.  18,  ill.  if). 
—Doing  the  work/or  the  service  oj  the  home  of  the 

Lord.    rotten  ntfjl  is,  as  als°  in  2  Chron- 

xxxiv.  10,  13,  Ezra  iii.  9,  Neb.  ii.  16,  not  sing,  but 
plur .=SQn  <l"5>,  and  dilfering  only  in  writing 


from  this  regular  form  (that  occurs,  for  example, 
2  Chvon    xxiv.  13);  comp.  Ew.  s  16,  b.—trom 
twenty  years  old  and  upwards.     This  statement, 
that  the  twentieth  year  is  fixed  a.s  the  starting- 
point  for  the  entrance   of  the    Levites  on  their 
official  duties,  is  more  exactly  exnained    n  the 
following  words,  by  reference  to  the  hghter  laboul 
which  fell  upon  the  Levites  when  the  wandering 
life  of  the  wilderness  ceased, -a  conclusion  that  is 
not  fully  expressed,  but  indicated  clearly  enough 
bv  vers  25,26. -Ver.  27.  For  by  the  last  words 
of  David  these  were,  etc.     Thus  it  is  obvious  we 
are  to   understand   the   orders   of    David   issued 
shortly  before  his  end  by  the  words  Tp  ^213 
D^iinsn  (with  the  Vulg. :  juxta  praxepta  David 
novissinm,  and  so  CTericus,  J.  H.  Mich    Keil,  etc  j, 
not  "in  the  later  histories  of  David     (kimchi 
Berth  )  —a  conception  which  imports  into  the  text 
a  thought  quite  foreign  to  the  context,  and  by 
no  means  justified  by  referring  to  ch.  xxix.  29 
Even  because  a  last  arrangement  of  David  is  now 
expressly  named  as  the  ground  of  the  introduc- 
tion of  Levites  of  twenty  years  into  the  sacred 
service   it  is  to  be  assumed  that  that  statement 
in  ver'  3  respecting  the  entrants  at  the  age  of 
thirtv  years  refers  to  an  earlier  numeration,   in 
which  David  had  adhered  to  the  legal  determina- 
tion in  Num.  iii.  23,  30  (so  Kimchi,  J.  H.  Midi., 
rod  others),  though  the  words  and  the  connection 
of  that  passage,  especially  the  circumstance  that 
there  the  number  38,000  is  given  as  the  result 
of  the  muster,  and  that  here  no  grea:ei    number 
takes  its  place,  may  not  appear  to  favour  such  a 
distinction  between  an  earlier  and  a  later  muster. 
It  is  conceivable,  though  not  indicated  by  our 
author,  that  David  may  have  established  a  dis- 
tinction of  classes,  in  such  a  way  that   lie   intro- 
duced the  Levites  of  twenty  years  to  the  lower 
and  easier  duties,  and  those  of  thirty  years  to  the 
higher  and  holier  functions.      At  all  events,  any 
mole  of  harmonizing  the  two  accounts  appears 
more  reasonable  than  the  expedient  of  Bertheau, 


that  the  Chronist  placed  side  by  side  two  differ- 
ent accounts,  the  one  giving  twenty,  the  other 
thirty,  years,  without  explanation  as  they  were 
found  iii  his  sources,  or  than  the  emendation  of 
Keil,   who  changes   D'tr^r,  ver.   3,  into  On&% 

—Vers.   2S-31.   Here  follows  an  enumeration  of 
the  duties  to  be  performed  by  the  Levites,  rising 
from  the  lower  and  more  external  (referring  to 
the  court  and  its  chambers,  to  purification  and 
the  like)  to  the   higher,   and   closing  with   the 
assistance   given   in   the   sacrifices   of  the   great 
feasts.  —  And  for   the  shew -bread,   that  is,   the 
preparation,   not   the   presentation   of  it,    which 
belonged  exclusively  to  the  priests  (Lev.   xxiv. 
8  ft'.).  —And  pancakes,    properly,    "the   pan, 
comp.  Lev.  ii.  5.— And  that  which  is  fried  (Ley. 
vi.  14),  and  all  measures  of  capacity  and  length, 
for  measuring  flour,   oil,   and  wine,   which  were 
added  to  the  sacrifices,  which  the  Levites  had  to 
clean  and  keep  (comp.    Ex.   xxix.   40,   xxx.   24; 
Lev    xix.  35).— And  to  stand  every  morning  I" 
thank  and  praise  the  Lord.     This  naturally  refers 
to  the  duties  of  the   4000  Levitical  singers  and 
musicians  (ver.  5;  comp.  ch.  xxv.);  for  here  are 
enumerated  the  offices  of  all  classes  of  the  Levites, 
not  merely  of  the  24,000  (against  Berth.).—  And 
to  off  r  all  burnt-offerings  to  the  Lord.     "  Hereby 
the  Levites  were  obliged  to  prepare  the  requisite 
number  of  victims,  to  examine  the  fitness  of  them, 
to  slav  the  animals,  to  Hay  them,  etc."  (LeiU- 
By  number  after  the  order  of  them  contmuaUf, 
before  tie  Lord,  that  is,  by  number  as  they  are 
to   be   presented    continually   before   the    Lord, 
according  to  the  prescriptions  of  the  law  regard- 
ing them.     The  TOT  continually  refers  to  "  the 


offering"  (mb'V  m^n)  as  a  business  recurring 
regularly  on  the  appointed  day  :  comp.  nfrj) 
TOT.  Num.  xxvii.  6,  etc.— Ver.  32.  And  they 
shall  keep  the  charge  of  the  tent  of  meeting  ("the 
temple,"  comp.  Num.  xviii.  4),  and  the  charge 
of  the  sanctuary  (of  all  holy  things  connected 
with  worship,  Num.  xviii.  5),  and  the  charge  of 
the  sons  of  Aaron  (the  care  of  all  that  the  priests 
enjoin  upon  them,  all  the  help  given  to  the 
priests)  On  this  particular  recapitulation  of  all 
the  functions  of  the  Levites,  comp.  the  similar 
passage.  Num.  xviii.  3  ff.  . 

4  The  Twenty-four  Classes  of  Priests:  ch.  xxiv. 
i_iq  —The  enumerationof  these  follows  quite  suit- 
ably after  the  foregoing  passage,  particularly  alter 
ch  '  xxiii.  32  ;  comp.  the  "  sons  of  Aaron  with 
that  ill  ver.  1  of  our  chapter.— Me  sons  of  Aaron  ■ 
tfadab  and  Abihu,  etc.  Comp.  on  this  introduc- 
tion to  the  Davidic  regulations  referring  to  the 
Mosaic  time  in  vers.  1  and  2,  ch.  v.  29,  and  Ex. 
vi  23-  Lev.  x.  1;  Num.  iii.  4.— Ver.  3.  And 
David  distributed  them,  so  that  Zadok  of  the  sons 
of  Eleazar.  For  DpbrH.  com].,  on  xxiii.  6  ;  for 
Zadok  and  Abiathar,  on  v.  30,  xvi.  39,  xvm.  16; 
for  nipB-  official  class,  on  xxm.  11.— Ver.  4. 
And  rthe  sons  of  Eteazar  were  found  more 
numerous  in  chief  men.     These  "  men      (jn3S)i 

of  whom  Eleazar  had  twice  as  many  in  heads  or 
chiefs  (D'CWl)  as  Ithamar,  are  the  chiefs,  not  ot 
the  neat  complex  of  families  or  houses  (Berth.), 
but  of  the  several  families,  the  fathers,  ch.ofs  of 


CHAP.  XXIV.  5-25. 


146 


the  several  priestly  homes.  —  Vcr.  5.  And  they 
divvied  them.  The  subject  is  David,  Z  idok,  and 
Ahimelech,  to  whom  naturally  this  matter  be- 
longed.— One  with  the  other,  literally,  "these 
with  those,"  those  of  Eleazar  with  those  ol 
Ithamar ;  eomp.  xxv.  8. — For  tin-  holy  princes 
ant  tin'  princes  of  God.  On  the  former  phrase, 
eomp.  Isa.  xliii.  28,  and  the  parallel  phrase: 
"princes  of  the  priests, "  Q^nbn  'lb'.   '-  CliTOn. 

xxxvi.  14  ;  on  the  second  (Sept.  ij^im:  *.vp'nu\ 
the  equivalent:  "high  priests,  upper  priests." 
For  the  princes  of  priests  and  high  priests  from 
Ithamar,  who  were  far  behind  those  of  the  line 
of  Eleazar  in  number  and  importance,  eomp. 
on  v.  80.  —  Vcr.  6.  Wrote  them,  namely,  the 
classes,  as  the  lot  determined. — One  father-house 
being  taken  for  Eleazar  and  one  for  Ithamar, 
that  is.  alternately,  from  the  urn  containing 
the  lots  for  Eleazar,  and  then  from  that  contain- 
ing the  lots  tor  Ithamar  (so  jnx  signifies  ;  eomp. 

Num.  xxxi.  30,  4"),  that  none  might  seem  pre- 
ferred before  the  other.  And,  indeed,  this  alter- 
nation in  dtawing  the  lots  might  have  been  so 
managed,  that,  on  account  of  the  double  num- 
ber of  the  families  of  Eleazar,  two  lots  for 
Eleaza*  might  be  drawn  for  every  one  for  Ithamar 
(eomp.  BertJi. ).  Whether  this  mode  of  drawing 
lots   be    indicated   by  the   doubling   of  the  friS 

in    the    second    place    (-|orVxi>  tnx  fHStl),    as 

Berth,  thinks,  is  more  than  doubtful.  Notwith- 
standing the  almost  universal  agreement  of  the 
mss.    respecting   this   double   jnx.   and  the  fact 

that  the  old  translators  and  the  Rabbis  did 
not  understand  the  passage,  the  alteration  of 
the  first  jnx   into  -[|-][<  (see  Crit.  Note)  appears 

to  be  the  only  means  of  obtaining  a  correct  con- 
ception of  these  otherwise  dark  words. — Ver.  7  ff. 
The  names  of  the  twenty-four  classes  are  now 
given  in  order,  as  they  were  settled  by  lot. — And 
the  first  lot  came  out  of  the  urn  ;  eomp.  for  {{a', 
in  this  sense,  Josh.  xvi.  1,  xix.  1.  Jehoiarib  and 
Jedaiah,  the  names  of  the  first  two  classes,  are  so 
named  together  in  eh.  ix.  10.  For  Jedaiah,  eomp., 
besides  Ezra  ii.  36,  Neh.  vii.  39  ;  for  Jehoiarib, 
as  vhe  class  from  which  Mattathias  and  the  Mac- 
cabees sprang.  1  Mace.  ii.  1  ;  for  Abijah,  as  the 
class  of  Zaeharias  the  father  of  John  the  Baptist. 
Luke  i.  5  ;  fur  the  classes  of  Immer  (ver.  14)  and 
Jachiu  (ver.  17),  ch.  ix.  10,  12.  Some  of  the 
twenty-four  lasses  never  occur  again,  namely, 
Senrim  (ver.  8),  Jeshebab  (ver.  IS),'  and  Hapizez 
(ver.  15),  some  at  least  not  among  the  priests,  as 
Mijamin  (ver.  9),  Huppah  (ver.  13),  and  Gamul 
(vcr.  17).  With  respect  to  the  name  Pethahiah 
;ver.  16),  Holzhausen  (Die  Weissagungen  des  Joel 
hitrs.  mid  erklart,  GBtt  1829)  has  propounded 
the  quite  arbitrary  conjecture  that  it  is  identical 

with  Pethuel  (rrnns  =  ^Sins)  the  father  of  the 

prophet  Joel, — a  conjecture  which  is  of  almost  as 
much  value  as  that  of  Kaschi,  who  would  identify 
Pethuel  the  father  of  Joel  with  Samuel  (eomp. 
K.  Wiinsche,  Die  Weissagungen  des  Joel,  1872, 
p.  1). — Ver.  19.  According  to  their  order  by 
Aaron  their  father,  as  the  Lord  .  .  .  had  com- 
manded him,  Comp.  the  words  occurring  so  often 
in  rhe  law  :  "  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses  and 
Aaron"    (for    example,    Num.     iv.    1,    17),    and 


similar  Pentateuchic  testimonies  for  the  rcgula- 

ti"u   of    the   priestly   sen according    to    the 

divine  command. — The  credibility  of  the  present 
statements  of  the  Chronist  regarding  the  origin 
ot  the  twenty-four  classes  of  priests,  and  their 
order  in  the  service  by  David,  is  attested  by  Ezek. 
viii.  16-18  (see  the  exposition  of  the  passage), 
Neh.  xii.   1-7,  12-21,  ami  by  Josephus,   Antiq. 

vii.    14.    7    :    "biif*.ltvsv  ovt'-s  0  fj.lpirft.i}$  a-^Oi  r»i;  enu-iott 

tipipas.  Against  the  assertion  made  by  de  Wette 
and  Gramberg,  and  defended  by  Herzberg  (';..<.■/). 
,/es  V.  Ixr.ul,  i.  381  If.),  that  the  twenty-four 
classes  origina'ed  alter  the  exile,  see  Movers, 
Chromk,  y.  279  II',  and  Oehler  in  Herzog's  Real- 
Encycl.  xii.  185  II. 

5.'  The  Classes  of  the Levites :  eh.  xxiv.  20-31. 
— And  for  the  remaining  sons  of  Levi,  after  the 
enumeration  of  the  priests.  By  this  might  be 
unders'ood  all  the  Levites  except  the  family  of 
Aaron  or  the  priests  ;  but  as  in  the  two  following 
chapters  the  twenty-four  orders  of  singers  and  the 
divisions  of  the  porters  and  of  those  charged  with 
external  duties  are  enumerated  apart,  it  seems 
necessary  to  suppose  that  the  present  section 
speaks  only  of  the  Levites  employed  in  worship, 
and  not  of  the  whole  body.  They  are  "the 
brethren  of  Aaron,"  the  Levites  specially  assigned 
to  the  priests  as  assistants  in  divine  service, 
whose  division  into  classes  is  here  described. 
Only  on  this  assumption  is  explained  the  other- 
wise very  surprising,  indeed  inconceivable,  in- 
completeness of  the  present  list  of  Levitical 
classes,  compared  with  that  of  the  Levitical 
houses  named  in  xxiii.  6-23,  which  embraces  all 
the  three  families,  the  Kohathites,  the  Merarites, 
and  the  Gershonitcs,  whereas  the  Gershonites  are 
wholly  excluded  from  the  present  list.  This  ex- 
clusion seems  tohave  its  ground  in  this,  that,  xxvi. 

20  tf.,  several  Gershonite  houses  had  the  charge 
over  the  treasures  of  the  sanctuary,  and  also  the 
duties  of  officers  and  judges  (although  this  is  not 
expressly  stated)  were  partly  discharged  by  the 
Gershonites.  So  at  least  Reil,  whereas  others 
certainly,  as  Berth.,  regard  our  list  as  laid  out 
for  a  full  enumeration  of  all  the  Levitical  classes 
or  houses,  but  from  some  cause  (perhaps  "because 
the  author  was  not  able  to  make  out  all  the 
names  of  the  classes")  no  longer  fully  preserved. 
The  list,  for  the  at  least  often  defective  character 
of  which  the  elucidation  of  the  details  will  afford 
more  than  one  proof,  begins  after  omitting  the 
Gershonites,  ver.  20,  at  once  with  the  classes  of 
the  Kohathites.— For  the  sons  ofAmram,  Shubael 
was  the  chief  or  head  of  a  class  ;  obviously  the 
son  of  Gershom  son  of  Moses,  therefore  grand- 
son of  Amram,  who  is  called  Shehue!  xxiii.  16. 
The  same  double  spelling  of  this  name  is  found 
also  xxv.  4,  20,  in  a  family  of  singers  of  the 
house  of  Henian.  As  chief  of  the  class  springing 
from  Shubael  was,  in  David's  time,  Jehdeiah,  a 
person  otherwise  unknown,  whose  name,  xxvii. 
30,   is  also  borne  by  an  officer  of  David. — Ver. 

21  ff.  Other  chiefs  of  classes  are  now  named — 
1.  For  the  Amramite  class,  Isshiah  (different  from 
the  nil"  named  ver.  25).  2.  For  the  Izharite 
class,  Jahath  (ver.  22).  3.  For  the  Uzzielite 
class  of  Mieah,  Shamir  (ver.  24).  4.  For  the 
[Jzzielite  class  of  Isshiah,  Zechariah  (ver.  25). 
In  this  kind  of  enumeration,  it  is  strange  that  in 
ver.  23,  where  we  should  expect  to  find  the  chiefs 
of  some  classes  of  the  great  Hebronite  family 
(xxiii.  19),  only  the  names  of  the  four  chiefs  or 


146 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


founders  of  the  Hebronite  houses,  Jeriah, 
Amariah,  Jahaziel,  and  Jekamam,  are  mentioned, 
quite  as  in  xxiii.  19,  and  indeed  introduced  by  a 
mere   <33i   before   the   name  of   the   first   in,T|. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  text  is  here  de- 
tective. It  is  probable  that  not  merely  the  name 
|i"Qn  is  t°  De  inserted  after  133^  (see  Grit.  Note), 

but  that  also  the  names  of  the  four  chiefs  in 
David's  time  have  fallen  out  after  those  of  the 
four  classes. — Vers.  26,  27  bear  still  clearer 
marks  of  the  corruption  of  the  present  text,  per- 
haps even  of  its  complete  spuriousness,  than  ver. 
23  (comp.  partly  the  Crit.  Notes  and  partly  the 
Kxeg.  Expl.  of  xxiii.  21-23).  Especially  strange 
is — 1.  The  in'ty  '33  in  ver.  266,  detached  from 

that  which  goes  before  (instead  of  "1  *33!|).    2. 

The   132    in  tIle  same  place,  that  cannot  possibly 

he  taken  for  a  proper  name  (with  some  older 
exegetes),  but  rather  indicates  that  a  proper  name 
had  fallen  out  before  it.  3.  The  repetition  of 
'TIO  '33  at  the  beginning  of  ver.  27,  which  ap- 
pears to  presume  a  wholly  different  mode  of 
enumeration  from  that  which  is  usual  from  ver. 
20  on.     4.   The  copula  1  before  cn'l".   as  first  of 

the  sons  of  Jaaziah,  in  ver.  276.  To  all  this  are 
to  be  added  the  reasons  which  make  improbable 
the  existence  of  a  Jaaziah  as  third  son  of  Merari 
along  with  Mahli  and  Mushi ;  see  on  xxiiL  21  f. 
The  spurious  character  of  the  two  verses  appears 
therefore  almost  certain,  though  they  are  attested 
by  the  Sept.,  Syr.,  and  the  Vulg. — For  vers.  28, 
29,  comp.  likewise  the  remark  on  xxiii.  21  ff. — 
Ver.  30.  And  the  sons  ofMushi:  Mahli,  and 
Eder,  and  Jerimoth.  As  in  ver.  23,  so  here  it  is 
strange  to  name  the  houses  without  stating  the 
chiefs  of  th°  classes  taken  from  them.  The  text 
appears  here  also  to  be  defective. — Ver.  81.  And 
these  also  cast  lots  like  their  brethren  the  sons  of 
Aaron.  From  this  manifestation  of  the  quite 
analogous  character  of  the  allotment  of  the 
Levites  and  the  priests  (vers.  1-19),  it  is  highly 
probable  that  the  number  of  the  Levitical  classes 
(as  also  that  of  the  singers  in  the  following 
chapter)  was  likewise  twenty-four,  although  in 
the  present  text,  the  partial  defectiveness  of 
which  is  obvious,  and  needs  no  further  proof, 
only  fifteen  chiefs  of  classes  are  expressly  named. 
—  The  fathers,  the  chief  Wet  his  younger  brother ; 
that  is,  the  eldest  brother  representing  the  house, 
as  well  as  his  younger  brother  (fur  C'NIH,  in  ap- 
position with  the  father-house,  comp.  on  xxiii. 
17,18).  Quite  correct  in  sense  the  Vulg. :  "turn 
minores,  quam  majores ;  omnes  sors  cequaliter 
dividebat."  That  nothing  is  communicated  to  us 
if  the  order  of  the  several  classes,  as  they  were 
settled  by  lot,  completes  the  impression  of  the 
p-eat  defectiveness  which  characterizes  this  sec- 
tion. 

6.  The  Twenty-four  Classes  of  Singers':  ch. 
xxv. — And  Ihirhl  ami  the  captains  of  the  host 
separated.  "Captains  of  the  host"  (K3VJ1  *"lfeO 
are  those  partakers  in  the  legislative  and  judicial 
government  of  David  who  were  designated,  xxiv. 
6,  merely  as  "princes,"  xxiii.  2,  as  "princes  of 
Israel  "  The  designation  explains  itself  from  the 
conception  of  Israel  as  the  host  of  the  Lord  (Ex. 


xii.  17,  41),  not  from  that  of  the  Levites  as  an 
army,  or  their  doings  as  a  military  service  (Num. 
iv.  23).  —  The  sons  of  Asaph,  and  Neman,  and 

Jeduthun.     The  ^  before   ppx  is  here  nota  at- 

cusativi;  comp.  Ezra  viii.  24.  For  the  genealogy 
of  the  three  song-masters,  of  whom  Asaph  was  a 
Oershonite,  Heman  a  Kohathite,  and  Jeduthun  a 
Merarite,  see  vi.  18,  24,  29  tf. —  Who  prophesied 
with  harps,  or  showed  themselves  inspired  with 
harps  ;  for  "the  really  artificial  play  is,  like  every 
art,  an  expression  of  inspiration  or  enthusiasm  " 
(Berth.);  comp.  Ex.  xxxi.  3,  and  for  the  A'eri 
D^BSn  as   alone   admissible,  the  Crit.   Note. — 

And  the  number  of  the  workmen  for  the  service 
was.     For  the  position  of  the  genitive  '131  <{J>3JJ 

after  the  governing  "1300  with  suffix,  comp.  the 
similar  construction  pjjj;  it;;£3,  "his  the  slug- 
gard's soul,"  Prov.  xiii.  4  (Ew.  §  309,  c-).  That 
statements  are  actually  made  in  the  sequel  con- 
cerning the  number  of  the  Levitical  musicians 
appears  from  vers.  3-5,  where  the  families  ol 
them  are  referred  to  :  four  sons  of  Asaph  (ver.  2, 
without  express  mention  of  the  number  four),  six 
sons  of  Jeduthun,  and  fourteen  sons  of  Heman  ; 
and  also  from  ver.  7,  where  the  sum  of  all  the 
singers  of  these  families  is  stated  to  be  2S8. — Ver. 
2.  Sons  of  Asaph  under  Asaph,  literally,  "  by 
the  hand,"  or  "at  the  hand,"  of  Asaph,  that  is, 

led  by  him.      TvJ?  'iere  means  the  same  as  in 

the  vers.  3  and  6,  'T-^y,  "at  the  hands,"  under 

the  guidance  or  order. — Ver.  3.  For  Jeduthun, 
the  sons  of  Jeduthun  were  Gedaliah,  or,  "as  tc 
Jeduthun  (the  family  of  Jeduthun),  the  sons  of 
Jeduthun,"  etc.  As  the  number  of  these  "sons 
of  Jeduthun"  (perhaps  disciples  trained  by  him  ; 
comp.,  for  this  figurative  import  of  the  term 
"sons"  in  our  section,  on  ver.  7)  is  expressly 
stated  to  he  six,  and  yet  ouly  live  are  here 
named,  hence  one  name  must  have  fallen  out, 
and.  indeed,  according  to  ver.  17,  that  of  Shimi, 
the  only  one  that  is  wanting  in  our  verses,  while 
all  the  other  twenty-three  names  recur  (vers. 
9-31 ).  —  Under  tin  ir father  Jeduthun  on  the  harp, 
or  "under  the  guidance  of  their  father  Jeduthun 
on  the  harp ;"    11333    belungs  to    pnvv.     F01 

the  following:  "who  prophesied  (or  'was  in- 
spired") to  thank  and  praise  the  Lord,'  com]., 
xvi.  4  ;  2  C'hron.  v.  13. — Ver.  4.  Giddalti  ami 
Bomamti-ezer.  The  genitive  -|}JJ  probably  be- 
longs also  to    'PTtSi  s0  *uat  tne  full   „.ime   if 

this  son  of  Heman  is  Giddalti-ezer  (though  in 
ver.  9  this  is  not  expressly  stated). — Ver.  5.  All 
these  were  the  sons  of  Heman,  the  king's  $•  •  r  tti 
the  words  of  God.  Heman  is  so  called  a* 
mediator  of  divine  revelations  for  the  king  ; 
comp.  2  Chron.  xxxv.  15,  where  the  same  pre- 
dicate is  applied  to  Jeduthun,  ami  ch.  xxi.  9, 
where  Gad  is  introduced  as  David's  seer. — To 
lift  up  the  horn;  and  God  gave  to  Heman  fourteen 
sons  and  three  daughters.  The  rich  hlessing  of 
descendants  is  here,  as  elsewhere  (for  example. 
Job  xlii.  13  ;  Ps.  exxvii.  3  f.  ;  also  ch.  xxvi.  5), 
represented  as  a  lifting  up  of  the  horn,  that  is, 
the  might  and  consequence  of  the   person  eon- 


CHAP.  xxv.  6-xxvr. 


117 


cerned  :    comp.    for    r-\p  D,-in    (which    does   not 

mean  to  "sound  the  horn,"  as  Berth.,  misled  by 
the  certainly  erroneous  Jfasoretic  accentuation, 
supposes)  in  this  figurative  sense,  for  example, 

1  Sam.  ii.  10  (Luke  i.  78)  ;  Lam.  ii.  17  ;  l's. 
lxxxix.  IS,  xrii.  11.  cxlviii.  Ii.—  Ver.  0.  All 
these  were  under  their  father,  literally,  "under 
1he  guidance  of  their  lather."  The  genitive 
DrPSN     is    distributive,     and     does     not    refer 

specially  to  Heruan  (Berth.);  for  by  "all  these" 
our  verse  clearly  points  to  all  enumerated  from 
ver.  2,  and  not  merely  to  Heman's  sons,  vers.  4, 
5. — Under  the  king,  with  Asaph,  and  Jeduthun, 

and  Neman.     That  here,  by  the  H,"?5?  referring 

t°   '■ten  and  the  three  following  names,  David 

appears  co-ordinated  with  the  three  song-masters, 
is  explained  by  liis  having  co-operated  with  them 
in  the  first  arrangement  and  institution  of  the 
service  of  song. — Ver.  7.  Ami  their  number  .  .  . 
all  that  were  cunning,  were  two  hundred  eighty 
am!  eight.  This  total  of  288,  or  24  x  12,  as  the 
sequel  (ver.  9  If.)  shows,  is  explained  by  this, 
that  each  of  the  twenty-four  (4  +  6  +  14)  sons  of 
Asaph,  Jednthuu,  and  Heman,  with  his  eleven 
"brethren,"  not  his  nearest  kindred,  but  rather 
his  companions  in  calling,  was  incorporated  into 
one  class  or  choir  of  twelve  musicians,  so  that  thus 
then-  were  twenty-four  such  dodecades.  These 
288  musicians  were  designated  "all  the  cunning" 

(piKH'Ss).  ;,s  Dy  instruction  and  practice  they 

were  intrusted  with  the  art  of  sacred  singing, 
and  were  able  to  train  the  great  body  of  singers 
(the    4000   who,    ver.    8,    are   distinguished    from 

them   as    "scholars,"    Q'TdWm1- — Ver.    8.    And 

they  cast   lots  for   the   charge,    m'-L'TD  Jiv"tf3i 

properly,  "lots  of  service"  (xXvp^s  \f»/i:pii", 
Sept.).  —  The  small  as  the  great,  tin  teacher  with 

the  scholar.     To   riDl)?  belongs   ?nj3  ;b[53    as 

genitive,  "in  the  way  of  as  the  small  so  the 
great"  (conip.  Eccl.  v.  15  and  Ew.  §  360,  a. ).     The 

repetition  of  a  fflDB'O  after  rif3l6>   which  some 

mss.  present,  and  some  Rabbinical  expositors,  as 
Raschi  and  Kimchi,  demand,  is  an  unnei 
attempt  to  amend  and  interpret.  The  passage 
says  that  the  whole  of  the  Levites  destined  for 
the  service  of  song,  the  leaders  as  well  as  the 
choristers,   the   288   Q'O'OO  as  well  as   the  3712 

Q'TDTTl-  were  chosen  by  lot ;  and  so  the  regu- 
larly exchanging  classes,  or  ifn/uplxi,  included 
both  kinds  of  singers. — Vers.  9-81.  The  Result 
of  the  Lot.  —  And  thefirst  lot  came  out  fur  Asaph 
to   Joseph,    literally,    •'for   Asaph,   (namely)    lor 

Joseph"   his  son.      The   •>,   "for"   or    "on,"   is 

usually  omitted  in  the  following.  For  the  ques- 
tion whethi  r  the  words  "  his  son  and  his  brethren 
twelve"  lor.  "  he  and  his  sons  and  his  brethren  " 
— together— "twelve"),  which  stand  after  the  fol- 
lowing twenty-three  names,  have  fallen  out  after 

t]Dlv.    <>r  were   intentionally  omitted,    see    Ci it. 

Note. — Ver.  11.  The  fourth  to  Izri,  his  sons. 
This  Izri  is  called  Zeri  in  ver.  3,  as  several  other 


names  in  this  li-t  vary  in  spelling  and  form  from 
those  in  vers,  2  I,  namely,  Nethaniahu  and 
Hananjahu,  vers.  12,  2:;  (foi  Nethaniah,  Hana- 
niuh,  vers.  2,  -li;  Hasbabiah,  ver.  1!'  (foi  Ha- 
shabjahu,  ver.  8);  Jesharelah,  ver.  14  (for 
Asharelah,  ver.  2)  ;  Azarcl,  ver.  18  (for  Uzzirl, 
v.-r.  4  ;  comp.  the  various  forms  of  the  loyal 
name  fJzziah-Azariah,  1  Chron.  iii  12:  2  Chroi 
xxvi.  l);  Shubael,  ver.  20  (for  Shebuel,  ver.  4) 
Jeremoth,  ver.  22  (for  Jerimoth,  ver.  4);  Eiija- 
thah,  ver.  27  (l"i-  Eliathah,  ver.  i).  For  the 
absence  of  Shimi,  ver.  17,  in  the  former  list,  «ee 
on  ver.  3.  The  various  deviations  in  the  spelling 
and  formation  of  the  names  deepen  the  impression 
of  the  historical  character,  for  which  the  whole 
account  of  singing-classes  vouches.  That  of  the 
twenty-four  names  of  the  leaders  only  one,  that 
of  Mattithiah,  ver.  21,  occurs  elsewhere  xv.  18, 
21,  in  the  account  of  the  removal  of  the  ark), 
proves  nothing  against  the  credibility  of  the 
present  double  list,  the  arbitrary  invention  of 
which  would  be  far  more  difficult  to  conceive 
than  the  assumption  of  its  resting  on  ancient  and 
genuine  documents. 

With  regard  to  the  series  of  names  in  vers. 
9-31,  what  is  remarked  by  Keil  suffices  for  its 
explanation: — "The  series  is  so  determined  by 
Int.  that  the  four  sous  of  Asaph  hold  the  first, 
third,  fifth,  and  seventh  places;  the  six  sm^  of 
Jeduthun,  the  second,  fourth,  eighth,  tenth. 
twelfth,  and  fourteenth  places  :  lastly,  the  four 
sons  of  Heman  mentioned  in  ver.  4,  the  sixth, 
ninth,  eleventh,  and  thirteenth  places;  and  the 
remaining  places,  15-24,  fall  to  the  remaining 
sons  of  Heman.  Hence  it  follows  that  the  hits 
of  the  sons  of  the  three  song-masters  were  not 
put  in  separate  urns,  and  one  lot  drawn  from 
each  urn  in  succession,  hut  all  the  lots  were 
united  in  one  urn,  and,  in  drawing,  the  lots  of 
Asaph  and  Jeduthun  so  came  out,  that  after  the 
fourteenth  drawing  only  the  sons  of  Heman  re- 
mained." This  simple  explanation  of  the  order 
of  the  names  is  certainly  preferable  to  the  arti- 
ficial assumption  of  Bertheau,  that  "two  series 
of  seven  each  were  first  put  in  the  urns,  and  one 
drawn  from  eacli  of  these  alternately,  and  then 
the  remaining  ten  sons  of  Heman  were  put  in." 

7.  The  Classes  of  Porters :  ch.  xxvi.  1-19. — 
To  the  Korhites  was  Meshelemiah.  Comp.  ver. 
14,  where  the  name  is  Shelemiah.  On  the  patio 
nymic  DTTlbn,    "the  Korhites,"  comp.  ix.   19, 

where  also  the  names  Kore  and  Abiasaph  occurred. 
That  "Asaph"  is  a  slip  of  the  pen  appears  from 
this,  that,  vi.  24  ft,  Asaph  belongs  to  the  de- 
scendants of  Oershon,  not,  as  the  Korhites,  to 
that  of  Kohath. — Ver.  2.  ZecTiariah  tfu  first- 
born. This  son  of  Meshelemiah  occurs  also  ix.  21 
and  in  ver.  11.  —  Vers.  4-8.  Obed-edom  and  his 
Descendants. —  And  Obed-edom  hod  sons.  This 
1  Ibed-edom,  already  occurring  xv.  15,  24,  and  xvi. 
38,  is  called  in  the  latter  place  a  son  oi  Jeduthun, 
not  of  the  well-known  song-master  of  the  house  of 
Merari,  for  the  account  of  the  Merarite  porten 
begins  in  ver.  1",  but  of  some  other  unknown 
Korhite  of  the  same  name,  as  appears  from  ver. 
1  comp.  with  ver.  19. — Ver.  1'..  And  t,>  Shemaiah 
.  .  .   were  burn   sons  that    ruled   in   the   hovsi    of 

their  father,  properly,  "the  lordships  (D'Ptt'CBri, 

abstr.  pro  concr.  for  E^TJSn  :  comp.  Ew.  §  1G0,&) 

of  the  house  of  their  father.  "—Ver.  7    And  Obed, 


148 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


Elzabad,  his  brethren.     The  missing  copula  l   is 

to  be  supplied  before  "|3PX  as  before  VP1N-    Then 

the  strong  men,  Elihu  and  Semachiah,  are  named 
'as  Elzabad's  brethren.  That  the  names  of  the 
brethren  are  not  stated  (Berth.)  is  less  probable. 
— Ver.  S.   Strong  men  of  ability  for  service.     The 

sing.  J^rrC^S  is  i»  apposition  with  the  ^3  stand- 
ing at  the  beginning  of  the  verse  (or  such  a  "(3 

is  to  be  supplied  before  it). — Ver.  9.  And  Meshe- 
lemiah  .  .  .  eighteen.  By  this  appended  statement 
of  the  number  of  Meshelemiah's  family,  the  sum 
OS  Che  Korhite  porters  is  fixed  at  eighty. — Vers. 
10,11.  And  Hosah,  of  the  sons  of  Merari.  This 
Hosah  occurred  before,  xvi.  3S,  along  with  Obed- 
edom  as  porter. — Shimri  tine  thief ;  for  he  was  not 
the  first-born,  that  is,  because  none  of  the  families 
springing  from  Hosah  possessed  the  birthright 
(perhaps  because  the  eldest  son  had  died  without 
male  heirs),  the  father  named  Shimri,  the  strong- 
est anil  cleverest  of  his  sons,  chief  of  the  family. 
—  Ver.  11.  All  the  sons  and  brethren  of  Hosah 
were  thirteen.  Hence  the  whole  number  of  all  the 
porters  here  named  is  ninety-three  (62+  18  +  13). 
On  the  relation  of  this  number  to  the  statement 
in  ix.  22,  that  the  porters  were  in  all  212,  see 
on  the  passage ;  comp.  also  xvi.  38.  —  Vers. 
12-19.  The  Division  of  Porters  according  to  the 
several  Stations  at  which  they  were  to  serve. — 
To  these  divisions  of  the  porters,  to  the  chiefs  of 

the  men.      For  this  explicative   D'-njn  ,!."Nll'. 

comp.  on  xxiv.  4;  for  the  following  statement 
respecting  the  division  of  the  stations  by  lot, 
xxv.  8. — For  every  gate,  literally,  "for  gate 
and  gate."  These  are  the  gates  of  the  four-sided 
temple,  faring  the  four  quarters  of  heaven. — 
Ver.  ]  4.  Ami  for  Zechariah  his  son,  a  wise 
counsellor,  literally,  "  one  counselling  with  pru- 
dence ; "  on  what  this  strange  predicate  rests  is 

unknown.     Before  in^3T  we  are  to  repeat  (j. — 

Ver.  15.  To  Ohtd-edom  .  .  .  and  to  his  son.?  the 
house  of  Asuppim,  namely,  to  guard.     This  -JV3 

D^DXH,    "house  of  collections"   (comp.    Neh. 

xii.  25),  must  have  been  a  place  for  keeping  the 
sacred  stores  for  the  temple  service,  a  temple 
magazine,  situated  in  the  court  near  the  south 
gate,  and,  as  appears  from  ver.  17,  had  two 
entrances  to  guard.  No  particulars  of  it  are 
known.  "The  translation  of  the  Vnlg. :  in  qua 
parte  erat  seniorum  concilium,  appears  to  rest 
upon  the  explanation  of  the  word  CSDN  by 
'assembly  of  men'"  (Berth.). — Ver.  16.  ToShup- 
pim  and  to  Hosah.  On  the  probable  spurious- 
Eess  of  ■'Shuppim,"  see  Grit.  Note.  The  "gate 
Shallecheth  by  the  causeway  of  ascent,"  the  keep- 
ing of  which  was  committed  to  Hosah,  is  to  be 
regarded  as  turned,  because  toward  the  west,  also 
to  the  lower  city  (east  of  which  lay  the  temple 
mount).  Thus,  "the  causeway  of  ascent,"  by 
this  gate  is  the  way  that  led  from  the  lower  city 
up  to  the  higher  temple  mount.  The  name 
"gate  Shallecheth"  is  perhaps  to  be  explained, 
with  Bbtteher  and  Thenius,  by  "refuse  gate." — 
One  ward  like  another,   literally,   "ward  beside 

ward"   (noyp  as  in   ver.    12   and   xxv.    8),   not 

"ward   over   against   ward,"   as    Berth,    thinks, 


who,  on  the  ground  of  this  precarious  interpre- 
tation, assumes  a  diversity  of  the  west  gate  and 
the  Shallecheth  gate  as  two  entrances  placed 
over  against  each  other.  Even  ver.  18  does  not 
confirm  this  interpretation,  as  here  the  guard 
stationed  on  the  west  side  is  represented  certainly 
as  double,  consisting  of  four  guards  standing  at 
"Par bar,''  and  two  on  the  causeway,  but  not  as 
a  guard  divided  between  two  gates.  Far-fetched 
and  contrary  to  the  Masoretic  division  is  the 
attempt   of  Clericus    to    refer   the   words    "irvjis 

"lOU'D  J"IBlv  to  a"  tne   stations,   and  so  t"  the 

contraposition  of  the  four  temple  gates. — Ver.  17. 
Eastward  were  six  Levites,  northward  four  a 
day.  These  (6  +  4)  ten  daily  guards  the  house  of 
Meshelemiah(with  hiseighteen  sons  and  brothers), 
ver.  14,  had  to  set,  as  the  (4  +  2  +  2)  eight  guards 
stationed  southward,  ver.  15,  belonged  to  the 
house  of  Obed-edom  (with  his  sixty-two  sons  and 
brothers),  and  on  Hosah  (with  his  thirteen  sons 
and  brothers)  was  imposed  the  setting  of  the 
(4  +  2)  six  guards  for  the  west  side  ;  comp.  ver. 
16  with  ver.  18.  A  uniform  and  systematic 
division  we  cannot  discover;  probably  it  was 
arranged  by  lot.  Moreover,  not  (6  +  4  +  8  +  6) 
twenty-four  single  men  are  meant,  but  so  many 
leaders  or  guarding  officers;  for  the  strength  of 
the  several  stations  was  certainly  greater,  as  the 
sum  total  of  all  the  porters  is  said  in  eh.  xxiii.  6 
to  be  4000  men.  There  is  nothing  in  the  text  to 
show  that  the  number  twenty-four  points  to  a 
division  of  the  whole  body  of  porters  into  twenty- 
lour  classes,  analogous  to  the  twenty-four  classes 
of  priests  and  singers. — Ver.  18.  At  Parbar  west- 
ward, four  on  the  causeway,  and  two  at  Parbar. 
This  -\2~iQ  (=  D'inB,  -  Kings  xxiii.  11)  is,   as 

the  statement  of  its  situation  to  the  west  shows, 
to  be  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  temple  buildings, 
near  the  Shallecheth  gate,  an  addition  with  cells 
for  depositing  the  stores  and  utensils  of  the 
temple,  similar  to  the  house  of  Asuppim,  ver.  15, 
on  the  south  side.  The  "causeway"  is  naturally 
the  "causeway  of  ascent,"  ver.  16. 

8.  The  Administrators  of  the  Treasures  of 
the  Sanctuary,  with  the  Officers  for  the  Ex- 
ternal Business :  vers.  20  -  32.  a.  The  Lord 
Treasurers  (Stewards):  vers.  20-28. — And  the 
Levites  their  brethren.  That  instead  of  the  un- 
meaning n!nX  D'l^ni  °f  the  Masoretes   we  are 

to  read  thus  (after  the  Sept.  and  the  analogy  of 
such  passages  as  1  Chron.  vi.  29,  2  Chron.  xxix. 
34),  is  maintained  by  most  modern  expositors 
since  J.  D.  Mich. —  Were  over  the  treasures  of 
the  house  of  God,  and  over  the  treasures  of  the 
holy  things. — This  general  statement  is  special- 
ized by  the  following  passage  in  this  way.  that 
the  sons  of  the  Gershonite  Ladan  were  placed 
over  the  treasures  of  the  house  of  God,  that  is, 
in  a  strict  sense  the  temple  treasures  (ver.  22  ff.), 
but  the  sons  of  Shelomoth  over  the  treasures  of 
the  holy  things,  that  is,  the  spoils  consecrated  by 
David  (ver.  26  ff.).— Ver.  22.  Jehieli,  the  sons  of 
Jehieli:  Zetham,  and  Joel  his  brother.  The  sense 
is,  as  appears  from  xxiii.  7  f. ,  that  Zetham  and 
Joel,  the  heads  of  the  house  :f  Jehieli  (or  Jehiel), 
belonging  to  the  Gershonite  line  of  Ladan,  had  to 
administer  the  treasures  of  the  house  of  God  (the 
proper  treasures  of  the  temple,  vei.  20).— Ver. 
23  f.  Of  the  Amramites,  the  Izharites,  the  Hebron- 


CliAl'.  XXVI.  25-82. 


141) 


ites,  and  the  UsaeUtes,  the  four  branches  of  the 

family  of  the  Kohat  bites,  xxiii.  15  If.  —  3hebael 
.  .  .  ruler  over  the  treasures  (l  before  ^XlXiy  eon- 

turning  the  sentence).  As  "sou  of  Gershom  son 
of  Moses,''  this  Shcbuel  (or  Shubael,  us  in  xxiv. 
20)  belongs  to  the  Amramites.  And  indeed  this 
Amramite  Shebuel  appears,  as  the  general  phrase: 
"ruler  (TJJ)  of  the  treasures,"  shows,  to  be  chief 

superintendent  or  administrator  of  all  the  sacred 
treasures,  the  president  or  administrator  of  the  two 
departments  of  these  treasures  mentioned  in  ver. 
20  (not  merely  as  superintendent  of  such  sums  as 
Unwed  regularly  into  the  sanctuary,  as  Berth., 
limiting  the  word  rvnViX-  thinks). — Ver.  25.  And 

his  bretltren  by  Eliezer  were  Behabiali  hi*  son 
(Eliezer's),  and  Jeshaiah  his  son,  etc.  These  are 
called  brethren  of  Shebuel,  because  they  sprang 
from  Moses  by  Eliezer,  as  this  by  his  brother 
Gershom  (xxiii.  16).— Ver.  26.  This  Shelomoth 
and  his  brethren.  As  a  descendant  of  Eliezer, 
and  therefore  an  Amramite,  this  Shelomoth  (or 
Shelomith  ;  see  Grit.  Note)  is  different  from  the 
two  Shelomiths  of  eh.  xxiii.,  the  Gershonite  (ver. 
9)  and  the  Izharite  (ver.  18;  comp.  xxiv.  22). 
As  he  with  his  brethren  has  charge  over  the 
treasures  of  the  holy  things  of  David  (that  is, 
over  the  consecrated  gifts  from  the  spoils  of  the 
wars  of  this  king),  he  appears  co-ordinate  with 
the  Jehielites  Zetham  and  Joel,  but  subordinate 
to  the  ruler  Shebuel. — And  the  captains.  These 
last-named   jJ2Xri  *"W   are   the   field-officers   or 

generals  of  David's  army,  as  Joab,  Ainasa,  as 
distinct  from  the  before-mentioned  captains  of 
thousands  and  hundreds,  or  officers  in  general. — 
Ver.  27.  Out  of  the  wars  and  of  the  spoil  they 
dedicated  to  maintain  the  house  of  tlu?  Lard,  not 
to  keep  it  in  good  condition  or  to  repair  it 
(according   to   the    meaning   which   p^n    has   in 

2  Kings  xii.  7;  Neb.,  iii.  7  ff),  but  "to  make  it 
great"   (comp.   xxix.    12,   where   p^r\   stands  by 

Stij,  and  is  synonymous  with  it).     Only  this  view 

agrees  with  the  circumstance  that  the  temple,  at 
the  time  now  in  question,  was  not  built,  but  only 
about  to  be  built.     For  ^  in  JV2?  as  nota  accus., 

comp.  xxix.  12. — Ver.  28a  belongs  still  to  the 
parenthetical  explication  of  the  dedicated  gifts 
which  began  with  ver.  27. — And  all  that  Samuel 
.  .  .  had  dedicated.    The  article  in  tjrwipnn  stands 

for  the  relative  "|{5?t{,  as  ln  xxix.   17;  2  Chron. 

xxix.  36;  Ezra  viii.  25,  x.  14,  17.—  Everything 
dedicated,  literally,  every  one  who  had  dedicated 
,C',1p,3^"!?3).  who  placed  that  which  was  dedi- 
cated by  him  under  Shelomoth.  and  his  brethren. 
The  enumeration  of  the  several  gifts  derived  from 
war,  which  began  with  ver.  27,  or  properly  with 
ver.  266,  is  here  concluded,  and  referred  to  ver. 
26a.     T"?J>.  properly,  "on  the  hand,"  entrusted 


for  keeping,  committed  to  the  charge  of  any  one. 
o.  Officers  for  the  External  Business:  vers.  29-32. 
Only  one  Izharite  and  two  Hebronite  families  ore 
mentioned  in  this  category,  consequently  only 
those  belonging  to  two  lines  of  the  family  of 
Kohalh,  and  no  Gershonites  or  Mcr.ii  it  s  (as  also 
ver3.  20-28,  to  the  treasurers  belon ;  no  Keratites 
and  the  Gershonites  play  only  a  subordinate  paiti 
— Of  the  Izluirites  was  Ch'iianiah  .  .  .  fur  t/u 
outer  business.  In  what  this  outer  business  con- 
sisted the  more  definite  addition  shows:  "for 
officers  (scribes)  and  judges. "  Although,  xxiii.  4, 
the  whole  number  of  the  Levites  assigned  to  these 
functions  is  stated  to  be  600U,  a  number  so  high 
that  all  the  situations  of  this  kind  in  Israel  might 
apparently  be  filled  by  them,  yet  we  should  in- 
clude, according  to  Neh.  xi.  16,  the  administra- 
tion of  the  external  business  specially  for  the 
temple  and  its  servants,  the  exaction  of  the  taxes 
for  the  temple,  the  collection  of  tithes,  etc. — Ver. 
30.  Of  llut  Ilehronites  .  .  .  for  the  oversight  of 
Israel  on  this  side  the  Jordan  westward,  of  the 
west-land  of  Israel  ;  comp.  Josh.  v.  1,  xxii.  7. 
rnp2  ?U   the   Sept.    correctly  renders:    Iri    rii 

Wurxi^ia;  tou  '\trpxri\  (ad  inspectionem  Israel). 
The  view  of  Berth.:  "were  over  the  gifts,"  that 
is,  the  taxes,  is  unsupported  by  the  usage,  and 
scarcely  reconcilable  with  the  explanation  of  tho 
contents  of  the  foregoing  verses  on  such  taxes. 

Comp.  also  pj;  TPSH  in  ver.  32,  which  signifies 

nothing  but  "appoint  as  overseers,"  give  the 
oversight. — Ver.  31.  Of  the  Hebronites  icas  Jeriah 
tin  chief .  This  Jeriah  occurred  in  xxiii.  19,  but 
not  in  his  present  character  as  chief  of  the  Hebron- 
ite family  appointed  over  the  land  east  of  the 
Jordan.  —  For  the  Hebronites.  This  parenthesis, 
extending  to  the  end  of  the  verse,  explains  the 
surprising  circumstance  that  the  oversight  of 
both  sides  of  the  Jordan  was  committed  to  the 
Hebronites.  Why  Jazer  of  Gilead,  according  to 
Josh.  xxi.  39,  a  Merarite  city,  served  as  a  chief 
residence  to  these  Hebronites,  remains  obscure  in 
the  brevity  of  the  present  notice. — Ver.  32.  And 
his  brethren,  valiant  men,  tiro  thousand  and  si  a  n 
hundred  fathers  of  families.  So  in  the  sense  of 
house    or    family   fathers   is   niQXH  'C'NI   here 

without  doubt  to  be  understood,  as  the  very  great 
number  2700  teaches  (not  "heads  of  father- 
houses").  The  phrase  is  essentially  equivalent 
to    the    shorter    r,13X.     "fathers,"   in    ver.    31. 

Moreover,  the  conjecture  is  natural,  that  as  the 
Hebronite  family  of  Hashabiah  numbered  1700, 
and  the  Hebronite  family  of  Jeriah  2700,  house- 
fathers, so  to  the  Izharite  family  of  Chenaidah 
(ver.  29)  belonged  the  1600  still  wanting  to  the 
sum  total  of  6000  (xxiii.  4),  and  that  this  number 
has  fallen  out  by  some  oversight.  The  present 
list  of  officers  for  the  outer  business  appears  not 
to  have  been  preserved  entire  (comp.  Keil,  p. 
209). 


y.  Division  of '.hi  Military  Officers 


Order  of  the  Service  awl  of  the  Royal  Househould  : 
ch.  xxvii. 


1.   The  Tirelve  Divisions  of  the  Army:  vers.  1-15. 

Cn.  xxvn.  I.    And    the   sons  of  Israel   after   their  number,  the  heads  of  the  houses 
ami  the  captains  of  thousands  and  hundreds,  and  their  officers  that  served  the 


)50  I.  CHRONICLES. 


king  in  any  matter  of  the  courses,  that  which  came  in  and  that  which  went 
out  month  by  month  for  all  the  months  of  the  year,  the  one  course  was 

2  twenty  and  four  thousand.     Over  the  first  course,  for  the  first  month,  was 
Jashobam  son  of  Zabdiel ;  and  in  his  course  were  twenty  and  four  thousand 

3  Of  the  sons  of  Perez,  the   chief  of  all   the   captains  of  the  host  for  the  first 

4  month.     And  over  the  course  of  the  second  month  was  Dodai1  the  Ahohite, 
and  his  course,  and  Mikloth  the  commander ;  and  in  his  course  were  twenty 

5  and  four  thousand.     The  third  captain  of  the  host,  for  the  third  month,  was 
Benaiah  son  of  Jehoiada  the  priest  as  chief  ;  and  in  his  course   were  twenty 

6  and  four  thousand.     This  is  Benaiah  the  hero  of  the  thirty,  and  above  the 

7  thirty;  and  his  course  was  for  Ammizabad  his  son.     The  fourth,  for  the  fourth 
month,  was  Asahel  Joab's  brother,  and  Zebadiah  his  son  after  him  ;  and  in 

8  his  course  were  twenty  and  four  thousand.     The  fifth,  for  the  fifth  month,  was 
the  captain  Shamhuth  the  Izharite ;  and  in  his  course  were  twenty  and  four 

0  thousand.      The  sixth,  for  the  sixth  month,  was  Ira  son  of  Ikkesh  the  Tekoite; 

1(1  and   in   his   course   were  twenty   and   four  thousand.     The  seventh,  for  the 

seventh  month,  was  Helez  the  Pelonite,  of  the  sons  of  Ephraim  ;  and  in  his 

1 1  course  were  twenty  and  four  thousand.  And  the  eighth,  for  the  eighth  month, 
was  Sibbechai  the  Hushathite,  of  the  Zarhites  ;  and  in  his  course  were  twenty 

12  and  four  thousand.  And  the  ninth,  for  the  ninth  month,  was  Abiezer  the 
Anthothite,  of  the  Benjamites;    and  in  his  course   were  twenty  and  four 

13  thousand.     The  tenth,  for  the  tenth  month,  was  Maharai  the  Netophathite,  of 

14  the  Zarhites  ;  and  in  his  course  were  twenty  and  four  thousand.  The  eleventh, 
for  the  eleventh  month,  was  Benaiah  the  Pirathonite,  of  the  sons  of  Ephraim  ; 

15  and  .in  his  course  were  twenty  and  four  thousand.  The  twelfth,  for  the  twelfth 
month,  Heldai  the  Netophathite,  of  Othniel ;  and  in  his  course  were  twenty 
and  four  thousand. 

2.   The  Princes  of  the  Twelve  Tribes:  vers.  16-24. 

16  And  over  the  tribes  of  Israel :  of  the  Eeubenites,  Eliezer  son  of  Zichri  was 

17  ruler:  of  the  Simeonites,  Shephatiah  son  of  Maachah.     Of  Levi,  Hasbabiah 

18  son   of  Kemuel  :  of  Aaron,   Zadok.     Of  Judali.  Elihu.2  of  the  brethren  of 

19  David  :  of  Issachar,   Omri  son  of  Michael.      Of  Zebulun,   Ishmaiah  sun  of 

20  Obadiah  :  of  Naphtali,  Jerimoth  son  of  Azriel.  Of  the  sons  of  Ephraim, 
Hoshea  son  of  Azariah  :  of  the  half-tribe  of  Manasseh,  Joel  son  of  Pedaiah. 

21  Of  the  half-tribe  of  Manasseh  in  Gilead,  Iddo  son  of  Zechariah  :  of  Benjamin, 

22  Jaasiel  son  of  Abner.     Of  Dan,  Azarel  son  of  Jeroham  :  these  are  the  princes 

23  of  the  tribes  of  Israel.  But  David  took  not  their  number  from  twenty  years 
old  and  under,  because  the  LoKU  had  promised  to  increase  Israel  as  the  stars 

24  of  heaven.  Joab  the  son  of  Zeruiah  began  to  number,  but  did  not  finish, 
because  for  this  there  was  wrath  against  Israel ;  and  the  number  was  not  put 
in  the  account  of  the  chronicles  of  King  David. 

t     The  Lorch  if  tin  Treasures  and  Possessions  of  David :  vers.  25-31. 

25  And  over  the  king's  treasures  was  Azmaveth  son  of  Adiel :  and  over  tne 
stores  in  the  country,   in  the  cities,  and  the  villages,  and  the  towers,  was 

26  Jonathan  son  of  Uzziah.     And  over  the  field-labourers  for  tillage  of  the  ground 

27  was  Ezri  son  of  Chelub.  And  over  the  vineyards  was  Shimi  the  Bamathite  ; 
and  over  that  which  was  in  the  vineyards  of  stores  in  wine  was  Zabdi  the 

28  Shiphmite.  And  over  the  olive-trees  and  the  sycamores  which  were  in  the 
Shephelah  was  Baal  hanan   the  Gederite  :    and   over  the  cellars  of  oil  was 

29  Joash.     And  over  the  herds  that  fed  in  Sharon  was  Shitrai s  the  Sharonite  : 

30  and  over  the  herds  in  the  valleys  was  Shaphat  son  of  Adlai.  And  over  the 
camels   was  Obil   the   Ishmaelite  :    and    over   the   asses   was   Jehdeiah    the 

31  Meronothite.4  And  over  the  flocks  Jaziz  the  Hagrite  :  all  these  were  rulers 
of  the  substance  which  belonged  to  King  David. 


CHAP.  XXVII.  1-15. 


151 


4.  The  State  Counsellors  of  David :  vers.  32-34. 

32  And  Jonathan,   David's  kinsman,  was  a  counsellor,  a  wise  man,  and  a 

33  scribe;  and  Jehiel  son  of  Hachmoni  was  with  the  king's  sons.     And  Ahithophel 
was  the  king's  counsellor;  and   Hushai  the   Archite   was   the   king's   friend. 

34  And  after  Ahithophel  was  Jehoiada  son  of  Benaiah,  and  Abiathar  ;  and  the 
general  of  the  king's  army  was  Joab. 

1  For  Hil.  according  to  xi.  V2,  is  to  be  read  '"IVVp  "IJJ,vN. 

2  For  ^PP^X  the  Sepr.,  in  accordance  with  li.  13  and  1  Sam.  xvi.  U,  xvii.  L3,  exhibits  'E/itkfi. 
■  So  the  Ktilnli:  the  Keri  has  Shlrtal  ("D"1C')- 

'  Sspt,  i  ix  M<f*di»» ;  but  ni^lD  occurs  also,  Neh.  in.  17,  as  the  name  of  a  place  near  Mi/pah;  a  pmD  nowhere. 


EXEGET10AL. 

Preliminary  Remark. — In  this  list  of  the 
military  and  civil  officers  of  David,  the  collocation 
of  ministers  and  associates  of  the  army,  domains, 
and  kingdom  of  this  king  is  connected  with  the 
survey  contained  in  eh.  xxiii. -xxvi.  of  the  Levites 
and  priests  in  his  reign,  and  also  with  the  account 
of  the  census  of  the  people  in  ch.  xxi.  To  the 
latter  vers.  23,  21  distinctly  refer,  which  show 
the  fore-mentioned  captains  of  the  military  divi- 
sions and  princes  of  the  tribes  as  included  in  that 
census,  ami  thereby  indicate  the  political  and 
military  import  of  that  measure  (comp.  on  xxi. 
1,  6).  With  the  registers  of  Levites  and  priests  in 
ell.  xxiii.-xxvi.,  however,  our  section  is  connected 
partly  by  its  position  and  the  similarity  of  its 
contents,  partly  by  the  circumstance  that  both  the 
spiritual  (Levitieal)  and  the  temporal  hierarchy 
of  officers  had  obtained  their  more  permanent 
regulation  and  organization  hi  the  last  year  of  his 
government,  and,  indeed,  in  connection  with  the 
census  of  the  people,  as  appears  again  from 
ver.  23. 

1.  The  Twelve  Divisions  of  the  Army:  vers. 
1-15.  —  And  the  sons  of  Israel  after  their  number. 
Ver.  1  forms  the  full  superscription  to  the  follow- 
ing list.  As  this  contains  only  the  twelve  divi- 
sions of  the  army  of  24,000  men  each,  with  the 
names  of  their  commanders,  this  circumstantial 
superscription  seems  to  promise  too  much  ;  the 
detailed  description  of  the  army  divisions  an- 
nounced in  it,  and  of  their  officers,  appears  in 
vers.  2-15  to  be  no  longer  complete,  but  only 
preserved  in  tin  form  of  an  abstract  (Berth,  i. 
But  the  chief  stress  rests  on  "after  their  number  " 

(□"ISDOT),  as  the  determination  of  the  monthly 

changing  military  courses  at  the  strength  of 
24,000  each,  immediately  after  the  close  of  this 
s  iperscription,  clearly  shows.  Hence  all  else 
that  is  here  indicated,  the  mention  of  the  captains 
of  the  thousands  and  hundreds,  the  officers,  etc., 
is  to  be  regarded  as  of  mere  secondary  account. — ■ 
That  which  came  in  and  that  which  went  out 
mouth  by  month,  properly,  "  the  coming  in  and 
outgoing, "  namely,  the  course  going  in  and  out 
of  service  at  the  beginning  of  every  month  ; 
crmp.  2  Kings  xi.  5,  7,  9,  and  2  Chron.  xxiii. 
4,  S.  Here  naturally  only  the  monthly  attend- 
ance of  each  of  the  twelve  divisions  or  corps  is 
spjken  of,  not  that  they  had  changed  places  every 
month,  ami  were  stationed  one  after  another  in 
Jerusalem,  which  would  have  been  quite  impos- 
sible for  so  large  a  corps.  —  The  one  course;  nnsn. 


taken  distributively,  as  Num.  xvii.  IS;  Judg.  viii. 
18. — Ver.  2.  Over  the  first  course  .  .  .  Jasho- 
bam.  Concerning  this  Jashobam  (perhaps  "lsh- 
bosheth")  son  uf  Zabdiel,  see  on  xi.  11.  And  in 
lus  course  were  twenty  and  four  thousand,  liter- 
ally, "on  (^y)  his  course  went  24,om>   men."— 

Ver.  3.  Of  the  sons  of  Perez:  he  was  descended 
from  that  distinguished  Jewish  family  from 
which  David  sprang  j  comp.  ii.  4  li. —  The  chief 
of  all  the  captains  of  the  host  for  the  fist  month, 
stood  as  hist  in  the  series  of  twelve  commanders 
relieving  each  other  monthly,  but  was  still  subor- 
dinate to  the  commander  of  the  whole  army 
(generalissimo I,  namely,  to  Joab  (ver.  34 1. — Ver. 
4.  Dodai  tin  Ahokite.  On  the  omission  of 
"  Eleazar  son  of  "  before  Dodai,  see  i  hi-  <  i  it.  Note. 
— And  his  course,  and  MVcloth  the  commander.  } 
before  nibpD  appears  to  introduce  the  consequent, 

and  seems  to  be  superfluous,  as  it  is  wanting  before 
"DfEy,  ver-  6,  in  a  similar  connection.     At  all 

events,  Slikloth  is  a  proper  name,  as  viii.  32, 
ix.  37  f.  prove  ;  whether  the  there  named  Benja- 
mite  be  identical  with  the  present  Mikloth  must 
remain  doubtful. — Ver.  5.  The  third  captain  .  .  . 
was  Benaiah  .  .  .  as  chief.  [_"N"1.  predicate  to 
Benaiah,  not  attribute  to  [nan.     Com  eniing  this 

Benaiah  and  his  distinguished  position  as  "  hero  of 
the  thirty,  and  above  the  thirty"  (more  honoured 
than  all  of  them),  see  xi.  22,  2.3  ;  2  Sam.  xxiii. 
23.  For  the  construction  in  ver.  66,  comp.  on 
ver.  4h. — Ver.  7.  Asahel .  .  .  and  Zebadiah  7iis 
son  after  him.  This  form  of  expression  contains 
a  plain  reference  to  the  early  death  of  Asahel 
(xi.  26),  his  tragic  end,  which  Abner  prepared  for 
him,  2  Sam.  ii.  18-23.  The  fourth  course  would 
thus,  at  least  for  the  late  time  now  in  question, 
have  to  be  designated  properly  after  Asain  I's  Bon 
Zebadiah,  its  then  living  leader.  But  it  is  called 
[honoris  causa)  de  patris  defuncti  nomine,  as 
Clericus  well  remarks,  just  as  the  family  of  the 
Maccabees  is  distinguished  by  the  name  Asmo- 
nseans. — Ver.  8  If.  The  following  names  Shamhuth 
(earlier,  xi.  27,  Shammoth;  2  Sam.  xxiii.  11, 
Shammah),  Ira,  Helez,  Sibbechai,  Abiezer,  Malia- 
rai,  Benaiah,  and  Heldai  occurred  together  already, 
though  in  a  somewhat  different  order,  in  the  list  ot 
heroes  in  xi.  27-31. — Shamhuth  the  Izrahite,  the 
descendant  of  Zerah  son  of  Judah,  ch.  ii.  4,6;  mTTI 

stands    for   <m|3n,    and    this   is  equivalent   to 

<m?n.   vers-   H  au(i  13- — Ver.    15.    Heldai   tht 


152 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


Xetcphathiie,  ofOthniel,  belonging  to  the  family 
t>f  0  hniel,  incorporated  by  his  connection  with 
Caleb  into  the  tribe  of  Judah,  Josh.  xv.  17;  Judg. 
i.  12-15.  The  name  Heldai  is  besides  in  XL  BO 
Heled,  and  in  2  Sam.  xxiii.  29,  by  an  error  of  the 
pen,  Heleb. 

2.  The  Princes  of  the  Twelve  Tribes  :  vers. 
16-24. —  In  this  list  the  twelve  tribes  are 
enumerated  in  quite  a  different  order  from  that 
in  Genesis,  and  even  that  in  iv.-vii.  of  our  book. 
A  fundamental  ground  for  the  order  here  ex- 
hibited— Reuben,  Simeon,  Levi,  Judah,  Issachar, 
Zebulun,  Naphtali,  Ephraim,  Manasseh,  Benja- 
min, Dan — can  the  less  be  ascertained,  because 
the  names  of  two  tribes  (Gad  and  Asher)  have 
fallen  out  probably  by  an  old  corruption  of  the 
text  ;  and  there  is  no  means  even  of  conjecturing 
what  was  their  original  place  in  the  list.  There 
remains,  therefore,  only  an  uncertain  surmise 
that  Dan  has  been  assigned  the  last  place  on 
account  of  his  fall  into  idolatry  ;  comp.  evangeli- 
cal anil  ethical  reflections  on  ch.  i.-ix.,  No.  3. — 
Ver.  17.  Of  Aaron,  Zadok.  Whether  this 
naming  of  a  prince  of  the  Aaronites,  namely,  the 
high  priest  Zadok,  of  the  line  of  Eleazar,  along 
with  that  of  the  Levite  was  to  make  amends  for 
the  omitted  princes  of  Gad  and  Asher  is  uncer- 
tain.—Ver.  18.  Of  Judah,  Elihu.  That  "Eliab" 
(ii.  13)  is  to  be  read,  with  the  Sept.,  for  "  Elihu  " 
is  most  probable,  even  for  this  reason,  that  Eliab 
was  the  lirst-born  of  Jesse,  to  whom  the  dignity 
of  prince  must  have  naturally  fallen. — Ver.  21. 
Of  the  half  .   .   .    in  Gilead,  literally,    "toward 

Gilead  "    (m>',>a),   a  suitable  designation  of  the 

east  half  of  Manasseh. — Vers.  23,  21.  Closing 
Remark  on  the  Two  Lists  referring  to  the  Army  of 
Israel,  vers.  2-15  and  vers.  16-22. — But  David 
took  not  their  number  from  twenty  years  old  and 
under  :  he  had  only  those  above  twenty  years 
numbered.      On    IjJDIO   Nl"j,  to  take,  determine, 

a  number,  comp.  Num.  iii.  10,  and  Ex.  xxx.  12  ; 
Num.  i.  49. — Because  t/ie  Lord  had  promised  to 
increase  Israel  as  the  stars  of  heaven.  This 
ground  for  the  remark  that  David  included  only 
those  above  twenty  years  in  his  census  of  the 
people  obviously  means  that  to  number  the 
whole  mass  of  the  people,  which  God's  promise 
to  the  patriarchs  (Gen.  xxii.  17,  etc.)  had  de- 
signated as  innumerable,  was  not  intended  by 
David  ;  he  had  only  wished  to  ascertain  the  num- 
ber of  those  able  to  bear  arms  for  the  organization 
of  his  army.  On  ver.  24a,  comp.  xxi.  6. — And 
the  number  was  not  put  in  the  account  of  the 
chronicles  of  Kimj  David.,    literally,    "  and    the 

number  went  not  up,"  etc. ;  comp.  -\^o  by  HPyn, 
2  Chron.  xx.  34,  on  account  of  which  parallel, 
noreover,   "13D3   is  not  to  be  read  for  -|3DD2> 

especially  as  the  phrase  D'D'H  "QT  "I3D  <l*es 
not  occur  in  Chronicles.     The  second  "13DD   is 

lather  to  be  understood  in  the  sense  of  "  reckon- 
ing, register  of  numbers,"  and  therefore  we  are 
to  think  of  the  statistical  section  of  the  annals 
of  David's  reign  (Berth.,  Kamph.,  etc.).  In 
these  the  result  of  that  great  census  of  the  people 
had  no  place  according  to  our  passage  ;  and  if, 
xxi.  5,  a  communication  regaiding  this  result  is 
made,  it  must  have  been  derived  from  some  other 
■ourne. 


3.  The  Lords  of  the  Treasures  and  Possessions 
of  David:  vets.  25-31. — And  over  the  king's 
treasures  was  Azmaveth.  These  first-mentioned 
treasures  in  general  (ntlVX;  comp.  xxvi.  20  ;  Job 

xxxviii.  22 1  were  perhaps,  as  the  contrast  with 
the  "treasures  in  the  country "  teaches,  the 
stores  or  spoils  of  war  preserved  in  Jerusalem,  s< 
far  as  they  were  crown  and  not  temple  propertj 
(xxvi.  22);  thus  rightly  Luther:  "over  the 
treasure  of  the  king." — And  over  the  stores  in 
the  country,  in  the  cities,  and  the  villages,  and  tht 
towers,  that  is,  in  the  forts  or  keeps  ;  comp.  the 
notice  of  such  towers  in  2  Chron.  xxvi.  10  ;  Jlic. 
iv.  8  ;  Song  iv.  4. — Ver.  26.  And  over  the  f  eld- 
labourers  for  tillage  of  the  ground  was  -Ezri. 
Here  begins  the  specification  of  the  stores  in  the 
field,  with  the  royal  domains  or  fields  (nTi."  nere 
in  the  strict  or  proper  sense,  not  as  in  ver.  25). — 
Ver.  27.  And  over  the  vineyards  was  Shimi  the 
Ramathite,  of  Ramah  in  the  tribe  of  Benjamin, 
Josh,  xviii.  25.  The  next  following  officer,  Zabdi, 
the  manager  of  the  wine-stores  in  the  vineyards, 
is  called  <t03EiV"l,  "the  Shiphmite,"  coming  per- 
haps  from    D3{^,    a   place   mentioned   in  Num. 

xxxiv.  10  f.,  on  the  north  border  of  Canaan. 
But  perhaps  it  is  more  natural  to  refer  to  niDSt;' 

in  the  south  of  Judah  (1  Sam.  xxx.  28),  as  the 
south  produced  the  most  wine,  and  of  course  the 
most  vineyards  and  vine  cultivators. — Ver.  28. 
And  over  the  olive-trees  and  the  sycamores  in  the 
S/iephelah,  in  the  lowlands  of  the  fruitful  plain, 
between  the  hills  of  Judah  and  the  Mediterranean, 
Josh.  xv.  53.  O'JTT,  olive  plantations  and  gar- 
dens ;  comp.  Deut.  vi.  11,  1  Kings  v.  25  ;  and  sc 
the  following  LVDpC'.  How  important  the  pro- 
duce of  the  sycamores  must  have  been  in  the 
times  of  David  and  Solomon  appears  from  the 
proverbial  expression,  1  Kings  x.  27,  2  Chron.  i. 
15:  "Cedar-wood  as  plentiful  as  the  sycamores 
that  grew  in  the  Shephelah."  Comp.  C.  HoBmanu, 
Blicke  in  die  fruhere  Geschichte  des  yelobten 
Landes,  p.  171  :  "  None  of  the  plants  adorning 
the  country  in  that  time  is  so  fallen  as  those  oft- 
mentioned  sycamores,  of  which  only  a  few  still 
stand  in  the  gardens  of  Jaffa  as  tokens  of  by- 
gone beaut}-.  On  the  coast,  on  the  hot  soil, 
moistened  by  under  water,  stood  in  broad  planta- 
tions these  mighty,  shady,  leafy  crowns,  the 
native  land  of  which  is  Egypt.  Tiny  are  men- 
tioned at  Jericho  in  the  time  of  Christ  (Luke 
xix.  4).  Did  they,  as  the  herdsman  Amos,  who 
plucked  their  figs,  intimates  Amos  vi .  14,  extend 
to  the  now  so  cool  and  dry  valleys  of  Tekoa, 
about  the  Frank  Mountains,  that  now  bear 
among  the  Arabs  the  name  of  paradise,  as  a 
monument  of  vanished  glories  I  At  all  events, 
they  were  proverbially  common  in  Solomon's 
time  ;  and  this  leads  to  one  of  those  numerous  in- 
dications of  a  former  abundance  of  water,"  etc. — 
Bnal-hanan  the  Gederite,  of  Geder  or  Gederah, 
situated  in  the  lowlands  south-east  of  Jabneh 
(comp.  Josh.  xii.  13,  xv.  36,  and  our  remark  on 
Beth-geder,  ii.  51)  ;    man    i«   thus   not    really 

different from  Tynan,  xn-  *•  Keil  would  derive 
'man  rather  from  Gedor  (nyia),  on  the  hills 
of  Judah,   Josh.   xv.   58  ;   but  the  form  of   the 


CHAP.  XXVIII.  XXIX. 


L53 


Qentilicium  is  against  this. —  And  over  the  herd* 
in  llu'  oalleys,  namely,  those  in  the  1 1 1 1 1  country 
of  Juddh  towards  the  Dead  Sea  ami  the  Jordan  ; 
comp.  xii.  15. — Ver.  30.  And  over  the  camels 
wot  <>'iii  the  hhmaetite.  As  the  riches  of  the  king 
consisted  in  camels  (comp.  Job  i.  3  ;  Jadg.  vii. 
12)  ji  the  south  country,  where  the  Ishmaelites 
formerly  wandered,  a  descendant  of  this  race  was 
ippointed  overseer  of  them.  So  it  might  be  with 
the  Sag&rite  Jaziz,  who  was  placed  over  the  hocks 
(comp.  V.  10,  19;  I's.  lxxxiii.  7).  For  Jehdeiah 
the  Mcrouothite,  see  frit.  Note. — Ver.  31.  All 
these  if  re  rulers  of  the  property  which  belonged  to 
King  David.     C'lj  "I.  "  property,"  a  wider  notion 

than  that  of  the  "treasures  of  the  king,"  ver.  25, 
including  these  (the  treasures  in  Jerusalem)  ami 
"  the  treasures  in  the  country."  The  total  num- 
ber of  the  officers  appointed  to  take  charge  of  all 
this  property,  as  they  are  named  above,  is  twelve, 
namely,  the  two  head  officers,  ver.  25  (for  the  city. 
Aziuaveth  ;  for  the  country,  Jonathan),  and  the 
ten  overseers  of  the  tillage  and  pasturage,  the 
latter  of  whom  were  to  give  a  yearly  account  of 
the  produce  of  the  stock  under  their  charge  to 
the  former.  The  number  twelve  can  scarcely  be 
accidental  here,  though  it  is  not  expressly  noticed. 
A.  The  State  Counsellors  of'  David  :  vers. 
32-34  ;  comp.  the  similar  lists  of  the  chief  officers 
of  state  in  xviii.  15-17  (2  Sam.  viii.  15-1S)  and 
in  2  Sam.  xx.  23—26,  with  which,  however,  the 
present  has  only  Joab  the  commander-in-chief  in 
common,  whereas,  otherwise,  here  partly  other 
persons,  partly  other  functions,  appear ;  and, 
indeed,  its  chief  aim  is  to  name  the  counsellors 
(D'Sy*)  of   the   kiug  :    it  is  a  list  of  the  chief 

counsellors  of  David  (as  it  were  his  private 
council  of  state  or  cabinet). —  And  Jonathan 
David's  kinsman  was  a  counsellor ;  "|yn  (pro- 
perly favourite,  friend,  Song  i.  13,  etc)  may 
signify  the  father's  brother,  Jer.  xxxii.  7,  in  which 
sense  it  appears  to  be  taken  by  the  Sept. 
(Mp«£Stxp«s)  and  Vulg.  {patriots).  Yet  it 
signifies  also  (Jer.  xxxii.  12)  "  kinsman,  cousin" 
ill  general,  and  appears  here  also  to  convey  this 
wider  ense,  where  scarcely  any  other  Jonathan 
than  the  son  of  Shima  is  meant,  and  therefore  a 
nephew  of  David.      On  J'jvp,  counsellor,  comp. 

xxvi.  14;  on  the  following  attribute,  "wise," 
xv,   22  ;  on  a  "scribe"  OSID,   here  not  a  name 


of  office,  as  in  xviii.  16),  ii.  55  ;  Ezra  vii.  6. — 
And  Jrli'ul  ....  was  with  thi  hing's  sons,  as 
their  instructor  or  tutor,  „■<  office  mentioned  only 
here.  Whether  llachmoni  the  father  of  tb.s 
Jehiel  be  the  same  with  the  ll;i  limoni  father 
of  Jashotam  mentioned  xi.  11  must  remain  un- 
certain.—  Ver.  33.  And  AhWiophel  was  coun- 
sellor  of  the  king,  without  doubt  tin  same  who 
became  notorious  from  the  history  of  the  revolt 
of  Absalom — comp.  2  Sam.  xv.  31,  xvi.  23, 
xvii.  1  If.  ;  Ps.  xii.  10— as  Hushai  the  Architc 
is  the  well-known  opponent  of  this  Ahith<<plie1, 
'J  Sam.  xv.  32,  87,  xvi.  16.— Ver.  34.  And  after 
AhWiophel  was  Jehoiada  son  of  Benaiali  and 
Abiathar.  That  by  the  latter  the  well-kncwn 
high  priest  of  the  family  of  Ithamar  iv.  27 1  is 
meant  cannot  well  be  doubted  ;  whether  with 
regard  to  the  previous  name  we  ale  to  think  of 
the  Benaiah  named  ver.  5,  captain  of  the  third 
division,  son  of  Jehoiada  the  priest,  so  that 
here  a  transposition  of  the  names  has  taken 
place  (Berth.),  appears  doubtful.  It  is  perhaps 
simpler  to  take  the  Jehoiada  named  as  successor 
to  Ahithophel  in  the  privy  council  of  the  king 
for  a  son  of  that  Benaiah  who,  after  the  well- 
known  Hebrew  custom,  bore  the  name  of  his 
grandfather.  We  may  observe,  moreover,  how 
clearly  the  Chronist  here  again  (as  in  ver.  7) 
betrays  his  acquaintance  with  certain  episodes  in 
the  history  of  David,  the  special  course  of  which 
it  does  not  lie  within  the  scope  of  his  plan  ta 
narrate. — And  the  general  of  the  king's  army 
was  Joab;  as  such  generalissimo,  at  the  same 
time  in  some  sense  minister  of  war,  and  there- 
fore eo  ipso  belonging  to  the  rank  of  king's  <  oun- 
sellors.  Accordingly  he  appears,  xxi.  2  ff.,  in  the 
exercise  of  his  office  of  counsellor  in  regard  to  the 
census  of  the  people. 

In  an  apologetic  respect,  it  is  worthy  of  remark, 
in  regard  to  this  list  of  the  counsellors  of  David, 
that,  with  the  exception  of  Jehiel,  names  of 
persons  about  David  occurring  also  in  the  books 
of  Samuel  and  elsewhere  in  our  books  are  con- 
tained in  it,  but  that  it  cannot  be  compiled  by 
the  Chronist  from  the  other  accounts  of  the 
history  of  this  king,  because  it  exhibits  some- 
thing peculiar,  not  elsewhere  occurring,  in  its 
statements  of  the  functions  of  these  men.  "  We 
must  therefore  assume  that  this  list  comes  from 
the  same  source  from  which  our  historian  has 
drawn  the  previous  lists  (xxiii.-xxvi.  and  axvii. 
1-31)"  (Berth.). 


o.   The  Lust  Directions  of  David  concerning  the  building  of  the  Temple  and  the  Succession  oj 
Solomon,  and  his  own  Death  :  cb.  xxviii.,  xxix. 

1.   Directions  to  Solomon  concerning  the  building  of  the  Temple:  ch.  xxviii. 

Ca  xxviii.  1.  And  David  assembled  all  the  princes  of  Israel,  the  princes  of  tho 
tribes,  and  the  captains  of  the  divisions,  that  served  the  king,  and  the 
captains  of  thousands,  and  captains  of  hundreds,  and  the  stewards  of  all  the 
property  and  cattle  of  the  king  and  his  sons,  with  the  courtiers  and  the  heroes, 

2  and  all  the  valiant  men  in  Jerusalem.  And  David  the.  king  stood  up  on  his 
feet,  and  said.  Hear  me,  my  brethren  and  my  people.  I  had  it  in  my  heart 
to  build  a  house  of  rest  for  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord,  and  for  the 

3  footstool  of  our  God ;  and  I  made  ready  for  the  building.  But  God  said  to 
me,  Thou  shalt  not  build  a  house  for  my  name,  because  thou  hast  been  a 

■4  man  of  war,  and  hast  shed  blood.    And  the  LuKD  God  of  Israel  chose  me  out 


151  I.  CHRONICLES. 


of  all  my  father's  house  to  be  king  over  Israel  for  ever  :  for  He  hath  chosen 
Judah  to  be  the  ruler,  and  in  the  house  of  Judah  the  house  of  my  father ;  and 
among  the  sons  of  my  father  He  liked  me.  to  make  me  king  over  all  Israel. 

5  And  of  all  my  sons — for  the  Lord  hath  given  me  many  sons — He  hath  chosen 
Solomon  my  son  to  sit  upon  the  throne  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Loud  over 

6  Israel.  And  He  said  unto  me,  Solomon  thy  son,  he  shall  build  my  house  and 
my  courts  ;  for  I  have  chosen  him  to   be  my  son;  and  I  will  be  his  father. 

7  And  I  will  establish  his  kingdom  for  ever,  if  lie  be  strong  to  do  my  com- 

8  mandnients  and  my  judgments  as  at  this  day.  And  now  in  the  eyes  of  all 
Israel,  the  congregation  of  the  Lord,  and  in  the  ears  of  our  God,  keep  and 
seek  all  the  commandments   of  the   Lord  your  God,   that  ye  may  possess 

9  the  good  land,  and  bequeath  it  to  your  sons  after  you  for  ever.  And  thou, 
Solomon  my  son,  know  the  God  of  thy  father,  and  serve  Him  with  a  whole 
heart,  and  with  a  willing  mind  ;  for  the  Lord  searcheth  all  hearts,  and 
understand eth  all  the  imagination  of  the  thoughts  :  if  thou  seek  Him,  He 
will  be  found  of  thee ;  and  if  thou  forsake  Him,  He  will  cast  thee  oft' for  ever. 

10  Take  heed  now;  for  the  Lord  hath  chosen  thee  to  build  a  house  for  the 
sanctuary  :  be  strong,  and  do  it. 

11  And  David  gave  Solomon  his  son  the  pattern  of  the  porch,  and  of  its 
buildings  and  its  treasuries,  and  its  upper  rooms,  and  its  inner  parlours,  and 

12  the  house  of  the  mercy-seat.  And  the  pattern  of  all  that  his  spirit  had  in 
thought  for  the  courts  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  for  all  the  chambers 
around  for  the  treasures  of  the  house  of  God,  and  for  the  treasures  of  the 

13  holy  things.  And  for  the  courses  of  the  priests  and  the  Levites,  and  for  all 
the  work  of  the  service  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  for  all  the  vessels  of 

14  the  service  of  the  house  of  the  Lord.  For  gold  by  weight,  for  gold  for  all 
instruments  of  every  service  ;  and  for  all  instruments  of  silver  by  weight,  for 

15  all  instruments  of  every  service.  And  the  weight  for  the  golden  candlesticks, 
and  their  lamps  of  gold ;  by  the  weight  of  every  candlestick  and  its  lamps ; 
and  for  the  silver  candlesticks,  by  weight  for  the  candlestick  and  its  lamps, 

J  6  according1  to  the  use  of  each  candlestick.     And  the  gold  by  weight  for  the 

17  tables  of  shew-bread  for  every  table  ;  and  silver  for  the  tables  of  silver.  And 
the  forks,  and  the  sprinkling  bowls,  and  the  cans  of  pure  gold  ;  and  for  the 
golden  tankards  by  weight  for  every  tankard,  and  for  the  silver  tankards  by 

18  weight  for  every  tankard.  And  for  the  altar  of  incense,  refined  gold  by 
weight  ;  and  for  the  pattern  of  the  chariot ;  the  cherubim  of  gold  that 
spread  out  (their  wings)  and  cover3  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord. 

19  "All  this  has  He  taught  me  in  writing  from  the  hand  of  the  Lord  upon  me, 
even  all  the  works  of  the  pattern." 

20  And  David  said  to  Solomon  his  son,  Be  strong  and  active,  and  do  it : 
fear  not,  nor  be  dismayed,  for  the  Lord  God,  my  God,  is  with  thee ;  He  will 
not  fail  thee,  nor  forsake  thee,  till  all  the  work  of  the  service  of  the  house  of 

21  the  Lord  is  completed.     And,  behold,   the  courses  of  the  priests  and  the 

Levites  for  all  the  service  of  the  house  of  God  ;  and  with  thee  is  in  every 

work  ever}'  willing  man  of  wisdom  for  all  service  ;  and  the  princes  and  all 

the  people  for  all  thy  matters. 

i 

2.     Contributions  of  the  assembled  Princes  for  building  the  Temple:  oh.  xxix.  1-9. 

Off  XXIX.  1.  And  David  the  king  said  unto  all  the  congregation,  Solomon  my  son, 
whom  alone  God  hath  chosen,  is  young  and  tender,  and  the  work  is  great ; 

2  for  the  palace  is  not  for  man,  but  for  the  Lord  God.  And  with  all  my 
might  I  have  prepared  for  the  house  of  my  God,  gold  for  golden  things,  and 
silver  for  silver,  and  brass  for  brazen,  and  iron  for  iron,  and  wood  for  wooden ; 
onyx-stones  and  set  stones,  rubies  and  mottled  stones,  and  all  kinds  of  pre- 

3  cious  stones,  and  marble  stones  in  abundance.  And,  moreover,  because  1 
delight  in  the  house  of  God,  1  have  a  treasure  of  gold  and  silver  which  I  have 
given  to  the  house  of  my  God  over  and  above  all  that  I  have  prepared  for 


CHAP.  XXVIII    XXIX. 


4  the  holy  bouse.  Three  thousand  talents  of  gold,  of  the  gold  of  Ophir,  and 
seven  thousand  talents  of  refined  silver,  to  overlay  the  walls  of  the   hous  ss. 

5  The  gold  for  golden,  and  the  silver  for  .silver,  and  for  all  work  by  the  baud  ol 
artificers  ;  and  who  is  willing  to  fill  his  hand  this  day  unto  the  LORD  1 

0  And  tin-  princes  oi  the  bouses,  and  the  princes  of  the  tribes  of  Israel,  and 
the  captains  of  thousands  and  of  hundreds,  with  the  rulers  of  the  king's  work, 

7  showed  themselves  willing.  And  gave,  for  the  service  of  the  house  of  God, 
of  gold,  five  thousand  talents  and  ten  thousand  darics  ;  and  of  silver,  ten 
thousand   talents;  and   of  brass,  eighteen    thousand    talents;  and   of  iron,   a 

8  hundred  thousand  talents.  And  they  with  whom  stones  were  found  gave 
them  for  the  treasure  of  the  house  of  the   LORD,  by  the   band  of  Jebiel  the 

9  Gershonite.  And  the  people  were  glad,  because  they  were  willing,  because 
with  a  perfect  heart  they  offered  willingly  to  the  Lord  ;  and  David  the  king 
also  was  exceedingly  glad. 

3.  Da  aid's  Thaukfgioing :  vers.  10—19. 

10  And  David  blessed  the  Lord  in  the  eyes  of  all  the  congregation  ;  and 
David  said,  Blessed  bo  Thou,  Loud  God  of  Israel  our  father,  for  ever  and 

11  ever.  Thine,  0  LORD,  is  the  greatness,  and  the  power,  and  the  beauty,  and 
the  lustre,  and  the  majesty  ;  for  all  in  the  heaven  and  in  the  earth  is  Thine  : 

12  Thine,  0  Lord,  is  the  kingdom,  and  Thou  art  exalted  as  head  over  all.  And 
the  riches  and  the  glory  come  of  Thee,  and  Thou  rulest  over  all ;  and  in  Thy 
hand  is  might  and  power  ;  and  in  Thy  hand  it  is  to  make  all  great  and  strong. 

13,  14  And  now,  our  God.  we  thank  Thee,  and  praise  Thy  glorious  name.     For  who 
am  I,  and  what  is   my  people,  that  we  should  be  able  to  offer  so  willingly  in 

15  this  way  ]  for  all  comes  of  Thee,  and  of  Thy  hand  have  we  given  Thee.  For 
we  are  strangers  before  Thee,  and  sojourners,  as  all  our  fathers  :  our  days  on 

16  the  earth  are  as  a  shadow,  and  there  is  no  hope.  0  Lord  our  God,  all  this 
store  that  we  have  prepared  to   build  Thee  a  house  for  Thy  holy  name,  it3 

17  cometh  of  Thy  band,  and  is  all  Thine  own.  And  I  know,  0  my  God,  that 
Thou  triest  the  heart,  and  hast  pleasure  in  uprightness  :  I,  in  the  integrity  of 
my  heart,  have  willingly  offered  all  these  things  :  and  now  Thy  people  who 

18  are  present  I  have  seen  with  gladness  to  offer  willingly  unto  Thee.  0  Lord 
God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Israel,  our  fathers,  keep  this  for  ever  in  the 
imagination  of  the  thoughts  of  the  heart  of  Thy  people,  and  stablisb   their 

19  heart  unto  Thee.  And  give  to  Solomon  my  son  a  perfect  heart,  to  keep  Thy 
commandments,  Thy  testimonies,  and  Thy  statutes,  and  to  do  all,  and  to 
build  the  palace  which  I  have  prepared. 

4.   Clost  of  the  Public    Issembly ;  Sohmon's  Elevation  to  the  Throne:  vers.  20-25. 

20  And  David  said  to  all  the  congregation,  Bless  now  the  Lord  your  God  : 
and  all  the  congregation  blessed  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers  ;  and  they 

21  bent  and  bowed  down  to  the  Loud,  and  to  the  king.  And  they  killed  sacri- 
fices unto  the  Lord,  and  ottered  burnt-offerings  unto  the  LORD,  on  the  morrow 
of  that  day,  a  thousand  bullocks,  a  thousand  rams,  a  thousand  lambs,  with 

22  their  drink-offerings,  and  sacrifices  in  abundance  for  all  Israel.  Anil  they 
ate  and  drank  before  the  Lord  on  that  day  with  great  gladness,  and  the 
second  time  made  Solomon  the  son  of  David  king,  and  anointed  him  unto 

23  the  Lord  to  be  ruler,  and  Zadok  to  be  priest.  And  Solomon  sat  on  the 
throne  of  the  Lord  as, king,  instead  of  David  his  father;  and  he  prospered, 

24  and  all  Israel  obeyed  him.      And  all  the  princes,  and  the  heroes,  and  also  all 

25  the  sons  of  King  David,  submitted  to  Solomon  the  king.  And  the  Lord 
magnified  Solomon  exceedingly  in  the  eyes  of  all  Israel,,  and  bestowed  on  him 
the  majesty  of  the  kingdom,  which  bad  not  been  on  any  king  over  Israel 
before  him. 

5.  Close  of  the  HLtory  of  David:  vers.  20-30. 
26,  27         And  David  the  son  of  Jesse  reigned  over  all  Israel.     And  the  time  that 


156 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


he  reigned  over  all  Israel  was  forty  years  ;  in  Hebron  he  reigned  seven  years, 

28  and  in  Jerusalem  he  reigned  thirty  and  three.  And  he  died  in  a  good  old 
age,  full  of  days,  riches,  and  glory  ;  and  Solomon  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

29  And  the  acts  of  David  the  king,  first  and  last,  behold,  they  are  written  in  the 
words  of  Samuel  the  seer,  and  in  the  words  of  Nathan  the  prophet,  and  in 

30  the  words  of  Gad  the  seer.  With  all  his  reign  and  his  might,  and  the  times 
that  went  over  him,  and  over  Israel,  and  over  all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
countries. 

'  For  mi3y3  a  number  of  mss.  and  old  editions  read  mi3J!3  '"  f"r  tlle  «nrlc«  "). 

«  For  D'Mbl   D'Enb^  'he  Sept.  and  Vulg.  read  D'SiDm   D'EHSH;  comp.  Exeg.  Elpl 

•  So  the  Kelhib  ({On) ;    the  Keri  has  S^H,  referring  to  |ioni"|. 


EXEGETICAL. 

1.  Directions  to  Solomon  concerning  the  build- 
ing of  the  Temple  :  ch.  xxviii.  1-21.  — These 
directions  for  building  the  temple  David  an- 
nounces in  a  solemn  assembly  of  the  states  or 
representatives  of  the  people,  or  as  they  are  de- 
signated in  general:  "all  the  princes  of  Israel" 
(Qi-lb')-  The  several  classes  of  these  representa- 
tives of  the  kingdom  are  there  specified  : — 1.  "the 
princes  of  the  tribes  "  (see  their  enumeration  in 
xxvii.  16-22)  ;  2.  "  the  captains  of  the  divisions 
that  served  the  king  ;"  see  xxvii.  1-15  ;  3.  "the 
captains  of  thousands  and  captains  of  hundreds, " 
the  officers  of  the  army,  and  those  captains  of 
divisions,  the  commanders  and  chiefs  of  the 
twelve  corps  of  the  army  (xxvii.  1);  4.  "the 
stewards  of  all  the  property  and  cattle  of  the 
king  and  his  sons,"  the  officers  of  the  royal 
domains  (xxvii.  25-31),  who  are  here  extended 
by  the  addition    (misunderstood   by   the   Vulg.) 

V337I  to  the  royal  princes  and  their  possessions  ; 
5.    'the  courtiers,"  D'D'ID,  properly,  eunuchs  (so 

the  Sept.  and  Vulg.  in  our  passage),  but  here 
obviously  in  a  wider  sense,  of  officers  of  the,  royal 
court,  or  chamberlains  in  general ;  comp.  1  Sam. 
viii.  15;  1  Kings  xxii.  19;  6.  the  "heroes," 
that  is,  the  distinguished  champions  enumerated 
in  xi.  10  11'.,  so  far  as  they  not  merely  (as  captains 
of  the  divisions  or  over  the  thousands,  etc.)  be- 
longed to  the  active  service,  but  perhaps  as 
occasional  counsellors  of  the  king,  or  otherwise 
influential  persons,  were  entitled  to  a  prominent 
position  in  the  kingdom  (hence  the  Sept.  not 
unsuitably  ;    rout  Ivxtora;) ;    7.   all   "  the  valiant 

men"    6>n    "li33"^3^    with    *p    as    nota    ace), 

every  other  person  of  note  or  importance, — a  wide 
phrase   reverting   to   the   general   notion   of  the 
"princes   of   Israel." — Ver.    2.    And  David  the 
king  stood  up  on  his  feet,  in  order  to  speak  ;  for 
before  he  was  sitting  from  the  weakness  of  age 
(not  reclining,  as  the  Rabbinical  expositors  would 
infer  from  1   Kings  i. ).     For  the  kindly  humble 
address,   "my  brethren,"  in  the  king's  mouth, 
comp.  1  Sam.   xxx.  23  ;  2  Sam.  xix.  13. — /  had  , 
it  in  my  heart  to  build,  literally,  "I,  in  my  heart  | 
it  was  to  build  ;"  comp.   xxii.   7. — A   home  of\ 
rest,  a  house  where  the  ark  might  abide  at  rest,  i 
Along  with   the  ark,   on  account  of  its  special  i 
holiness,  is  mentioned  the  mercy-seat  (ver.    11),  | 
Uid,    indeed,    described    in   a    figurative    way  as  I 


"the  footstool  of  our  God."  as  Jehovah  is  re- 
garded as  sitting  on  the  cherubim  of  the  cap- 
poreth. — And  I  made  ready  for  the  building,  I 
prepared  workmen  and  materials  for  it ;  comp. 
xxii.  2  ff.,  14  ff. ;  as  for  the  following  verse  xxii. 
8,  and  for  ver.  4,  ch.  xi.  2,  v.  2.— Ver.  5.  To  sit 
upon  the  throne  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Lord  over 
Israel,  the  theocratic  kingdom  ;  comp.  the  equiva- 
lent briefer  phrase:  "to  sit  on  Jehovah's  throne," 
xxix.  23  and  Ps.  xlv.  7,  where  the  correctly 
interpreted    D'D^N  1XD3,   "thy  God's  throne," 

yields  practically  the  same  notion  (see  Moll,  Der 
Psalter,  p.  237).  God  is  the  proper  king  of 
Israel;  but  David,  Solomon,  ett;.,  are  only  the 
earthly  representatives  of  His  royalty. — Ver.  7. 
And  1  will  establish  His  kingdom.  Comp.  in 
general  xxii.  10  and  xvii.  11  f.,  and  for  the  con- 
dition :  "if  he  be  strong,"  etc.,  the  quite  similar 
conditions  which  God,  1  Kings  iii.  14,  ix.  4,  im- 
poses on  Solomon  ;  also  1  Kings  viii.  61  (where  also 
the  nin  Dis3)- — Ver.   8.    Keep  and  seek  all  the 

commandments,  keep  them  earnestly,  seek  to  keep 
them  with  zeal. —  That  ye  may  possess  the  good 
land.  Comp.  Deut.  iv.  21;  Lev.  xxv.  46;  Jer. 
iii.  18.  —  Ver.  9.  And  thou,  Solomon  my  son, 
know  the  God  of  thy  father,  the  God  who  so  truly 
helped  me,  thy  father,  in  all  troubles ;  comp.  the 
emphatic  "my  God,"  ver.  20  and  Ps.  xviii.  3, 
and  similar  passages. — And  serve  Him  with  a 
whole  heart,  with  an  undivided  mind,  without 
i^v^lx ;  comp.  xxix.  9 ;  also  xxix.  19  and  1  Kings 
viii.  61. —  Understandeth  all  the  imagination  oj 
the  thoughts.  The  phrase:  "imagination  of  the 
thoughts,"  as  in  Gen.  vi.  5;  the  reference  to  the 
omniscience  of  God,  as  in  1  Sam.  xvi.  7;  Ps.  vii. 
10,  exxx  x.  1  ff. — If  thou  seek  Him,  He  will  be 
found  of  thee;  comp.  Deut.  iv.  29;  lsa.  Iv.  6;  Jer. 
xxix.  13  f.  On  the  following  strong  expression- 
"  He  will  cast  thee  off"  (r|rP3P),  comp.  2  Chron, 
xi.  14,  xxix.  19,  and  Lam.  iii.  17.  —  Ver.  10.  Be 
strong,  and'lo  it.  In  essentially  the  same  words, 
ver.  20,  David  again  addresses  Solomon,  after  the 
interruption,  vers.  11-19,  occasioned  by  deliver- 
ing the  draft  and  plan  of  the  holv  buildings. — 
Vers.  11-19.  The  Details  of  the  Outline  and  Plan 
for  the  Temple,  as  David  laid  it  before  his  Son  in 
the  public  Assembly.  We  may  imagine  the 
architects  and  other  craftsmen,  by  whose  help  he 
had  this  outline  and  plan  drawn  out,  present  in 
the  assembly,  and  explaining  it  at  the  king's 
order. — And  David  gave  .  .  .  the  pattern  of  the. 
court.     rP33P,  pattern,  model,  as  Ex.  xxv.  40  ; 


CHAP.  XXVIII.  11-19. 


is; 


O^INn,  the  porch  before  the  sanctuary,  2  Chron. 

iii.  4:  1  Kings  vi.  3. — And  of  its  buildings,  those 
of  the  temple.      The  suffix  must  refer,  not  to  the 

□SlS.  but  only  to  n<3n.  "the  temple,  the  house," 

to  be  supplied  from  the  context.  The  buildings 
of  the  house  are  the  holy  place  ami  the  most 
lo'.y. — And  its  treasuries  (P3T33.   cognate  with 

H32.  Ezra  vii.  20,  Esth.  iii.  9,  iv.  7,  occurs  only 

here),  and  its  upper  rooms  (above  the  most  holy 
place,  _  Chron.  iii.  '.",  and  its  imcr  parlours, 
namely,  t lie  porch  and  the  holy  place;  for  only 
to  these  can  the  phrase  refer,  as  immediately  after 
follows  the  special  mention  of  the  most  holy 
place,  designated  as  the  "house  of  the  merry- 
seat"  or  "abode  of  the  capporeth. " — Ver.  12. 
Ami  the  pattern  of  all  that  his  spirit  hail  in 
thought  (or  what  was  before  his  mind)  for  the 
courts  .  .  .  and  ill!  the  chambers  around,  the  cells 
or  rooms  on  the  four  sides  of  the  court,  that 
served  to  keep  "the  treasures  of  the  house  of 
God,"  that  is,  the  treasure  of  the  temple  and  the 
"treasures  of  holy  things, "  the  stores  of  dedicated 
tilings  collected  from  the  spoils  of  war  (the  same 
distinction  as  in  xxvi.  20). — Ver.  13  continues 
the  statement  of  that  for  which  the  chambers  or 
cells  of  the  court  were  designed. — And  for  tin- 
courses  of  the  priests  and  the  Levites,  for  their 
sojourn  during  their  service,  likewise  for  tin- 
works  belonging  to  this  service  (cooking  of  flesh, 
preparing  of  shew-bread,  etc.),  and  for  the  keep- 
ing of  the  requisite  utensils,  which  last  are  enu- 
merated in  detail  from  ver.  14  on. — Ver.  14.  For 
gold.      The   ?   in   3np   corresponds  to   that   in 

ni3i."^n"P37,    ver.    12 ;    the   sentence   begun    in 

ver.  11  thus  extends  to  the  close  of  this  verse. 
A  new  construction  begins  first  in  ver.  15,  which 
may  be  regarded  as  a  continuation  of  that  begun 

in  ver.  11.     As  to  the  object  ppC'OI,  a  tri'l  must 

be  supplied  from  ver.  11,  but  not  certainly  in  the 
same  sense  of  giving,  but  in  that  of  stating  or 
defining.  Thus:  "And  (he  stated)  the  weight 
for  the  golden  candlesticks  and  their  lamps  of 
gold;"    3n*  is  freely  subordinated  to   QnVri-Ol 

(comp.  2  Chron.  ix.  15).  For  the  gold  n  candle- 
sticks of  the  sanctuary,  comp.  Ex.  xxv.  31  f. ;  2 
Chron.  iv.  7. — According  to  the  use  of  each  candle- 
stick,  according  to  its  set  service,  its  import  for 
the  holy  service.  For  the  var. :  "  for  the  service  of 
everyone"  (muj'3),   see  Crit.  Note. — Ver.  16. 

And  the  ijold  by   weight;    pp^'D,  accus.    of  free 

subordination. — For  the  tables  of  shew-bread  for 
*■>■<  rii  table  ■  mid  silver  for  the  tables  of  silver. 
Whereas  elsewhere  (Ex.  xxv.  23  ff. ;  1  Kings  vii. 
48;  and  2  Chron.  xxix.  18)  only  one  table  ol 
shew-bread  is  spoken  of,  here  several  tables  of 
this  kind  are  mentioned.  As  also,  2  Chron.  iv. 
8,  a  greater  number  of  golden  tables,  namely,  ten, 
destined  as  it  appears  for  the  ten  golden  candle- 
sticks, is  spoken  of,  so  in  our  passage  (as  in  2 
Chron.  iv.  19)  a  synecdoche  appears  to  be  used, 
and  the  one  golden  table  of  shew-bread  to  be 
included  with  the  tables  for  the  golden  candle- 
sticks. Silver  tables  (as  silver  candlesticks,  ver. 
15)  are  only  here  expressly  mentioned  :  such  may 


be  understcod  as  included  among  the  silver 
articles  mentioned  on  the  occasion  of  the  repair 
of  tin'  temple  by  .loash  (2  Chron.  xxiv.  14;  comp. 
also  2  Kings  xxv.  15).  The  statements  of  the 
Rabbis,  that  the  silver  tables  stood  in  '.he  court, 
and  the  silver  candlesticks  in  the  chambers  of 
the  priests,  may  rest  on  an  old  tradition. — Ver. 
17.  And  (gave  him  in  pattern  :  the  same  supple- 
ment as  in  ver.  15)  the  forks,  namely,  the  flesh- 
forks  used  in  cooking  the  pieces  of  the  sacrifices  ; 
comp.  Ex.  xxvii.  3;  1  Kings  vii.  50.  For  the 
sprinkling-bowls  (jTiplfO).  comp.  also  2  Chron. 

iv.  11,  22;  for  the  "cans"  or  "cups"  (ryiL"p. 

rTnhix)  that  were  used  in  libations,  Ex.  xxv.  29, 
xxxvii.  16;  Num.  iv.  7. — Of  pure  gold;  accus. 
of  live  subordination,  as  in  vers.  15,  16. — And 
for  the    i/olden   tankards.       D'llDS,  from  123, 

cover,  are  covered  vessels,  and  so  tankards  (not 
■ups)  ;  comp.  Ezra  i.  10,  viii.  27,  the  only  other 
passages  in  which  it  occurs. — Ver.  18.  The  putt'  rn 
of  the  chariot,  the  cherubim  of  ijold.  The  term 
pattern,  jyjan,  recurs  here,  near  the  close  of  the 

whole  enumeration,  from  vers.  11  and  12,  but 
with  ■>  as  nota  accusat.     The  mercy-seat  with  its 

cherubim  appears  here  symbolized  as  the  chariot 
on  which  Jehovah  sits  or  moves  (comp.  Ex.  xxv. 
22;  Ps.  xviii.  11,  xcix.  1), — a  very  important 
passage  for  the  right  understanding  of  Ez<k.  i 
15  ff.  The  cherubim  themselves,  though  only 
two  in  number,  according  to  the  present  descrip- 
tion, which  represents  the  older  and  simpler  idea, 
exhibit  as  it  were  a  chariot  (observe  that  D'DllSn 

is  not  subordinate  to  n22"H2  as  a  genitive,  but 

co-ordinate  with  it,  as  in  apposition) ;  of  a  wheel- 
work  connected  with  it,  an  external  exhibition  of 
tin-  chariot  idea,  as  Ezekiel  depicts  it,  nothing  ij 
indicated  in  the  passage;  the  Sept.  and  Vulg. 
only,  by  taking  D'Onsn  as  a  genitive  {clf/i*  t*i 

\'.:m./iitu:  quadriga  cherubim),  have  introduced 
this  foreign  element.  —  That  spread  out  (their 
wings)  and  cover  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the 
Lord,  literally,  "for  spreading  and  covering,"  that 
is,  they  are  represented  spreading  and   covering 

with  their  wings.  Comp.  for  this  use  of  p  in  the 
sense  of  becoming  something,  or  appearing  as 
somewhat,  ch.  xxix.  33  CnpC?.  "as  kinf; "),  also 
Gen.  ix.  5,  Job  xxxix.  16,  and  other  passages,  in 
Ew.  §  217,  d  (p.  553).  The  change  of  Q<b"lb? 
D'33*D1  into  D'MBrfl  D'fcnBiT  (Sept.,  Vulg.,  and 

recent  expositors,  as  Berth.,  Kamph.,  etc.)  is 
therefore  unnecessary.     J.    H.    Mich,   correctly: 

vt  essent  expandentes,  etc.     To  D'C'IS?  it  is  easy 

to    supply   D*B'3n,    "  the    wings,"    as    object ; 

comp.  Ex.  xxv.  20,  and  1  Kings  viii.  7;  2  Chron. 
v.  8. — Ver.  19  contains  again  words  of  I'avid,  as 

the   'yj,  "upon  me,"  and  the  whole  sense  and 

contents  teach. — All  this  has  Me  taught  me  in 
writing  from  the  hand  of  the  Lord  ujton  me.  So 
it  seems  the  difficult  and  perhaps  corrupt  words 


158 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


?3tr,  <$y  rriiT  ""C  3fl33  7bn  must  be  taken. 
To  ^3;C'n  we  are  to  understand  niiT  as  subject, 
and  "  me"  (or  perhaps  "us")  as  object.  Possibly 
also  <?J?  might  be  connected  with  7>3C'n  (comp. 

Prov.  xxii.  11) ;  but  it  is  easier,  on  account  of  the 
collocation,  to  connect  it  either  with  miV  "I'D  or 
with  3)133.  Now,  as  the  grammatically  (Ps.  xl. 
8 :  ^JJ  3ins)  admissible  connection  of  the  words 
•ffy — 3H33  into  one  notion,  "  by  a  writing  from 

the  hand  of  Jehovah  given  me  as  a  rule"  (Berth.), 
yields  a  very  harsh  and  obscure  sense,  and  as, 
moreover,  the  position  of  nW  TD  between  3D33 
and  V'J  renders  this  connection  extremely  diffi- 
cult, nothing  remains  but  the  connection  of 
*?S?  niiT  TDi    " a   writing    from    the   hand   of 

Jehovah  being  or  coming  upon  me,"  by  which 
is  designated  a  writing  springing  from  divine 
revelation,  an  immediate  effect  of  divine  inspira- 
tion (comp.  the  known  phrase:  "the  hand  of 
Jehovah  came  upon  me,"  2  Kings  iii.  15;  Ezek. 
i.  3,  iii.  14,  etc.).  This  naturally  refers,  not  to 
the  law  of  Moses,  as  the  Rabbinical  expositors 
think,  but  to  the  proposed  building  plan,  draft, 
etc.,  which  David  refers  to  divine  teaching,  in  so 
far  as  he  did  not  conceive  it  arbitrarily,  but 
designed  it  under  the  influence  of  the  Divine 
Spirit  (which,  however,  must  have  been  effected 
in  this  case  not  directly  by  vision,  as  with  Moses 
on  Sinai).  Comp.  moreover,  on  the  transition 
into  the  address  without  an  introductory  formula, 
eh.  xxii.  18  f.,  xxiii.  4  f.— Vers.  20,  21.  Closing 
Admonition  and  Promise  to  Solomon. — Be  strong 
and  active;  comp.  ver.  10  and  ch.  xxii.  13. — For 
the  Lord  God,  my  God,  is  with  tliee ;  comp.  on 
ver.  9.  For  the  following  promise:  "He  will 
not  fail  thee  (properly,  'withdraw  from  thee,' 
namely,  His  hand)  nor  forsake  thee,"  comp. 
Deut.  xxxi.  6,'  8 ;  Ps.  cxxxviii.  8 ;  Josh.  i.  5  ; 
Heb.  xiii.  5. — And  behold  the  courses  of  the 
priests.  Personal  attendance  of  the  priests  and 
Levites,  or  only  of  a  majority  of  representatives 
of  their  order  in  the  public  assembly,  can  scarcely 
be  inferred  from  this  'ui  njni,  just  as  the  ?|Bjn, 

"and  with  thee,"  does  not  necessitate  the  assump- 
tion that  the  willing  craftsmen  stood  by  Solomon, 
or  were  assembled  around  him.  —  Every  milling 
man  of  wisdom  for  all  service,  properly,   "with 

regard  to  every  willing  man."  The  p  here  is  not 
nolo  accits.  (as  ver.  1,  xxvi.  26,  xxix.  6),  but  yet 
serves  to  give  emphasis  to  3»TJ"73  (Ew.  §310,  o), 

which,  though  it  cannot  be  translated,  is  yet  not 
to  be  erased  (against  Berth. ).     For  the  notion  of 

free-will  (yv  =  3?  3H3,  2  Chron.  xxix.  31),  to 

designate  the  higher  wisdom  and  skill  of  a  crafts- 
man, comp.  Ex.  xxxv.  5,  22,  and  Latin  phrases, 
ris  artes  ingennce,  liberates.  We  are  to  think, 
moreover,  of  the  same  craftsmen  as  those  named, 
xxii.   15;  2  Chron.   ii.  6. — For  all  thy  m>iti<rx: 

?!,13"rr?3?  to   he.   explained  according  to  xxvi. 

32  (concerns,   matters)    scarcely:    "for   all   thy 


words  or  commands  "  (as  J.  H.  Mich.,  Starke, 
Keil,  etc.,  think). 

2.  Contributions  of  the  assembled  Princes  for 
building  the  Temple  :  ch.  xxix.  1-9.  —  Unto  all 
the  congregation,  which  consisted,  ch.  xxviii.  1, 
merely  of  the  "princes"  or  more  eminent  repre- 
sentatives (notables)  of  the  people. — Solomon,  my 
son,  whom  alone  God  hath  chosen,  properly  a 
parenthesis:  "as  the  one  (inK)  hath  God  chosen 

him."  For  "young  and  tender,"  comp.  xxii.  5. 
— For  the  palace  is  not  for  man.  Only  here  and 
ver.    19  stands  the  later  word  m'SH,  to  denote 

the  temple  (with  regard  to  its  fort  like  size  and 
strength) ;  elsewhere  either  of  the  Persian  royal 
castle  (Esth.  i.  2,  5,  ii.  3 ;  Neh.  i.  1)  or  of  the 
castle  in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem. — Ver.  2.  On  a, 
comp.  xxiii.  15. — Onyx-stones  and  set  stones.  For 
Dnb'i    onyx  (sardonyx,  etc.),  or  perhaps   beryl, 

comp.  Gen.  ii.  12;  Ex.  xxviii.  9,  20;  Job  xxviii. 
18;  on  Q'SI^D  '33N.  "stones  of  settings,"  Ex. 

xxv.  7,  xxxv.  9,  where  also  onyx-stones,  designed 
for  the  high  priest's  ephod  and  hoshen,  are  men- 
tioned.— Bubies  and  mottled  stones,  ami  all  kinds 
of  precious  stones,  and  marble  stones  in  abund- 
ance.     SpEr^R,    properly   stones   of    paint   or 

lead-glance  (comp.  2  Kings  ix.  35;  Isa.  liv.  11), 
perhaps  precious  stones  of  very  dark  glancing 
colour,  of  dark  purple,  as  carbuncle  or  ruby  (71QJ, 

perhaps  radically  connected  with  'tis).    The  >33S 

nDp"l,   stones   of  various   colours,    striped   with 

veins    (agate?),    as    mp"1  |3S,   "precious  costly 

stones,"  in  general,  {y*B>  'x,  white  marble  (the 

Sept.  and  Vulg.  explain  it  by  an  anachronism  of 
Parian  marble);  comp.  the  contracted  form  t,"jj>, 

Song  v.  15;  Esth.  i.  6. — Ver.  3.  Over  and  above 
all  that  I  hare  prepared  for  the  holy  house,  liter- 
ally, "upwards  of  all,  out  above  all. "   On  'flfa'DHi 

without  a  relative  particle  connecting  it  with  the 
foregoing    p3,    comp.    xv.    12.  —  Ver.    4.    Three 

thousand  talents  of  gold  of  the  gold  of  Ophir,  ot 
the  finest  and  best  gold;  comp.  the  excursus 
after  2  Chron.  ix.  Three  thousand  talents  of 
gold,  reckoned  after  the  holy  or  Mosaic  shekel, 
would  amount  to  ninety  million  thalers  (about 
£13,500,000),  reckoned  after  the  royal  shekel  to 
half  as  much ;  and  the  7000  talents  of  silver  woidd 
amount  in  the  first  case  to  fifteen  million  thalers 
(about  £2,250,000),  in  the  second  case  to  half 
that  sum.  The  greatness  of  this  sum  shows,  at 
all  events,  that  this  includes  the  whole  of  David's 
private  property  ;  comp.  on  xxii.  14  ii'. —  To  over- 
lay the  walls  of  the  houses,  the  proper  temple 
buildings  (DT.3,  as  in  xxviii.  11),  the  holy  place 

and  the  most  holy,  with  the  court  and  the  upper 
chambers,  the  inner  walls  of  which,  2  Chron.  iii. 
4-9,  were  all  hung  with  gold. — Ver.  5.  The  gold 
for  golden,  or  literally,  "for  the  gold,  for  the 
gold,"  etc.;  comp.  ver.  2.- — And  for  all  work  by 
the  hand  of  artificers,  for  all  works  to  be  made  by 
the  hand  of  craftsmen. — And  who  is  willing 
(S'Hinn,  show  oneself  willing,  as  ver.  ti;  Ezra  ii. 


CHAP.   XXIX.  6-17. 


159 


68)  to  fill  his  hand  this  day  unto  tin  Lord,  to 
provide  himself  with  free-will  offerings  for  Him 
jump.  Ex.   xxviii.  41,  xxxii.  29,   and  2  Chron. 

xiii.    9.       The    infinitive    niS'TD    (along    with 


Ex. 


US  >, 

rva 


j^)C,  2  Chron.    xiii.    9),   also  Dun.    ix.    2 

xxxi.    5. — Vcr.    6.     The  princes  of  tiu    h 
properly,   "of   the    fathers;"    nijNH    for 

n'DSn;  comp.  xxiv.  31.  xxvii.  1,  etc. —  Willi  tiu 

rulers  of  the  king's  work,  literally,  "and    with 

regard  to  the  rulers;"    before  'on   113500   ^"lL" 

the    same    superfluous    untranslatable    p    as    in 

xxviii.  21.  These  are  "the  stewards  of  all  the 
property  and  cattle  of  the  king,"  xxviii.  1,  the 
officers  of  the  royal  domains. —  Ver.  7.  Awl  gave, 
for  the  service  of  the  house  of  God,  of  gold  five 
thousand  talents.  We  must  suppose  a  partial 
"signing"  or  guaranteeing  of  the  sums  named, 
not  an  immediate  bare  paying  down,  especially  as 
the  bulkv  contributions  in  the  baser  metals,  the 
13,000  talents  of  brass  and  the  100,000  talents 
of  iron,  could  not  possiblv  be  present  in  natura. 
Even  David's  gifts  of  3000  talents  of  gold  of 
Ophir  and  7000  talents  of  silver  may  be  regarded 
as  not  a  proper  direct  delivery  of  these  large 
quantities  of  metals.  Moreover,  what  the  princes, 
according  to  our  passage,  contributed  was  about  a 
half  more  than  that  given  by  David  from  his 
private  means,  namely — 1.  5000  talents  of  gold = 
150  million  thalers  (about  £22,500,000),  or  by 
the   other  mode  of   reckoning,    half   that    sum  ; 

2.  10,000  darics=75,000  thalers  (about  £11,250); 

3.  10,000  talents  of  silver = twenty -four  million 
thalers  (about  £3,000,000);  4.  18,000  talents  of 
brass  (copper),  and  100,000  talents  of  iron  ;  5. 
Precious  stones  amounting  to  an  indefinite  sum. 
p2"nx,  with  N  prosthetic  here  and  Ezra  viii.  27, 

along  with  ]i03"H,  Ezra  ii.   69,   Neh.  vii.  70ff., 

is  not  a  Hebrew  designation  of  the  drachma  (as 
Ew.  Gesch.  i.  254  still  thinks),  but  of  the  daric, 
a  Persian  coin,  containing  H  ducats,  or  7  A  thalers 
(about  22s.  (id.) ;  comp.  Eckhell,  Doctr.  numm.  i. 
vol.  iii.  p.  551;  J.  Brandis,  Das  Mwnz*,  Maass-, 
and  Gewichtssystem  in  Vorderasien  (1866),  p. 
244;  see  also  Introd.  <3  3,  a.  In  darics,  the  gold 
coin  most  current  in  his  time  (it  is  not  meant  by 
our  author  that  it  existed  in  David's  time),  the 
Chronist  states  a  smaller  part  of  the  sum  contri- 
buted by  the  princes,  and  indeed  that  part  which 
they  gave  in  coined  pieces,  while  be  express  s  the 
amount  of  uncoined  gold  that  was  offered  in 
talents. — Ver.  8.  With  whom  stones  were,  found, 
the  present  possessors  of  precious  stones.  Agai  nst 
fSertheau's  rendering  :  "and  what  was  found  there- 
with in  precious  stones."  is  the  fact  that  the  sin;,'. 
lFN.  that  is  certainly  to  be  taken  distributively 

(comp.  Ew.  §  319.  a),  cannot  possibly  refer  to  the 
sums  or  quantities  in  vers.  6,  7.  For  tin'  flier- 
shonite  Jehiel,  comp.  xxvi.  21  f. ,  where  the  name 
is  Jehieli.  —  Ver.  9.  Was  exceedingly  glad,  liter- 
ally, "  was  glad  with  a  great  gladness;"  comp. 
Zeeh.  i.  14. 

3.  David's  Thanksgiving  :  vers.  10-19. — Bh  SSt  d 
be  Thou,  Lord  '.'."/  <a  Israel  ourfatiier.  Among 
the  partriarchs,  as  whose  well-tried  tutelary  God 
ind  heavenly  fountain  of  blessing  Jehovah  had 


now  again  proved  Himself  to  David  (by  the  opera- 
tion of  so  highly  joyful  an  act  "I  faith  as  the 
live-will  offering  of  the  princes  of  the  people), 
Israel  is  here  specially  set  forth,  because  his  life 
must  resembled  that  of  David,  especially  in  this, 
that  the  cry,  "  Lord,  I  am  not  worthy  of  the  least 
of  all  the  mercies,"  etc.  (Gen.  xxxii.  10),  might 
and  must  for  him  also  (see  ver.  14)  be  the  funda- 
mental note  of  his  prayer  at  the  close  of  his  tight 
of  faith.  At  the  end  of  his  confession,  where  the 
expression  is  still  more  solemn,  the  address  is 
more  full :  "Lord  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Israel,  our  fathers." — Forever  and  ever;  comp, 
Ps.  eiii.  17. — Ver.  11.  Thine,  0  Lord,  ix  tin-  great- 
ness ;  comp.  Ps.  cxlv.  8:  and  on  "power"  (here 
and  ver.  12),  Ps.  xxi.  14;  on  "beauty"  (here 
and   ver.   13),   Ps.   xcvi.   6;   on   "lustre"  (nV3, 

less  suitably  rendered  "victory"  by  Luther), 
I  Sam.  xv.  29;  on  "majesty"  "(-)in,  by  Luther, 
ugainsf  the  text;  "thanks"),  xvi.  27,  l's.  xxi.  6. 
The  whole  doxology  belongs  to  the  apocalyptic  in 
its  main  figures,  as  Rev.  iv.  II,  v.  12,  vii.  12, 
etc. — Thine,  O  Lord,  is  the  kingdom,  and-    Thou 

art  exalted  as  head  over  all.  rD?OQ.  "  king- 
dom, sovereignty,"  as  Ps.  xlvii.  8  f. ;  comp.  Matt 
vi.    13.       ilG'MID    's   n°t   the   participle,    before 

which    nnN,   "Thou    art,"    should    be    supplied 

(Berth.),  but  an  infinitive  noun,  "the  being 
exalted  ;"  comp.  2  Kings  ii.  21 ;  Ew.  §  160,  e.  On 
"  head  over  all,"  comp.  *^«^»  v*ip  •raiTtt,  Eph. 
i.  22. — Ver.  12.  And  the  riches  and  the  glory; 
the  same  connection,  Prov.  iii.  16;  comp.  also 
ver.  28;  2  Chron.  xvii.  5;  1  Kings  iii.  13. — Ver. 
13.  And  now,  our  God,  we  (haul.-  Thee,  properly, 
"  now  are  we  thanking  and  praising  Thy  name  :' 
the  participles  express  the  constancy  of  the  work  ; 
comp.  xxiii.  5.  —  Thy  glorious  name,  literally, 
"the  name  of  Thy  glory,"  as  Luther  here  renders. 
while  hehas,  ver.  3,  put  "holy  house"  for  "house 
of  holiness." — Ver.  14.  For  (literally,  "and  for;" 
"OV  as  Judg.  x.  10)  who  am  I,  and  what  is  my 

people,  that  we  should  be  able  ?  nb  "IVJ?,  pro- 
perly, "to  hold  or  retain  strength,"  then  ralere, 
be  able;  comp.  2  Chron.  xiii.  20;  Han.  x.  8,  16, 
xi.  6. — In  this  wag,  as  our  just  completed  collec- 
tion of  free-will  offerings  for  the  temple  (vers.  3-8) 
has  proved.     On  J1N-13.  comp.  2  Chron.  xxxii.  15. 

—  Ver.  15.  For  we  are  strangers  before  Tim.  and 
sojourners;  comp.  Ps.  xxxix.  13;  Heb.  xi.  13, 
xiii.  14.  Even  in  this  strong  assertion  of  the 
vanity  and  uncertainty  of  earthly  life  (on  /(,  comp. 
Job  viii.  9;  Ps.  xc.  9f.,  cii.  12;  and  Jer.  xiv.  S, 
appears,  as  in  the  foregoing  verse,  which  recalls 
Gen.  xxxii.  10,  an  allusion  to  that  which  Jacob 
confessed  at  the  end  of  his  earthly  career  ;  comp. 
Gen.   xlvii.   9. — Ver.    16.    All  this  store.      jioiT 

heap  of  money,  wealth,  as  Eccl.  v.  9.  For  the 
var.  "it"  (referring  to  "the  heap")  for  "her," 
see  Grit.  Note. — Ver.  17.  In  the  integrity  of  my 

la  art.  22?  "1U'\  «s  Dent.  ix.  5;  comp.  the  fore- 
going Di"U»«o,  "uprightness,"  Ps.  xvii.  2.  —  Thy 

people  who  are  present,  "have  found  tho.niselveM 

here."    On  n  for  -ig'x,  comp.  xxvi.  28  and  ver.  8; 


160 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


nn  Soiling  oneself=being  present,  comp.  xxviii.  1 ; 
i  Chron.  v.  11. — Ver.  18.  Keep  this,  the  spirit  of 
willingness,  which  expresses  itself  in  these  gifts. 
—Imagination  of  the  thoughts,  as  xxviii.  9. — 
Stablish  their  heart  (or  "prepare"),  as  1  Sam. 
rii.    3. — Ver.    19.    On   a,    comp.    ver.    9;    on   b 

(rnran),  ver.  i. 

4.  Close  of  the  public  Assembly.      Solomon's 
Elevation  to  the  Throne  :  vers.   20-25. — And  all 

the  congregation  blessed  ;  rp2  w-ith  p,  as  ver. 
13:    mil,   and    ^n    with   b-       An<l   i!teV  ■   ■  ■ 

bowed  down  to  the  Lord,  they  did  obeisance  before 
God  and  the  king  as  His  earthly  type  and  repre- 
sentative.     For   the   combination   of    TTp    and 

mnri"'n,  denoting  now  divine,  now  human, 
respect,  comp.  Gen.  xxiv.  26 ,  Ex.  xii.  27,  xxxiv. 
8;  1  Kings  i.  16,  31;  and  Ps.  xcv.  6,  etc.— Ver.  21. 
And  they  killed  sacrifices  unto  the  Lord,  and 
offered  burnt-offerings.  The  same  phrases  are 
united,  only  in  inverse  order,  1  Sam.  vi.  15.  BTI3T 

denotes  here  animal  sacrifices  in  general,  but  in 
6  it  signifies,  in  contrast  with  the  before-men- 
tioned   burnt-offerings,    peace-offerings   (D'OpE'. 

Ex.  xxiv.  5)  in  connection  with  the  proper  joy- 
ful feasts. — On  the  morrow  of  that  da;/:  comp. 
Lev.  xxiii.  11;  Jonah  iv.  7. — Ver.  22.  And  they 
ate  and  drank.  This  describes  the  joyful  feast,  as 
rii  39  ;  1  Kings  iv.  20 ;  Dent.  xii.  7,  xvi.  10. 
— And  the  second  time  made  .  .   .  king.    rvjC' 

distinct  from  xxiii.  1,  where  a  first  solemn  ele- 
vation (proclamation)  of  Solomon  to  be  the 
successor  of  his  father  was  reported,  with  which, 
however,  the  ceremony  of  anointing  was  not  con- 
nected. To  the  pres'nt  second  elevation  corre- 
sponds that  reported  1  Kings  i.  32  ff. ,  as  the 
mention  there  of  Zadok  as  taking  part  in  this 
solemn  act  of  anointing  shows. — Anointed,  him 
unto  the  Lord  (according  to  the  will  of  the  Lord) 

to  be  ruler,  TJ37  ;  this  is  here  for  the  sharper 
contrast  with  the  following  pip  ;  comp.  more- 
over, xxviii.  4 ;  1  Kings  i.  35.—  And  Zadok  to  be 
priest.  With  this  notice,  peculiar  to  the  Ohronist, 
began  the  degradation  ot  the  other  high  priest, 
Abiathar,  of  the  line  of  Ithamar,  as  Solomon 
formally  completed  it  after  his  father's  death 
(1  Kings  ii.  26  ff.),  already  in  the  lifetime  of 
David  :  it  was  prepared  by  Zadok  alone  being 
anointed  in  the  presence  of  the  states  along  with 
the  young  king. — Ver.  23.  And  Solomon  sat  on 
the  throne  of  the  Lord  as  king.  For  the  anti- 
cipatory nature  of  this  notice,  comp.  on  xxiii.  1  : 
lor  •'  the  throne  of  the  Lord,"  on  xxviii.  5. — And 
he  prospered  :  and  all  Israel  obeyed  him,  accord- 
ing to  the  hope  of  David  expressed  before,  xxii. 

13,  regarding  him.    For  j>x  J7DK'  =  obeyed,  comp. 

Di-ut.  xxxiv.  9. — Ver.  24.  Also  all  the  sons  of 
King  David  submitted  to  Solomon  the  king, 
literally,  "gave  hand  under"  (comp.  2  Chron. 
xxx.  8  ;  Lam.  v.  6).  We  may  ibserve  the  slight 
allusion  to  the  soon  suppressed  attempt  of 
Adonijah  (1  Kings  i.  5  ff. )  which  is  contained  in 
this  statement,  quite  after  the  manner  of  the 
Chronist  (see  Principles  of  History  and  Ethics, 


No.  1). — Ver.  25.  Magnified  .  .  .  exceedingly  .• 
comp.  xxii.  5. — And  bestowed  upon  him  the 
majesty  of  the  kingdom.       pp  mj ,  as  Ps.  viii.  2  ; 

~\\n,  as  ver.  11. —  Which  had  not  been  on  any  king 
over  Israel  before  him.  The  construction  is  as 
partly  in  Eccl.  i.  16,  partly  in  1  Kings  iii.  12. 
The  phrase  is  somewhat  hyperbolical,  as  there 
were  only  two  kings  of  Israel  before  him  (Isli- 
bosheth  our  author  is  wont  to  ignore,  as  ver.  27 
shows). 

5.  Close  of  the  History  of  David ;  vers.  26-30. 
— And  the  time  that  he  reigned  oner  all  Israel, 
inclusive  of  the  seven  years  of  his  residence  in 
Hebron  (which  is  more  exactly  fixed,  2  Sam.  v.  ."., 
at  seven  and  a  half  years). — Ver.  28.  In  a  good 
old  age;  comp.  Gen.  xv.  15,  xxv.  8. — Full 
("  satisfied  "  ;  comp.  Job  xlii.  17)  of  days, 
riches,   and  glory.       For  the   combination   -\»<y 

11331.    see  on  ver.   12. — Ver.   29.  And  the  acts 

.  .  .  first  and  last.  The  author  here  indicates 
the  simple  ord  r  which  he  laid  down  for  his  now 
finished  representation  of  the  life  of  David  ; 
sec  Evangelical  and  Ethical  Reflections,  No.  2. — ■ 
Behold,  they  are  written  in,  properly  "on " ; 
comp.  ix.  1.  For  the  sources  now  named,  see 
Introd.  §  5,  II  — Ver.  30.  With  all  his  reign  and 
las  might  j  101133,  here  Ms  "display  of  might," 

the  power  shown  by  him,  his  brave  deeds  : 
comp.  1  Kings  xvi.  5. — And  the  times  that  went 
over  him,  the  events  that  befell  him.    DVlJ)n,  as 

Job  xxiv.  1;  Ps.  xxxi.  16. — And  over  all  the 
kingdoms  of  the  countries,  with  which  David 
came  into  friendly  or  hostile  contact,  as  Phoenicia, 
Philistia,  Edom,  lloab,  etc.  For  the  phrase, 
comp.  2  Chron.  xii.  8,  xvii.  10,  xx.  29. 

EVANGELICAL  AND  ETHICAL  REFLECTIONS,  APOLO- 
GETIC AND  HO.M1LETIC  NOTES  ON  CH.  X.-XXIX. 

1.  On  the  historical  and  practical  point  of 
view  under  which  the  Chronist  regards  the  brief 
account  of  the  downfall  of  Saul  and  his  house, 
with  which  he  opens  his  full  description  of  the 
history  of  David,  he  explains  himself  very  clearly 
in  the  two  closing  verses  of  ch.  x.  Saul's  king- 
dom must,  after  a  brief  existence,  make  way  for 
that  of  David,  on  the  simple  ground  that  it  was 
not  erected  on  the  foundation  of  right  faith  in 
Jehovah  the  God  of  the  covenant,  and  willing 
submission  to  Him  ;  that  its  possessor  had  not 
once  only,  but  constantly,  cast  to  the  winds  that 
earnest  warning  voice  of  the  prophet,  ' '  Obedience 
is  better  than  sacrifice,"  1  Sam.  xv.  22,  and 
neglected  even  in  the  last  hour  to  return  to  such 
a  course,  which  was  alone  pleasing  to  God. 
Comp.  Bengel's  appropriate  note  on  those  two 
verses  (p.  16  of  the  "  Beitrage  zu  J.  A.  Bengel's 
Schrifterklarnng,  aus  handschriftl.  Aufzeiehnnn- 
gen  mitgetheilt  von  Dr.  Osk.  Waehter,"  Leipz. 
1865) :  "  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  Saul  is  not 
expressly  charged,  when  he  died  in  his  sin, 
with  his  long  hate  of  David,  but  rather  with  the 
unbelief  in  which  lie  kept  not  the  word  of  God, 
and  sought  counsel  at  Endor.  David  indeed  is 
out  of   the  country  a  considerable  time   before 

Saul's   death Even    at    the    last    Saul 

might  have  obtained  pardon,  if  he  had  earnestly 
returned  to  God,  and  entreated  Him.  But  he  lost 
all." — Comp.  also  Schlier,  "  Kiinig  Saul"  (Bilirf 


CHAP.  X-XXIX. 


ic; 


ilimdeii,  Nordlingen  1 8671,  towards  the  end,  and 
the  homiletie  notes  of  Erdmanu  on  1  Sam.  xxxi. 
(Bibelwerk,  vi.  337). 

2.  That  our  author  aimed  at  no  exhaustive 
treatment  of  the  history  of  David  in  its  external 
and  internal  course — that  lie  rather  Laboured  as 
partly  an  excerptor,  partly  a  supplemented  of 
earlier  writers,  and  so  wished  to  furnish  some- 
thing regarding  the  history  of  David  contained 
in  the  present  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings, 
similar  in  many  respects  to  that  which  John  the 
Evangelist  did  for  the  evangelical  history  pre- 
sented by  the  synoptics, — this  he  himself  indi- 
cates in  the  closing  words  just  considered,  when, 
xxix.  29,  30,  he  points  for  that  which  he  may 
have  omitted  to  the  historical  works  of  the  pro- 
phets Samuel,  Nathan,  and  Gad  as  his  chief 
sources.  But  even  before  he  repeatedly  indicates 
his  acquaintance  with  essential  elements  of  the 
history  of  David,  which,  according  to  his  plan, 
he  does  not  report.  Thus,  in  the  notice  prefixed 
as  preface  or  introduction,  concerning  the  down- 
fall of  Saul  and  his  house,  where  he  certainly 
alludes  to  the  incident  of  the  necromancer  of 
F.ndor,  but  does  not  report  it  (x.  13  f. ),  and  xx. 
5,  where  he  names  Goliath,  but  presumes  the 
history  of  the  slaughter  by  the  youthful  shepherd 
David  as  known  ;  likewise  xii.  1,  where  he  men- 
tions the  times  of  the  exile  and  proscription  of 
David  under  Saul,  without  entering  into  the 
particulars  at  least  of  its  well-known  catastrophes 
and  vicissitudes :  xi.  1  and  xii.  23,  where  he 
likewise  points  to  the  rival  kingdom  of  Saul  and 
Abner  during  the  residence  of  David  at  Hebron  ; 
xx.  1,  where  the  proceedings  at  Jerusalem  during 
the  siege  of  Rabbath  Amnion  by  Joab  are  slightly 
indicated  ;  xxvii.  23,  24,  where,  by  the  mention 
of  Ahithophel  ami  Hushai,  a  similar  reference  is 
made  to  the  rebellion  of  Absalom  ;  ami  xxix.  24, 
where  the  attempt  of  Adonijah  is  in  like  manner 
touched  upon.  The  omitted  parts  are,  as  must 
have  been  often  manifest,  almost  always  of  such 
a  nature  as  would  have  served,  if  brought  into 
the  field,  to  disturb  and  in  some  points  obscure 
the  lustre  of  the  picture,  and  throw  many  a 
shadow  on  the  otherwise  almost  uniform  light. 
It  is  the  first  growing  and  youthful  but  arduously 
soaring  aloft,  further,  the  suffering  and  per- 
secuted David,  not  less  the  despised  and  derided 
by  all  bystanders  far  and  near  (but  comp.  xv. 
29)  ;  lastly,  the  deeply  guilty  and  penitent  one, 
whose  picture  the  Chronist  avoids  to  draw,  while 
all  the  more  earnestly  he  collects  all  that  appears 
fitted  to  represent  the  hero  king  in  his  greatness, 
and  the  activity  of  his  reign  as  an  uninterrupted 
chain  of  splendid  theocratic  events.  To  finish  a 
picture  that  presents  David  in  the  meridian 
height  of  his  glory  and  mighty  achievements  is 
the  obvious  aim  if  all  that  our  author  adds  in  the 
way  of  supplement  on  the  ground  of  his  sources 
to  the  life-picture  of  the  great  king  as  given  in 
the  books  of  Samuel.  Such  arc  the  whole  con- 
tents of  ch.  xii.  (the  brave  men  who  stood  by 
David  even  during  the  reign  of  Saul,  and  the 
number  of  the  warriors  out  of  all  the  tribes  who 
made  him  king  in  Hebron i  ;  those  of  ch.  xv.  and 
xvi.  (the  full  delineation  of  the  preparatory, 
accompanying,  and  con.  hiding  solemnities  in  the 
introduction  of  the  ark  into  iis  new  abode  on 
Zion)  ;  finally,  those  of  the  closing  ch.  xxii.- 
xxix.,  on  the  internal  history  of  ihe  kingdom 
and   the   preparations   for    the   building   of    the 


temple,  which  coincide  only  in  subordinate  points 
with  the  much  more  summary  parallel  sections  r.f 
Samuel  and  1  Kings,  but  on  the  whole  exhibit 
the  peculiarity  and  special  tendency  of  our  author 
in  full  force,  and  in  so  far,  notwithstanding  their 
dry  statistical  character  and  tedious  lists  of  names 
und  numbers,  are  of  special  interest  (>  inp.  No. 
2).  The  prelerence  of  our  author  for  the  exhibi- 
tion of  all  the  brilliant  traits  of  the  history  ot 
David,  nr,  if  you  will,  his  panegyristic  idealizing 
tendency  and  method,  is  shown  also  in  the  shor: 
remarks  of  a  reflective  kind  at  the  close  of  the 
several  sections,  which  almost  always  issue  in  the 
exhibition  of  some  brilliant  aspect  of  the  reign 
of  David,  or  of  the  state  of  the  people  and  the 
theocracy  under  him  ;  for  example,  passages  such 
as  these :  "  And  David  became  greater  and 
greater,  and  Jehovah  Zeba<th  was  with  him," 
xi.  9  ;  "  Day  by  day  they  came  to  David  to  help 
him,  until  the  camp  was  great,  like  a  i  amp  of 
God,"  xii.  22;  "His  kingdom  was  lift  up  on 
high,  because  of  His  people  Israel,"  xiv.  2  ; 
"  And  D  ivid's  fame  went  out  into  all  lands  ;  and 
the  Lord  brought  his  fear  upon  all  nations," 
xiv.  17;  "And  David  reigned  over  all  Israel, 
and  executed  judgment  and  justice  for  all  his 
people,"  xviii.  14;  "Is  not  the  Lord  your  God 
with  yon,  and  hath  He  not  given  you  rest  on 
every  side?  For  He  hath  given  the  inhabit  nits 
uf  the  land  into  my  hand,  and  the  land  is  sub- 
dued before  the  Loid  and  His  people,"  xxii.  18  ; 
•'  But  David  took  nor.  .  .  .  because  the  Lord 
had  promised  to  increase  as  the  stars  of  heaven," 
xxvii.  23  ;  "And  he  died  in  a  good  old  age, 
full  of  days,  riches,  and  glory,"  xxix.  28  ;  "And 
the  Lord  magnified  Solomon  exceedingly  in  the 
eyes  of  all  Israel,  and  bestowed  on  him  the 
majesty  of  the  kingdom,  which  had  not  been  on 
any  king  over  Israel  before  him,"  xxix.  25.  And 
the  enumerations  and  arrangements  of  the  names 
of  David's  heroes,  servants,  spiritual  and  temporal 
officers  (princes),  counseilurs,  etc,  subserve  the 
same  optimist. c  and  id>  alizing  tendency  as  pre- 
sented by  the  author  ;  and  the  ever-recurring 
preference  >n  these  enumerations  for  symbolic 
numbers,  especially  for  three  and  thirty  (see  ch. 
xii.),  seven  (the  supreme  officers  of  the  kingdom 
and  the  crown,  xviii.  14  II'.,  and  the  counsellors 
of  the  king,  xxvii.  32  ft'.),  and  twelve  or  twenty- 
four,  which  latter  numbers  appear  as  the  prin- 
ciple regulating  the  whole  spiritual  (Levitical- 
priestly)  and  temporal  hierarchy  of  officers  in 
the  kingdom  of  David  (see  especially  ch.  xxiii.- 
xxvii.  I. 

3.  Next  to  the  selection  of  material,  the  ar- 
rangement of  it,  the  order  followed  in  the  history 
of  David,  is  characteristic  for  the  author's  con- 
ception of  this  brilliant  period  of  the  history  of 
salvation  before  the  exile.  This  order,  however, 
is,  as  the  same  closing  remark,  xxix.  29,  to  which 
we  owe  the  above  explanation  of  the  choice  ot 
material  by  the  author  indicates,  an  extremely 
simple  and  elementary  one.  The  author  distin- 
guishes "the  first  and  last  acts  of  David;"  lie 
divides  his  material  between  the  two  gnat  heads 
of  the  earlier  and  later  events  of  the  nign  ot 
David  (or  of  the  entrance  and  exit  of  David) 
But  among  the  first  acts  he  does  not  understand 
David's  youth,  with  his  persecutions  by  Saul,  etc 
(so  that  the  last  acts  would  embrace  the  period  of 
his  reign,  as  in  the  present  division  of  the  books 
uf    Samuel,    the    second    of  which    treats    of  his 


:G2 


I.  CHRONICLES. 


reign),  but  the  course  of  events  till  shortly  before 
the  end  of  his  life,  that  is,  until  he  took  measures 
for  tin-  building  of  the  temple,  and  the  regular 
transit  i  once  of  the  kingdom  to  his  successor, 
which  latter  the  author  regards  as  the  last  acts. 
The  point  of  division  separating  the  last  acts  from 
the  rust  is  to  be  sought  neither  in  ch.  x.  131'.,  for 
the  narrative  of  the  downfall  of  Saul  closing  with 
these  verses  is  merely  the  preface  or  introduction 
to  the  acts  of  David;  nor  in  xii.  40  or  xiii.  1,  for 
here,  where  the  accounts  of  the  elevation  of  David 
to  the  throne  of  all  Israel,  and  the  close  of  the 
seven  years'  reign  at  Hebron,  come  to  an  end,  the 
author  clearly  intends  no  deeper  section  (against 
Kaniph. ).  In  truth,  the  transition  from  the  first 
to  the  last  acts  takes  place  in  xxii.  1,  where,  after 
representing  tin-  glorious  external  (military  ami 
political)  course  of  the  forty  years'  reign  of  the 
king,  his  provisions  for  transferring  as  well  the 
sovereignty  as  the  still  unsolved  problem  of  the 
building  of  the  temple  to  his  son  Solomon  begins 
to  be  described — where,  accordingly,  as  it  is  said 
in  the  further  course  of  the  narrative,  xxiii.  1  : 
"  David  was  old  and  full  of  days  ;  and  he  made 
his  son  Solomon  king  over  Israel"  (comp.  the 
remarks  made,  p.  142,  on  the  generalizing  import 
of  those  words).  It  is  a  peculiar  trait  of  the 
Chronist,  distinguishing  in  a  characteristic  way 
Ins  yiew  and  method  of  history  from  that  of  the 
author  of  the  books  of  Samuel,  that  he  draws  a 
sharp  line  between  the  evening  of  David's  life  as 
his  Jr^iTi,  and  the  mid-day  as  his  ^fZra.  (or 
between  tin-  completion  and  continuance  of  his 
reign),  and  weaves  into  the  representation  of  the 
evening  cf  ins  life  a  full  retrospect  of  the  whole 
internal  aspect  of  the  nival  household  under 
David.  The  picture  thus  drawn  of  the  Levitical 
and  priestly,  and  of  the  military  and  civil, 
government  and  official  hierarchy  of  the  king 
i.xxiii.-xxvii.),  forms,  together  with  its  frame  of 
reports  concerning  the  collections  and  prepara- 
tions "f  David,  and  the  chiefs  of  the  people  for 
tile  temple  to  be  built  by  Solomon  (xxii.  and 
xxviii.,  xxix.),  as  it  were,  the  legacy  of  David  to 
his  son,  the  testament  of  one  glorious  kin;;  to  his 
no  less  glorious  (according  to  the  peculiar  Levi- 
tical  and  hierarchical  conception  of  our  author 
indeed,  xxix.  25,  still  more  glorious)  heir  and 
successor.  It  is  on  account  of  Solomon,  the 
temple-builder,  that  the  author  dwells  so  long 
mi  this  legacy  of  his  father  preparing  and  stipu- 
lating  for  the  building,  and  that  this  part  of  his 
work  rises  to  the  importance  of  a  second  half  of 
the  history  of  his  father,  to  an  episode  m  the  lit'' 
of  David,  comparable  with  the  so-called  report  of 
navels  by  Luke  in  the  third  Gospel,  or  tin-  fare- 
well addresses  of  our  Lord  in  .lohn  xiii.-xvi., 
bearing  in  a  still  higher  degree  the  character  of  a 
retrospect  and  legacy.  Beside  this  very  minute 
representation  of  the  close  of  David's  life,  that 
under  the  hands  of  our  author,  notwithstanding 
it-:  comparatively  brief  duration,  has  assumed  the 
form  of  an  autumn  almost  equal  in  length  with  the 
preceding  summer  of  life,  the  spring  with  its 
vicissitude  of  char  sunshine  and  rough  storm  is 
quite  cast  into  the  shade  ;  it  appears,  indeed,  by 
the  merely  occasional  allusions  to  its  incidents 
which  are  contained  in  ch.  x.-xii.,  intentionally 

inl d   to  a  vanishing  point  in  the  development 

of  tin-  whole.  Yet,  in  the  section  relating  to  the 
catastrophe  of  Saul,  ch.  x.,  the  author  has  fur- 
nished an  independent  preface  or  introduction  to 


the  chief  object  of  his  representation,  and  so  has 
given  to  the  whole  a  threefold  arrangement,  in 
which,  however,  by  far  the  greatest  importance 
belongs  extensively  and  intensively  to  the  second 
and  third  parts. 

4.  The  statement  of  the  Chronist  has  suffered 
nothing  in  credibility  by  this  peculiar  arrange- 
ment and  distribution,  especially  by  his  dwelling 
so  long  on  the  preparations  for  building  the 
temple,  and  the  measures  taken  for  transferring 
the  kingdom  to  Solomon,  which  are  so  briefly 
handled  in  the  introduction  to  the  books  ol 
Kings.  The  solid  walls  of  the  old  sources  appeal 
through  the  cover  corresponding  to  his  individual 
view  and  bent,  which  he  has  imparted  to  The 
building  he  has  erected.  This  holds  as  well  of 
the  sections  on  the  external  government,  peculiar 
to  his  statement,  as  of  the  closing  accounts  of  the 
king  setting  his  house  in  order  and  handing  it 
over  to  his  successor.'  It  appears  particularly 
fitted  to  awaken  confidence  in  his  statement,  that 
no  special  preference  for  the  wonderful  is  to  be 
remarked  in  the  sections  peculiar  to  him  ;  that,  in 
fact,  some  of  these  sections — for  example,  xii., 
xxiii.  If.,  and  xxvii.  ff. — report  only  that  which 
corresponds  to  the  occurrences  of  every-day  life, 
which  might  arise  in  the  profane  history  of  any 
kingdom  or  people.  And  even  there,  where  his 
statement  runs  parallel  with  that  of  the  older 
historical  books,  scarcely  anywhere  does  any 
stronger  preference  appear  for  the  wonderful  or 
extraordinary  than  in  those  documents,  except, 
pel  haps,  his  account  of  the  census  and  the  plague, 
which  has  certainly  a  trace  of  the  miraculous 
more  than  the  older  parallel  text  (xxi.  26).  At 
the  most,  the  suspicion  of  unhistorieal  exaggera- 
tion might  rest  on  some  of  the  surprisingly  high 
numbers,  as  they  appear  in  the  present  text,  xii. 
23-40,  xxii  ,  arid  xxix.  4  If.,  unless  partly  the 
obvious  possibility  of  occasional  corruption,  partly 
the  almost  inevitable  necessity  of  the  assumption 
that  smaller  values  than  those  usually  assumed 
are  to  be  admitted,  served  very  much  to  diminish 
the  ground  which  these  passages  present  for  criti- 
cal assaults.  Comp.  that  which  is  remarked  on 
them  in  detail  (xii.  23  ff.,  p.  106  f.,  and  xxii. 
14,  p.  137  f.  1,  and  see,  moreover,  the  Apologetic 
Remarks  on  ch.  xv.  16,  p.  119  ff. 

5.  Homiletic  hints  for  the  history  of  David  in 
rich  selection  are  to  be  found  in  Erdmann's  ela- 
boration of  the  books  of  Samuel  (vol.  vi.  of  the 

1  Cump ,  with  regard  to  the  credibility  of  the  statement 
concerning  David's  last  directions  to  Salomon,  especially 
the  giving  of  the  instructions  for  the  building  of  the 
temple,  the  remark  of  Beitheau  on  xxviii.  11-19:  "The 
«  h  ile  section  thus  shows  that  David  not  only  tmide  pre- 
parations  for  hull  ling  the  temple  hy  providing  materials. 
hut  also  gave  definite  orders  for  the  execution  of  the  worl 
and  ttie  making  of  the  vessels  to  Solomon,  ana  that  he  pro- 
ceeded, not  according  to  his  own  invention  and  design,  bur 
was  directed  by  divine  revelation.  ...  In  the  books  of  Kings. 
nothing  of  this  occurs;  but  if  we  must  gather  from  the 
accounts  of  Chronicles  that  David  not  only  thought  of  the 
temple,  but  made  preparations  for  it.  which  could  not  hare 
consisted  in  an  uncertain  collection  of  materials,  we  shall 
not   he  aide  to  avoid  assuming  that  a  communication  was 

in  ol,   ac 'ding  to  which,  even  in  David's  time,  the  plan  of 

the  temp!'-  was  fixed.  To  execute  the  building  itself  was 
not  permitted  to  David;  but  he  had  completed  ttie  prepara- 
"  ii.  -"  far,  that  Solomon  in  the  fourth  \ear  of  his  reign 
«».  able  i"  proceed  with  the  building,  a:  d  to  finish  it  in  the 
eleventh  (1  Kings  vi).  The  report  of  David's  preparation, 
■a  tiie1 1  .->. troded  io  the  fixing  ol  i he  plan  for  ifi-  building,  ii 
the  hi-toi  ic.il  foundation  fur  the  statement  in  our  verses,  in 
«  hlch  the  free  ha'  dhng  of  the  historical  matei  ml,  aecording 
io  modem  views,  is  as  obvious  as  in  the  ii  Draining  section! 
ot  the  last  two  chapters  of  the  first  honk  of  Chronicles." 


CHAP.  I.  16Ji 

Bibtlio.).  With  respect  to  the  sections  peculiar  I  in  Him,  .  .  .  At  David's  anointing  was  great  joy ; 
to  the  Chronist,  a  small  gleaning  may  here  be  j  on  all  sides  was  provided  store  of  eating  and 
presented  of  some  noteworthy  practical  hints  drinking ;  even  so  believers  rejoiced  at  and  after 
from  older  expositors: —  Christ's  ascension,  and  because  they  had  all  things 

On  i'li.  xii-  88-40,  Starke,  after  Burmann,  common."  On  ch.  xvi.  27,  eonip.  the  remark 
remarks  :  "  What  is  here  said  of  David  is  a  fine  (suitable  also  to  the  contents  of  xxiii.-xwi.)  ol 
figure  (type)  of  che  Messiah.  ...  He  also  at  first  Bengel,  p.  17  :  "This  is  so  fine  in  David  ;  he 
had  only  B  small  following  ;  but  after  He  came  has  gone  as  nigh  to  the  Levites  as  il  was  possible 
to  His  glory,  the  kingdom  of  God  burst  forth  for  him  to  do,  as  if  he  were  one  of  them  ;  ami  yet 
mightily,  and  subjects  to  Him  were  collected  in  j  he  has  invaded  no  right.  How  finely  devotion 
all  the  world.  ...  To  David  come  even  those  of  I  and  valour  are  combined!  Something  quite 
the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  the  brethren  of  Saul,  the  '  peculiar  has  taken  place  in  David's  heart."  On 
hitter  enemy  of  David  ;  so  had  Christ  disciples  xxix.  30  he  remarks  :  "  How  earnest  is  the  dear 
from  the  Jews,  even  from  the  Pharisees,  His  David  become  in  his  old  age!  How  he  has 
deadly  foes;  and  as  we  by  nature  are  all  His  come  as  nigh  as  possible  to  the  building  of  the 
foes,  He  vet  converts  us  to  His  love  and  to  faith    temple  !  " 


2.  SOLOMON.—-.'  Chron.  i.-ix. 

a.  His  Solemn  Sacrifice  at  Gibeon,  and  his  Riches. — Ch.  i. 

x.    Tltc  Sacrifice  at  Gibeon,  and  the  Dream  of  Solomon:  vers.  1-13. 

Ch.  I.    1.   And  Solomon  the  son  of  David  was  strengthened  in  his  kingdom,  and 

2  the    Lord  his  God  was  with  him,  and  magnified  him  exceedingly.     And 

Solomon  said  unto  all  Israel,  to  the  captains  of  thousands,  and  of  hundreds, 
and   to  the  judges,  and  to  every  ruler  in  all  Israel,   the  chiefs  of   houses. 

3  And  Solomon,  and  all  the  congregation  with  him,  went  to  the  high  place  that 
was  at  Gibeon  ;  for  there  was  the  tent  of  meeting  of  God,  which  Moses  the 

i  servant  of  God  had  made  in  the  wilderness.  But  the  ark  of  God  had  David 
brought  up  from  Kiriath-jearim  to  the  place  which  David  had   prepared  for 

5  it  :  for  he  had  pitched  a  tent  for  it  at  Jerusalem.  And  the  brazen  altar,  that 
Bezaleel  the  son  of  Uri,  the  son  of  Hur,  had  made,  was  there1  before  the 
tabernacle  of  the  Lord  ;    and  Solomon  and  the  congregation  sought  him. 

G  And  Solomon  offered  there  before  the  Lord,  on  the  brazen  altar  which 
belonged  to  the  tent  of  meeting  ;  and  he  offered  upon  it  a  thousand  burnt- 
offerings. 

7  In  that  night  did  God  appear  unto  Solomon,  and  said  unto  him,  Ask 

8  what  I  shall  give  thee.  And  Solomon  said  unto  God,  Thou  hast  showed 
great  mercy  unto  David  my  father,   and  hast  made  me  king  in  his  stead. 

9  Now,  0  Lord  God,  Thy  word  unto  David  my  father  must  be  true  ;  for  Thou 

10  hast  made  me  king  over  a  people  numerous  as  the  dust  of  the  earth.  Give 
me  now  wisdom  and  knowledge,  that  I  may  go  out  and  in  before  this  people; 

11  for  who  can  judge  this  Thy  great  people.  And  God  said  unto  Solomon, 
Because  this  was  in  thy  heart,  and  thou  hast  not  asked  riches,  treasures,  and 
glory,  nor  the  life  of  thine  enemies,  neither  hast  thou  asked  long  life;  but 
hast  asked  wisdom  and  knowledge  for  thyself,  that  thou  mayest  judge  my 

12  people,  over  whom  I  have  made  thee  king.  Wisdom  and  knowledge  are 
given  unto  thee,  and  riches  and  treasures  and  glory  will  I  give  thee,  such  as 
none  of  the  kings  that  were  before  thee  have  had,  and  none  after  thee  shall 

13  have  the  like.  And  Solomon  came  from2  the  high  place  that  was  at  Gibeon 
to  Jerusalem,  from  before  the  tent  of  meeting  ;  and  he  reigned  over  Israel. 8 

/3.  Solomon's  Power  anil  Wealth:  vers.  14—17. 

14  And  Solomon  gathered  chariots  and  riders  :  and  he  had  a  thousand  and 
four  hundred  chariots,  and  twelve   thousand   riders  ;  and   lie  placed  them  in 

15  the  chariot  cities,  and  with  the  king  at  Jerusalem.  And  the  king  made  silver 
and  gold  in  Jerusalem  as  stones ;  and  cedars  he  made  as  the  sycamores  that 

16  are  in  the  Shephelah  for  abundance.  And  the  export  of  horses  for  Solomon 
was  out  of  Egypt  ;  and  the  company  of  the  king's  merchants  fetched  a  troop 


164 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


17  for  a  certain  price.  And  they  brought  up,  and  took  out  of  Egypt  a  chariot 
for  six  hundred  silver  shekels,  and  a  horse  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  :  and 
they  broug  it  them  out  for  all  the  kings  of  the  Hittites  and  the  kings  of  Syria. 

So  according  to  I  he  reading  Di?,  which  is  attested  by  the  Sept,  Vulg,  some  mss.,  and  most  print*    while  fiv 
the  almost  unmeaning  DB>  (posuit  he  had  set)  the  majmltv  of  mss.  and  the  Chald  and  the  Syr.  testify. 

2  l"..e  Sept.,  Vnlg.,  Luther,  etc.,  coirectly:    HD3nO  \   the  nD3?  of  the  Masoretes,  yielding  no  tolerable    ense 

appears  to  have  crept  into  the  text  by  looking  back  at  vir.  3. 
2  the  Pescbitl  has  *  over  all  Israel;"  coinp.  1  Kings  iv.  1. 


EXttrETICAL. 

1.  Preliminary  Remark,  and  elucidation  of 
ver.  1.— The  accounts  contained  in  the  fore- 
going two  small  sections,  to  which  1  Kings  iii. 
4-15  and  x.  26-29  are  parallel,  serve  to  introduce 
the  report  of  the  building  and  dedication  of  the 
temple,  which  occupy  far  the  greatest  space  in 
the  representation  given  by  our  author  of  the 
history  of  Solomon  (i.  18-vii. ).  As  general 
superscription  is  prefixed  ver.  1.  "And  Solo- 
mon the  son  of  David  was  strengthened  in  his 
kingdom,"  properly,  "on,"  or  "with,  his  king- 
dom," iniaVj-^j; ;   comp.    btna*"^  p?nn>i. 

xvii.  1,  and  xii.  13,  xiii.  21,  xxi.  4,  wdii  di 
parallels  likewise  show  that  pjnnn,  "be  strength- 
ened," does  not  refer  to  pretenders  to  the  crown, 
by  setting  aside  of  whom  confirmation  follows  ; 
and  hence  there  is  here  no  concealed  allusion  to 
Adouijah  (1  Kings  ii.). — And  the  Lord  his  God 
was  with  him  (coinp.  1  Chron.  xi.  9),  and  magni- 
fied  him  exceedingly  ;  comp.  1  Chron.  xxix.  25, 
xxii.  5. 

2.  The  Sacrifice  at  Gibeon  :  vers.  2-6  ;  comp. 
1  Kings  iii.  4. — And  Solomon  said  unto  all  Israel, 
to  tlie  captain*,  etc.  This  addition  of  the  chiefs 
of  the  people  and  representatives  of  the  kingdom 
at  the  sacrifice  is  not  mentioned  in  the  book  of 
Kings  ;  but  the  matter  is  understood  of  itself 
\comp.  the  similar  cases  in  the  history  of  David, 
I    Chron.   xiii.    1    f.,   xxiii.   2,   xxviii.   1). — The 

chiefs  of  houses.    Before  't^XI,  ~>  is  to  be  supplied, 

as  the  whole  phrase  is  an  explanatory  apposition 

to   7X"lb',"72^. — Ver.   4.  For  there  was  the  tent 

of  meeting  of  God.  Comp.  on  1  Chron.  v.  30  ff., 
xvi.  39  f. — Ver.  4.  But  the  ark  of  God  had 
David,  etc.  ;  comp.  1  Chron.  xiii.  and  xv.  For 
the  elliptical  construction  pDH3,  to  (the  place) 

which  lie  prepared  for  it,  where  the  article  in  3 

suppU"*   the  place  of  the  relative  "lE'K,   comp. 

1  Chron.  xv.  12,  xxvi.  28;  also  Judg.  v.  27; 
Ruth  i.  5. — Ver.  5.  And  the  brazen  altar  .  .  . 
was  there,  before  the  tabernacle  of  the  Lord,  that 
is,  the  Gibeonite  sanctuary  was  still  the  legal,  as 
it  were  the  official  and  historically  rightful  place 
tor  burnt -offeiings:  comp.  1  Chron.  xxi.  29  f., 
where,  on  the  occasion  of  the  choice  of  the  floor 
of  Oman  on  Moriah  for  a  place  of  burnt-offering, 
it  is  shown  why  David  could  not  go  to  Gibeon  to 
offer  there.  On  Bezaleel's  construct  ion  of  the  brazen 
(copper)  altar  of  burnt-offering,  see  Ex.  xxxi.  2, 
xxxvii.  1.     On  the  reading  Qty,  as  undoubtedly 

T 

to  be  preferred  to  the  Masoretic  rjg;  (which  arose 


from  an  unwarranted  reference  to  Ex.  xl.  29),  see 
Crit.  Note.  —  And  Solomon  and  the  congregation 
sought  him,    the    Lord,    not    the    altar ;    comp. 

D\"6k  Bn<|,   l  Chron.  xxi.  30  ;  2  Chron.   xv.   2. 

Yet,  for  the  reference  of  the  verb  to  the  altar,  may 
be  quoted  (Luther:  "was  wont  to  seek  it"),  at  all 
events.  Amos  v.  5  ;  comp.  also  1  Chron.  xxi.  28. — 
Ver.  6.  There  before  the  Lord,  on  the  brazen  altar 
which  was  at  the  tent  of  meeting.     In  the  Heb. , 

rtfi"P  'JQ?  stands  before  the  relative  sentence 
TjriD  'PHX?  "IC'S-  Because  the  altar  of  burnt- 
offering  had  its  place  before  the  tabernacle  (Ex. 
xl.  6),  it  is  designated  as  belonging  to  it ;  comp. 
1  Kings  vi.  22. 

3.  God's  Revelation  to  Solomon  :  vers.  7-13  : 
comp.  1  Kings  iii.  5-15. — In  that  night,  that 
followed  the  offering.  That  the  manifestation  of 
God  to  Solomon  was  effected  by  a  nocturnal 
vision,  seems  at  least  to  be  indicated  here,  but  is 
expressly  stated  in  1  Kings  iii.  5,  15. — Ver.  8. 
Thou  hast  showed  great  mercy  nnto  David  my 
father.  The  fuller  speech  of  Solomon  in  1  Kings 
iii.  6-10  appears  here  (vers.  8-10)  much  abbre- 
viated.— Ver.  9.  Thy  word  .  .  .  must  be  true, 
properly,  "must  be  established";  comp.  1  Chron. 
xvii.  23;  2  Chron.  vi.  17;  1  Kings  viii.  26. — Ver. 
10.   Give  me  now  wisdom  and  knowledge.       jhq 

(herewith  Pattach  in  the  second  syllable;  else- 
where JHD;  aui0  vers.  11,  12)  denotes  knowledge. 

insight,  and  is  found,  besides  the  present  passage, 
only  in  Dan.  i.  4,  17  and  Eccl.  x.  20.  —  T7iut  I 
may  go  out  and  in  before  this  people,  "  may  know 
all  that  belongs  thereto,  may  worthily  govern  and 
defend  them"  (Starke);  the  phrase,  reminding  us 
of  Dent.  xxxi.  2,  1  Sam.  xviii.  13,  16,  1  Kings 
iii.  7,  denotes  the  unchecked  public  activity  of 
the  king  toward  his  people. — Ver.  11.  Because 
this  was  iu  thy  heart ;  comp.  1  Chron.  xxii.  7. — 
Riches,  treasures,  and  glory.  The  same  combina- 
tion appears   in   Eccl.   vi.   2  ;   Q'DSJ,    treasures, 

also  in  Eccl.  v.  18  (with  i^'y)  and  Josh,  xxii   8. 

— Ver.  12.  Wisdom  .  .  .  given  to  thee.  The  con- 
struction ?p  [>J"|3,  as  in  Esth.  iii.  11  (1  Kings  iii. 

12,  nsn,  with  the  perf.  »J!|n3).      In  the  following 

words,  the  Lord  promises  to  Solomon  riches, 
treasures,  and  glory  indeed,  but  not  long  life,  as 
in  1  Kings  iii.  14.  Whether  this  omission  is  in- 
tentional ^because  Solomon,  on  account  of  his 
subsequent  fall,  did  not  attain  to  old  age)  appears 
doubtful  in  the  condensing  manner  of  our  author, 
which  shows  itself  even  in  this  promise  of  the 
Lord.       On   the   ethical  -eudasmonistic    seutenci 


CHAR  I.  18-11. 


165 


contained  in  vers.  11,  12  may  be  compared  tin; 
wold  of  Christ  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount:  "Seek 

yc  liist,"etc,  Matt.  v.  32. — Ver.  13.  And  Salomon 
came  from  the  high  place.  On  the  correctness  of 
this  reading  (nD3HD),  see  Crit.  Note.  The  fol- 
lowing addition :  "from  the  tent  of  meeting, "  which 
appears  superfluous  after  "from  the  high  place," 
points  again  to  the  Gibeonite  place  of  offering, 
and  to  the  legal  validity  of  the  offerings  presented 
there.  Of  the  burnt  and  peace  offerings,  with  the 
sacrificial  feast,  1  Kings  iii.  15,  on  the  return  of 
Solomon  to  Jerusalem  before  the  ark,  our  author 
makes  no  mention,  not  because  in  his  view  the 
offering  presented  at  the  brazen  altar  in  Gibeon 
only  had  legal  validity  (as  Tbenius  thinks,  in 
defiance  of  the  express  statements  of  our  author, 
1  Chron.  xxi.  IS,  26  ff.),  but  simply  because  these 
offerings,  as  well  as  the  history  there  following 
(1  Kings  iii.  26-28)  of  the  strife  between  the  two 
women,  and  its  settlement  by  the  wise  judgment 
of  Solomon,  appeared  to  be  of  no  special  import- 
ance for  his  plan  (chiefly  regarding  the  brilliant, 
glorious,  and  magnificent  features  of  Solomon's 
administration). — And  he  reigned  over  Israel. 
These  closing  words  of  our  verse  are  introductory 
to  what  follows,  and  would  stand  more  suitably  at 
the  head  of  the  following  section,  vers.  14-17,  as 
they  are  found,  1  Kings  iv.  1,  in  this  more  suit- 
able position,  and  are  there  enlarged  by  the 
addition   of  -pg  before  PX"1L"\  which   the    Syr. 

exhibits  here  (see  Crit.  Note). 

4.  Solomon's  Power  and  Wealth:  vers.  14-17. — 
This  short  account  of  that  which  Solomon  had  in 
chariots,  riders,  and  treasures,  the  Chronist  pre- 
sents as  proof  of  the  instant  fulfilment  of  the 
promise  of  God  to  him  in  this  passage,  while  in 
1  Kings  x.  26-29  it  is  found  near  the  close  of  the 
reign  of  Solomon  (parallel  to  the  fuller  account  of 
a  similar  nature  in  2  Chron.  ix.  13  ft'.).  That 
accordingly  that  which  is  here  recorded  by  our 
author  is  adduced  a  second  time,  the  first  time 
partly  abbreviated,  partly  completed  by  additions 
(see  ix.  25-28),  Thenius  (on  1  Kings  x.  26  ff.) 
explains  by  the  assumption  of  a  second  occurrence 
of  the  section  in  his  sources,  and  an  inadvertent 
admission  of  both  accounts,  the  identity  of  which 


was  discovered  too  late.      More  correctly,   Berth., 

Keil,  etc.,  explain  that  the  Chronist  used  his 
sources  in  a  free  an  1  independent  way,  and  ac- 
cordingly of  purpose  admitted  the  partial  repeti- 
tion of  the  present  account  in  eh.  ix.  25  If. — And 
hf  placed  them  in  the  charitit  cities.  Instead  of 
DrnsV  "laid  them"  (so  also  ix.   25      stands  ill 

1   Kings  x.    26   less  definitely:  Qn^V   "and    he 

brought  them  "  ;  with  regard  to  the  number  of 
the  chariots  (1400)  and  riders  (12,000),  the  two 
texts  agree.  The  "chariot,  cities"  are  cities  in 
which  the  chariots  and  riders  were  stationed. 
They  probably  lay,  partly  near  rich  pasture 
grounds,  partly  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Egypt, 
principally  in  the  south  of  the  country  ;  and 
the  conjecture  that  the  Simeouite  towns  Beth- 
marehaboth  and  Hazar-susim  (1  Chron.  iv.  31) 
belonged  to  them  (Then.,  Berth.,  Kamph.)  is  on 
this  account  the  more  probable.  —  Ver.  15.  And 
the  king  made  silver  and  gold  in  Jerusalem  as 
stones.    That  the  words  "and  gold"  (3n?vnXl). 

which  are  wanting  in  the  parallels  ix.  27  and 
1  Kings  x.  27,  are  to  be  erased,  with  the  Pesch., 
in  our  passage  also  is  very  improbable  ;  and  the 
Sept.  and  Vulg.  testify  for  their  genuineness  in 
this  place.  For  h,  coinp.  on  1  Chron.  xxvii.  28. 
— Ver.  16.  And  the  export  of  horses  for  Solomon, 
properly,  "which  belonged  to  Solomon." — The 
company  of  the  king's  merchants  fetched  a  troop 
for  a  certain  price.  Even  so  1  Kings  x.  28,  only 
that   for   the    nipD    there    Xipo  is   here   twice 

written.  For  the  correct  understanding  of  the 
passage,  see  Bahr,  Bibelw.  vol.  vii.  p.  103. — 
Ver.  17.  And  they  brought  up,  and  took  out.  of 
Egypt;  1   Kings  x.  29:  "and  there  was   fetched 

and  brought  out  "   (KSFIl  n?>ni   instead  of  our 

IN^'Vl   vJJ'l).   otherwise  literally  as  our  passage, 

except  that,  perhaps  by  a  corruption  of  the  text, 

the  p  here  wanting  before  OIK  »3po   is  rightly 

supplied.  For  the  exposition,  see  also  Bahr  as 
above. 


Ch.  i.  18 

1 


b.  The  Bun. dint,  and  the  Dedication  ok  the  Temple.— Ch.  i.  18-vii. 
Treaty  with  the  Phoenician  King,  and  Preparations  for  Building:  ch.  i.  18— ii. 

18.   And  Solomon  determined  to  build  a  house  for  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and 


a  house  for  his  kingdom.  Ch.  II.  And  Solomon  told  out  seventy  thousand 
men  to  bear  burdens,  and  eighty  thousand  to  hew  in  the  mountain,  and  three 
thousand  and  six  hundred  to  oversee  them. 

2  And  Solomon  sent  to  Huram  the  king  of  Tyre,  saying,  As  thou  didst 
with  David  my  father,  and  sentest  him  cedars  to  build  him  a  house  to  dwell 

3  in,  so  do  also  with  me.  Behold,  I  build  a  house  to  the  name  of  the  Lord  my 
God,  to  dedicate  it  to  Him,  to  offer  sweet  incense  before  Him,  and  the  shew- 
bread  continually,  and  the  burnt-offerings  for  the  morning  and  the  evening, 
on  the  Sabbaths  and  the  new  moons,  and  the  feasts  of  the  LuRD  our  God  : 

4  for  ever  this  is  ordained  for  Israel.     And  the  house  which  I  build  is  great  ; 

5  for  our  God  is  greater  than  all  gods.  But  who  is  able  to  build  Him  a  house  1 
For  the  heaven,  and  huaven  of  heavens,  cannot  contain  Him  ;  and  who  am  I, 

6  that  I  should  build  Him  a  house,  but  to  offer  incense  before  Him  !  And 
now  send  uie  a  wise  man  to  work  in  gold,  and  silver,  and  brass,  and  iron,  and 


1  If-. 


[I.  CHRONICLES. 


in  purple,  and  crimson,  ami  blue,  and  who  knoweth  to  make  graven  work 
with  the  wise  men  that  are  with  me  in  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  whom  David 

7  my  father  appointed.  And  send  me  cedar-trees,  cypresses,  and  sandal-wood 
out  of  Lebanon  ;  for  I  know  that  thy  servants  can  cut  timber  in  Lebanon  ; 

8  and,  behold,  my  servants  shall  be  with  thy  servants.  And  shall  prepare  me 
wood  in  abundance  ;  for  the  house  which  I  build  is  to  be  great  and  wonderful. 

9  And,  behold,  for  the  hewers,  who  fell  the  trees,  I  give  of  wheat  as  food l  foi 
thy  servants,  twenty  thousand  cors,  and  of  barley  twenty  thousand  cors,  and 
of  wine  twenty  thousand  baths,  and  of  oil  twenty  thousand  baths. 

10  And  Huram  king  of  Tyre  answered  in  a  letter,  and  sent  to  Solomon: 
Because  the  Lord  loveth  His  people,  He  hath  set  thee  over  them  as  king. 

11  And  Huram  said,  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  that  made  heaven  and 
earth,  who  hath  given  to  David  the  king  a  wise  son,  endued  with  prudence  and 
understanding,  that  may  build  a  house  for  the  LORD,  and  a  house  for  his  king- 

12,  13  dom.  And  now  I  send  a  wise  man  of  understanding,  Huram  my  father,  son 
of  a  woman  of  the  daughters  of  Dan  ;  and  his  father  was  a  Tyrian,  who  can 
work  in  gold,  and  silver,  in  brass,  in  iron,  in  stone,  and  wood,  in  purple,  blue, 
and  byssus,  and  crimson,  and  can  do  all  graving,  and  devise  every  device  that 
is  given  to  him  with  thy  wise  men,  and  the  wise  men  of  my  lord  David  thy 

14  father.     And   now  the  wheat  and   the  barley,  the   oil   and   the  wine,  which 

15  my  lord  spake  of,  let  him  send  his  servants.  And  we  shall  fell  timber  out  of 
Lebanon  according  to  all  thy  need,  and  bring  it  to  thee  in  floats  to  the  sea  of 
.Toppa,  and  thou  shalt  take  it  up  to  Jerusalem. 

lfi  And  Solomon  counted  all  the  men  that  were  strangers  in  the  land  of 
Israel,  after  the  number  which  David  his  father  had  counted,  and  they  were 
found   to  be  a  hundred   and  fifty   thousand,  and   three  thousand  and   six 

1 7  hundred.  And  he  made  seventy  thousand  of  them  bearers  of  burdens,  and 
eighty  thousand  hewers  in  the  mountain,  and  three  thousand  and  six  hundred 
overseers  to  keep  the  people  at  work. 

1  .vo  acvoi'dinK  ro  the  probable  correct  reading  J"v30  C~  H?2XD),  us  ihe  parallel  1  Kings  v.  2o  exhibits  it  for 
the  unmeaning  H130  ("wheat  cri  beating,"  '"beaten-our  wheat"?). 


EXEfiETIOAL. 

1.  Transition  from  the  Foregoing  to  the  Keport 
of  the  building  of  the  Temple  :  eh.  i.  18-ii.  1. — 
And  Solomon  determined  to  build.  So  according 
to  the  Vulg.,  Luther,  and  most  of  the  ancients, 
while  some  moderns,  as  Berth.,  Kaniph.,  take  \ 
IDXi  with  allusion  to  ch.  i.  2,  1  Chron.  xxi.  17,  I 
in  the  sense  of  "command."  The  context,! 
especially  the  circumstance  that  instead  of  the 
execution  of  the  building  itself  only  preparations  i 
for  it  follow,  favours  the  older  view. — A  house 
tor  the  name  of  the  Lord  (comp.  1  Kings  v.  17), 
and  a  house  for  his  kingdom,  that  is,  a  royal 
palace  for  himself,  the  building  of  which  is  not 
more  particularly  described  (as  1  Kings  vii.  1-12), 
but  which  is  mentioned  several  times,  as  ch.  ii. 
11.  vii.  11,  viii.  1. — Ch.  ii.  1.  And  Solomon  told 
out  seventy  thousand,  etc.  This  statement,  re- 
clining, vers.  16,  17,  in  another  connection,  and 
in  a  fuller  and  more  definite  form,  concerning  the 
7(1,000  +  80,000  +  3600,  in  all  153,600,  workmen 
to  whom  Solomon  committed  the  labours  pre- 
liminary to  the  building  of  the  temple,  stands 
here  in  briefer  form,  to  indicate  beforehand  the 
magnitude  of  the  measures  undertaken  by  the 
king 

2.  Solomon's  Embassy  to  Huram  of  Tyre  :  vers. 
2-9  ;  comp.  1  Kings  v.  15-26,  which  account, 
agreeing  with  the  present  in  all  essential  respects, 


partly  indeed  to  the  letter,  is  opened  with  a 
notice  of  an  embassy  sent  first  by  Huram  to 
Solomon  (to  congratulate  him  on  his  accession  to 
the  throne),  which  our  author  has  omitted  as  not 
sufficiently  important. — And  Solomon  sent  to 
Huram  king  of  Tyre.  On  the  three  forms  of 
the  name,  Huram  (Chron.),  Hiram  (1  Kings  v. 
15),  and  Hirom  (1  Kings  v.  2-1,  32,  vii.  40),  of 
which  the  last  (in  Menander  in  Joseph,  c.  Ap.  i. 
18,  21  :  Eip-jfias  •  in  Herod  and  Syncell. :  tipvfta;) 
appears  to  be  the  most  original,  comp.  Bahr  on 
1  Kings  v.  15,  where,  with  justice,  the  doubts  of 
Clericus,  Thenius,  Ew.,  Berth.,  etc.,  regarding 
the  identity  of  the  present  Huram  witli  the  like- 
named  contemporary  and  friend  of  David,  are  set 
aside.  Hitz  g  (Clench,  des  V.  Isr.  p.  10  ;  comp.  p. 
155)  gives  as  the  probable  time  of  the  reign  of 
Huram  or  Hirom,  1031-1000  B.C.  (?).—  As  thou 
didst  with  David  my  father,  and  sentest  him 
cedars;  comp.  1  Chron.  xiv.  1.  The  consequent  to 
this  antecedent  is  wanting;  according  to  ver.  6  f., 
it  must  run  thus  :  "So  do  also  to  me,  and  seud 
me  cedars. "  This  construction  is  like  that  else- 
where after  asseverations  and  oaths  ;  comp.  also 
Ps.  lvi.  7b  (Ew.  §§  355,  356).  Moreover,  in  the 
parallel  account  1  Kings  v.  16  ff.,  Solomon  uoes 
not  expressly  remind  Hiram  of  the  aid  which  he 
had  already  given  to  his  father  David,  but  only 
of  this,  that  David  had  been  prevented  by  his 
wars   from  executing  the  project  of  building   thf 


CHAP.  II.  8-11. 


liiT 


temple.  Hence  it  is  clear,  from  the  various 
differences  between  the  present  and  the  previous 
form  of  the  letter  of  Solomon,  that  it  is  not  an 
authentic  original  document  that  is  here  given, 
but  the  result  of  free  handling  of  the  fundamental 
thoughts  of  older  sources  by  the  one  as  well  as 
the  other  writer.  —  Ver.  3.  Behold,  I  build, 
literally,  "  Behold  me  building,"  future  of  state  ; 
see  Ew.  §  306,  d. — To  offer  sweet  incense  before 

fltm,  literally,  "to  perfume,"  "vopn^,  with  which 

infinitive  (defining  the  foregoing  C',TIpn7  more 

exactly)  are  zeugmatieally  connected  the  other 
objects  named,  " shew-breod "  and  "burnt-offer- 
ing." For  t lie  "  sweet  incense  "  and  its  burning 
every  morning  and  evening  on  the  altar  of  in- 
:ense,  comp.  Ex.  xxv.  6,  xxx.  7  f.  ;  for  the 
continual  laying  of  shew-bread  (TOH  n3"IJ?D), 

Ex.  xxv.  30  ;  for  the  burnt-ottering  to  be  made 
every  morning  and  evening,  and  on  Sabbaths, 
new  moons,  and  feast  days,  Num.  xxviii.  29  and 

I  Chron,  xxiii.  31. — For  ever  this  is  ordained  far 
Israel;  comp.  the  passage  already  cited,  1  Chron. 

xxiii.  31,  and  the  Q71JJ  rrarp  often  occurring  in 

tile  law,  for  example,  Num.  xix.  10. — On  ver.  4, 
comp.  1  Chron.  xxix.  1,  and  Ex.  xviii.  11,  Dent, 
x.  17. — Ver.  5.  But  who  is  able,  literally,  "who 
will  show  power;"  comp.  1  Chron.  xxix.  14.  On 
the  following  asseveration  :  "  the  heaven,  and 
heaven  of  heavens,  cannot  contain  Him,"  comp. 
Solomon's  prayer  at  the  dedication  of  the  temple, 
eh.  vi.  18  ;  1  Kings  viii.  27.  Obviously  we  have 
here  a  favourite  saying  of  Solomon  the  theologian 
and  philosopher:  that  our  author  has  here,  of 
his  own  will,  put  this  formula  in  his  mouth  is 
improbable. — And  who  am  I,  that  I  should  build 

II  im  'i  house,  but  to  offer,  etc.;  that  is,  not  a 
house  for  dwelling  in,  but  only  for  sacrifice  and 
worship  i  the  incense,  as  symbol  of  prayer,  is  here 
mentioned  instead  of  all  offerings),  may  we  build 
for  Jehovah. — Ver.  6.  And  now  send  me  a  wise 
mnn  skilful,  see  ver.  12  ;  1  Chron.  xxii.  15  ; 
Ex.  xxxi.  6)  to  work  in  nold.  That,  besides  the 
works  in  brass  and  other  metals,  as  they  were 
actually  executed  by  the  craftsmen  here  men- 
tioned, according  to  eh.  iv.  11-16  and  1  Kings 
vii.  13  ff. ,  skill  also  in  weaving  purple,  hewing 
stone,  and  carving  wood  is  ascribed  to  them, 
need  not  seem  strange  in  Solomon's  letter.  But 
it  seems  surprising  that,  ver.  13,  King  Hurani 
also  in  his  reply  makes  him  exercise  all  these 
srafts.  Yet  ancient  history  knows  several  in- 
stances of  universal  genius  in  art  ;  comp. 
Ihelalus,  and  one  Tutilo  in  St.  Call  of  the 
Christian  times.      On  purple  (|1J-|K,    later  form 

"'"  JDJ1S)'  comp.  Ex.  xxv.  4  ;  Dan.  v.  7  ;  on 
crimson  (J*Q13  only  here,  ver.  13,  and  iii.  14, 
probably  an  old  Persic  word),  the  »yj-  ni'TOFl 
elsewhere  used  to  denote  this  fabric  ;  on  blue  or 
violet  (n?3Jl).  Ex.  xxv.  4. — And  who  knoweth  to 

make  ura cm  work,  literally,  "to grave gravings," 

here  of  every  kind  of  sculpture  in  metal  or  wood 

(comp.    ri"Fl3"^2.   ver.  13  ;  also  1  Kings  vi.  29)  ; 

elsewhere,  specially  of  graving  precious  stones, 
Ex.   xxviii.   9,   11,  36,   xxxix.  6  ;  Zech.   iii.  9.  — 


With  the  wise  men,  etc.;  cump.  1   Chron    x.\i:    3, 
15,  xxviii.  21.     In  construction,  D'cSniTDJ,'  goes 


wit   nit; 


v<>. 


:  to  work. 


-Ver.  7.    Anil  send  «/< 


.   .   .  sandal-wood  out  of  Lebanon.    If  the  alguin- 

wood(Q<Q!|J7}<"*VV)  'a'"-'  "allied  along  with  cedui'S 

and  cypresses    be  actually  sandal -wood,    which, 

in  the  obvious  identity  of  its  name  with  QVjo^X- 

1  Kings  x.  11,  can  scarcely  be  doubted,  our 
author,  in  allowing  it  to  come  from  Lebanon, 
inv  lives  Solomon  in  an  inaccuracy  (at  least  ii. 
expression)  ;  for,  according  to  his  own  later  state- 
ment (ch.  ix.  10;  1  Chron.  x.  11),  algums  be- 
longed rather  to  the  products  of  Ophir.  —  Ver.  8. 

Prepare  me  wood  in  abundance  ;  the  infin.  pan"} 

is  the  continuation  of  the  imperat.   <p  r)?2',   ver. 

7;  Keil's  attempt  to  subordinate  it  to  the  previous 
clause  is  too  artificial  :  "to  prepare  for  me  wood 
in  abundance."  On  b,  comp.  ver.  4.—  Ver.  9. 
And,  behold,  for  the  hewers,   who  felt  the  trees. 

W2'drb  (with  introductory  *?)  is  more  exactly 
defined  by  the  added  D^'i'D  Mnb?i  Mid  for  this 

reason,  that  2un  (=  the  afterwards  more  usual 
3iTI  ;  comp.  vers  1,  17)  appears  to  our  author  to 
need  interpretation  ;  comp.  besides,  for  3un. 
Deut.  xxix.  10;  Josh.  ix.  21,  23,  27. — /  (jive 
ii-h.  at  as  food  for  thy  servants.  For  n?3D  in- 
stead of  the  defective    ni3D,    see  frit.  Note. — 

Twenty  thousand  cars,  hi  this  enumeration  ot 
the  provisions  in  grain,  wine,  and  oil  ottered  by 
Solomon,  our  report  seems  to  be  more  detailed 
than  the  parallel  1  Kings  v.  25,  which  reports 
only  20,000  cors  of  wheat  for  the  household  of 
king  Hiram,  and  twenty  cors  of  the  finest 
(beaten)  oil  for  the  same,  as  given  by  Solomon. 
But,  in  truth,  the  two  passages  speak  of  quite 
different  supplies:  there  of  a  yearly  contribution, 
which  Solomon  paid  to  the  Tyrian  king  during 
the  building  at  Tyre,  but  here  of  the  provisions 
which  he  sent  to  the  woodcutters  placed  at  his 
disposal  by  Huram  in  Lebanon  (so  correctly  Keil 
and  Bohr  on  1  Kings  v.  25  ;  otherwise  Thenius, 
Bertheau,  etc.,  who  here  find  statements  that  are 
partly  contradictory). 

3.  Huram's  Answer  :  vers.  10-15  ;  comp.  1  Kings 
v.  21-25. — Because  the  Lord  loceth  J I  is  people, 
etc.  Instead  of  this  compliment  (eump.  ch.  ix.  8  . 
1  Kings  x.  9),  in  the  parallel  text  1  Kings  v.  22, 
Hiram  begins  his  letter  immediately  with  the 
declaration  :  "  I  have  heard  the  tilings  the-' 
sentest  to  me  for."  On  the  contrary,  an  expres- 
sion of  joy  concerning  Solomon's  message  as  oral!* 
given  by  Hiram  precedes  the  composing  and  send- 
ing of  the  reply. — Ver.  11  Ami  Huram  said, 
namely,   as  in  the  foregoing  verse  ;    3DD3,    "  i" 

writing." — Blessed  be  the  Lord  .  .  .  that  matle 
heaven  ami  earth.  Are  we  to  see  in  this  doxology 
of  the  Phoenician  king,  readily  following  into 
Solomon's  religious  thought  and  phrase  (which 
rises  above  that  in  1  Kings  v.  21),  the  product  ol 
a  half-poetic  fiction,  after  the  manner  of  a  writer 
after  the  exile  (as  Dan.  ii.  28,  iii.  29  ff.,  iv.  31 
ff.)?      It   is  perhaps    more   natural    to    take   iut« 


168 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


account  here  partly  the  courtesies  in  expression, 
tfhich  friendly  sovereigns  might  ami  must  use, 
partly  the  community  of  speech,  and  even  of 
religious  tradition,  which  existed  between  the 
Phoenicians  and  Hebrews. — A  ivise  son  endowed 
with  prudence  and  understanding  J  comp.  1  Clii'on. 
xii.   32,   xxii.  12. — Ver.   12.   Huram  my  father. 

The  introductory  p  before  the  accusative,  as  ch. 

v.  26.     Luther  takes  »3j{  for  an  element  of  the 

proper  name  of  the  craftsman,  who  was  called 
Hnrim-abi  (or,  ch.  iv.  16,  Huram-abiv).  Most  of 
the  ancients  as  well  as  moderns  take  it  here,  as 
in  ch.  iv.  16,  as  a  tropical  appellative  or  name  of 
honour  =  master,  by  comparison  with  Gen.  xlv.  8. 
— Ver.  13.  The  son  of  a  woman  of  the  daughters 
of  Dan,  that  is,  perhaps  the  city  Dan  in  the  tribe 
of  Naphtali ;  see  1  Kings  vii.  14  and  the  ex- 
positors on  this  passage,  especially  Thenius  and 
liahr,  whereas  certainly  Keil  (with  Berth., 
Kamph. ,  etc.)  defends  the  more  difficult  and 
artificial  assumption,  that  the  mother  of  this 
craftsman  belonged  by  birth  to  the  tribe  of  Dan, 
but  by  her  first  husband  to  that  of  Naphtali. — 
Who  can  work  in  gold,  etc.  The  Phoenician  king 
enhances  the  praise  of  his  craftsman  by  recount- 
ing a  still  greater  number  of  crafts  than  those 
mentioned  by  Solomon,  ver.  6.  Hence  the  \ 
mention  of  stone  and  wood  (after  brass  and  iron), 
of  byssus  (|'i2.  us  1  Chron.  xv.  27),  and  of 
"devising  every  device  that  is  given  to  him." 
Comp.  for  the  last  phrase,  the  remarks  made,  Ex. 
xxxi.  4,  xxxv.  33,  on  Bezaleel.  —  On  ver.  14,  comp. 
ver.  9  ;  the  there  expressed  offer  by  Solomon  of 
food  for  his  people  Huram  expressly  accepts. — ' 
Ver.  15.  According  to  all  thy  need.    *pV{,  "need," 

only  here  in  the  Old  Test,  (in  Aram,  very  c  m- 
mon)  ;  likewise  the  following  nilbSI,  "floats," 

for  which,  1  Kings  v.  23,  JV13M.  —  To  the  sea  of 

Joppa,  the  sea  at  Joppa,  the  port  of  Jerusalem. 
Also,  with  respect  to  this  reply  of  Huram,  and  its 
relation  to  the  often-deviating  parallel  text  1 
Kings  v.  21  11'.,  the  above  remark  (ver.  2)  on 
the  two  texts  of  the  letter  of  Solomon  applies. 
Neither  text  is  wholly  independent  of  the  other, 
and  neither  coincides  exactly  with  a  presumed 
original.  Both  exhibit  certainly  a  freely  imitat- 
ing or  rather  extracting  (partly  also  interpolating ; 
Bee  especially  the  additions  made  by  our  author, 
ver.   13)  treatment  of  the  original  text;  as  also 


Josephus,  Antiq.  viii.  2.  6  f.,  in  his  rendering  ol 
the  pieces,  generally  agrees  witli  1  Kings  v.. 
bat  allows  himself  many  peculiar  forms  of  its 
language.  The  statements  of  this  historian,  that 
the  ivr'iypzf*  of  the  two  letters  were  extant  both 
in  the  Old  Testament  and  in  the  public  archives 
of  Tyre  (Antig.  viii.  2.  8),  mult  therefore  be 
received  cum  grano  salis,  and  must  refer  not  so 
much  to  the  form  as  to  the  substance  of  the  docu- 
ments. Eupolemus,  in  Euseb.  Prcep.  evamg.  ii. 
33,  34,  has  copied  still  more  freely  than  Josephus 
the  correspondence  between  Solomon  and  Hiram. 
4.  Expanded  Repetition  of  the  Number  of 
"Workmen  stated  in  ver.  1  :  vers.  16,  17. — And 
Solomon  counted  all  the  men  that  were  strangers 
in  the  land  of  Israel,  all  the  serfs  of  Canaan - 
itish  descent  under  the  people  of  Israel  ;  comp. 
1  Citron,  xxii.  2,  to  which  place  there  is  here 
express  reference  (by  the  following  words  : 
"after  the  number  [133,    'muster,'   only   here 

in  0.  T.]  which  David  his  father  had  counted  "). 
— Ver.  17.  Tlie  eighty  thousand  "hewers"  (2VH) 

in  the  mountain  are  chiefly  to  be  regarded  as 
hewers  of  stone  (comp.  1  Chron.  xxii.  2),  but 
partly  as  fellers  of  timber. — And  three  thousand 
and  six  hundred  overseers  (Q>nX30;  comp.  Ezra 

iii.  8,  9),  to  keep  the  people  at  work,  "to  make 
them  work " ;  comp.  Ex.  vi.  5.  With  the 
present  statements  of  the  number  of  workmen 
levied  by  Solomon  agree  those  contained  iu 
1  Kings  v.  27-30,  with  two  points  of  difference  : 
— 1.  Of  the  30,000  socagers  levied  out  of  Israel 
itself,  there  first  named,  that  were  te  cut  timbers 
successively  in  three  parties  of  10, 0(  0  each,  our 
text  says  nothing,  as  the  enumeration  of  our 
author  is  perhaps  confined  intentionally  to  the 
q<-)3,   perhaps,   however,   through   a   mistake  in 

quite  overlooking  the  statement  in  q.  estion;  2. 
instead  of  3600  overseers,  the  author  of  1  Kings 
v.  30  names  only  3300  ;  perhaps  lie  had  only  in 
view  those  of  lower  rank,  and  not  the  higher, 
who,  according  to  1  Kings  ix.  23,  amounted  in 
all  to  550,  namely,  250  Israelites  (2  Chron.  viii. 
10)  and  300  strangers.  As  the  Chronist  men- 
tions here  only  the  strangers,  he  enumerates  only 
these  3000  non-Israelite  upper  overseers,  and 
thus  arrives  at  the  total  of  3600   QTISJO-     He 

was  aware  also  of  the  existence  of  250  Israelite 
upper  overseers,  as  is  clear  from  ch.  viii.  40  ot 
our  book. 


Ii.    The  Building  of  the  Temple,  rind  Making  of  the  Holy  Vessels  :  ch.  iii.  1-v.  1. 

Uh.  III.   1.  And  Solomon  began  to  build  the  house  of  the  Lord  at  Jerusalem  on 
mount  Moriah,  which  was  shown  to  his  father  David,  and  which  he  had  pre- 

2  pared  in  the  place  of  David,  in  the  floor  of  Oman  the  Jebusite.  And  he 
began  to  build  in  the  second  month,  on  the  second1  day  in  the  fourth  year  ol 
his  reign. 

3  And  this  is  the  foundation  of  Solomon,  to  build  the  house  of  God  :  the 
length  after  the  former  measure  was  sixty  cubits,  and  the  breadth  twenty 

4  cuhits.  And  the  porch  that  was  before  the  length,  before  the  breadth  of  the 
house,  was  twenty  cubits,  and  the  height  a  hundred  and  twenty*'  ;  and  h 

5  overlaid  it  within  with  pure  gold.     And  the  great  house  he  lined  with  cypress, 

6  and  overlaid  it  with  fine  gold,  and  made  thereon  palms  and  garjands-  And 
hi-  garnished  the  house  with  precious  stones  for  beauty  ;  and  the  gold  was 


CHAP,  ill.-v.  i.  it;g 


7  gold  of  Parvaim.  And  he  overlaid  the  house,  the  beams,  the  sills,  and  its 
walls  and  its  doors,  with  gold,  and  graved  cherubim  on  the  walls. 

8  And  In;  made  the  house  of  the  most  holy,  that  its  length  before  the 
breadth  of  the  house  was  twenty  cubits,  and  its  width  twenty  cubits;  and 

9  overlaid  it  with  tine  gold,  to  six  hundred  talents.  And  the  weight  of  the 
nails  was  fifty  shekels  of  gold  :  and  he  overlaid  the  upper  rooms  with  gold. 

10  And   he   made   in   the  house  of  the   most  holy  two  cherubim  of  sculptured 

11  work,  ami  overlaid  them  with  gold.  And  the  wings  of  the  cherubim  were 
twenty  cubits  long;  the  wing  of  the  one  was  five  cubits,  touehing  the  wall  of 
the  house,  and  the  other  wing  five  cubits,  touching  the  wing  of  the  c'J'CT 

12  cherub.  And  the  wing  of  the  other  cherub  was  rive  cubits,  touching  the.  wall 
of  the   house,  and  the  other  wing  five   cubits,  joining  the  wing  of  the  first 

13  cherub.  The  wings  of  these  cherubim  spread  forth  twenty  cubits;  and  they 
Stood  on  their  feet,  and  their  faces  to  the  house. 

14  And  he  made  the  veil  of  blue,  and  purple,  and  crimson,  and  byssus,  and 
raised  cherubim  thereon. 

15  And  he  made  before  (hi'  house  two  pillars  of  thirty  and  five3  cubits  height; 
1G  and  the  capital  that  was  on  the  top  was  five  cubits.     And  he  made  chains  in 

the  ring,4  and  put  them  on  the  pillars  ;  and  he  made  a  hundred  pomegranates, 

17  and  put  them  on  the  chains.     And   he  set  up  the  pillars  before  the  temple, 

one  on  the  right  and  one  on  the  left ;  and  he  called  the  name  of  the  right 

pillar  Jachin,  and  the  name  of  the  left  Boaz. 

Ch.  IV.  1.   And   he   made   an   altar  of  brass,   twenty  cubits  its  length,  and  twenty 

2  cubits  its  breadth,  and  twenty  cubits  its  height.  And  he  made  the  sea 
molten  ;  ten  cubits  from  brim  to  brim,  round  about,  and  five  cubits  its  height; 

3  and  a  line  of  thirty  cubits  compassed  it  about.  And  figures  of  oxen5  were 
under  it,  compassing  it  round  about ;  ten  in  a  cubit,  encircling  the  sea  around  : 

4  two  rows  the  oxen  formed,  east  out  of  its  mass.  It  stood  upon  twelve  oxen, 
three  looking  northward,  and  three  looking  westward,  and  three  looking 
southward,  and  three  looking  eastward  ;  and  the  sea  was  set  on  them  above, 

5  and  all  their  hinder  parts  were  inwards.  And  its  thickness  was  a  hand- 
breadth,  and  its  brim  was  wrought  like  the  brim  of  a  cup,  as  a  lily  blossom, 

6  holding  in  it  (many)  baths  ;  it  contained  three  thousand.8  And  he  made  ten 
lavers,  and  put  five  on  the  right  and  five  on  the  left,  to  wash  in  them  ;  the 
work  of  the  burnt-offering  they  washed  in  them  ;  but  the  sea  was  for  the 

7  priests  to  wash  in.      And   he  made  ten  candlesticks  of  gold,  after  their  plan, 

8  and  set  them  in  the  temple,  five  on  the  right  and  five  on  the  left.  And  he 
made  ten  tables,  and  placed  them  in  the  temple,  five  on  the  right,  and  five  on 

9  the  left :  and  he  made  basons  of  gold  a  hundred.  And  he  made  the  court  of 
the  priests,  and  the  great  court,  and  doors  for  the  court,  and  overlaid  the 

10  door-leaves  with  brass.  And  he  set  the  sea  on  the  right  side  eastward,  over 
against  the  south. 

11  And  Huram  made  the  pots,  and  the  shovels,  and  the  bowls  :  and  Huram' 
finished  the  work  which   he  made  for  King  Solomon  in  the  house  of  God- 

12  The  two  pillars,  and  the  balls,  and  the  capitals  on  the  top  of  the  two  pillars, 
and  the  two  grates  to  cover  the  two  balls  of  the  capitals  which  were  on  the 

13  top  of  the  pillars.  And  the  four  hundred  pomegranates  on  the  two  grates ; 
two  rows  of  pomegranates  on  each  grate,  to  cover  the  two  balls  of  the  capitals 

14  which  were  upon  the  two8  pillars.     And  he  made9  stands,  and  he  made  lavers 
15,  16  upon  the  stands.     One  sea,  and  twelve  oxen  under  it.     And  the  pots,  and 

the  shovels,  and  the  forks,'0  and  all  their  vessels,  made  Huram  his  father  for 

17  King  Solomon,  for  the  house  of  the  Lord,  of  bright  brass.  In  the  plain  of 
Jordan  the  king  cast  them,  in  the  clay  ground"  between  Succoth  and  Zere- 

18  dathah.  And  Solomon  made  all  these  vessels  in  great  abundance  ;  for  the 
weight  of  the  brass  was  not  found  out. 

19  And  Solomon  made  all  the  vessels  that  were  for  the  house  of  God,  the 

20  golden  altar,  and  the  tables  with  the  shew-bread  on  them.  And  the  candle- 
sticks with  their  lamps,  to  burn  after  their  rule  before  the  oracle  of  costly 


i70 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


21  gold.     And  the  flowers,  and  the  lamps,  and  the  snuffers  :  this  was  the  most 

22  perfect  gold.12  And  the  knives,  and  the  bowls,  and  the  censers,  and  the 
extinguishers  of  costly  gold  :  and  the  door  of  the  house,  its  inner  leaves  to 
the  most  holy  place,  and  the  door  leaves  of  the  house  for  the  temple,  of  gold. 

Ch.  V.  1.  Then  was  finished  all  the  work  that  Solomon  made  for  the  house  of  the 
Lord  :  and  Solomon  brought  in  the  holy  gitts  of  David  his  father ;  and  the 
silver,  and  the  gold,  and  all  the  instruments  he  put  among  the  treasures  of 
the  house  of  God. 

1  *jtT3,  which  the  Sept.  and  Vulg.  do  not  express,  appears  a  gloss  brought  into  the  text  by  the  repetition  of  thn 
foregoing   ^$n. 

2  DHC'i?!    HSO  appears  a  defective  reading,  as  the  Sept.  cod.  At.,  Syr  ,  and  Ar.  have  20  for  120     Comp.  the  Exeg 
Expl.         '  " 

3  According  to  the  parallels  1  Kings  vii.  15,  2  Kings  xxv.  17,  etc ,  instead  of  thirty-rive   (PIP)    must  apparently  be 
read  eighteen  (IT)- 

*  So  according  to  the  emendation  of  Berth.:   T3~13,  instead  of  the  Mjsoietic  "V^B   (Sept.  U  tu  latfap),  which 
yields  no  suitable  sense. 

5  D,_lp3   appeal's  a  slip  of  the  pen  for   D'VPS    (1  Kings  vii.  24,  as  in  6,   1p3H    for   D'JJpBH. 

<•  For   D'S?X   riEvE'   is  to  he  read,  according  to  1   Kings  vii    26,    D'S^N    (2000) ;  the   JIGvE^   before    Q'S^N 

seems  to  have  come  into  the  text  from  the  fourfold  D^vt^  in  the  verse  before. 

7  The  KetAib  has  here  Hiram  (D'Vn),  the  only  time  this  reading  occurs  in  Chronicles. 

8  For    *JBvy    read    ^t^~?iT,    although   *J2   stands  also  in  1  King.s  vii.  42;  but  see  Sept.  there. 
B  Hw-'y  seems  wrongly  written  for  "IC'V,   as  the  second  time  for  mtl'if-      Comp.  1  Kings  vii.  43. 

10  flwTO   is  perhaps  written  wrongly  for  fllp^TD,   "  sprinkling  cups,"  vex.  11.    Comp.  1  Kings  vii  44. 

u  For  *3}J3  some  prints  give  *3J3- 

12  The  words  3HT  J1V3D   50H   ate  not  represented  in  the  Sept. 


EXEGETICAL. 

Preliminary  Remark. — From  the  description 
of  the  building  of  the  temple  in  1  Kings  vi.  and 
vii.,  the  present  account  is  distinguished — 1.  By 
this,  that  in  the  introduction  more  precise  state- 
ments are  made  with  respect  to  the  plan  of  the 
building,  but  less  precise  with  respect  to  the  time 
when  it  began,  than  there  (comp.  ch.  iii.  1,  2 
with  1  Kings  vi.  1)  ;  2.  By  this,  that  our  author 
describes,  in  unbroken  connection,  first  (ch.  iii. 
.5-17)  the  magnitude  and  arrangement  of  the 
edifice  itself,  then  (ch.  iv.  1-22)  those  of  its 
several  furnishings  in  the  court  and  the  sanc- 
tuary, whereas  in  1  Kings  vi.  and  vii.  this 
description  meets  with  two  considerable  inter- 
ruptions, inasmuch  as — a.  an  account  of  a  divine 
promise  given  to  the  king  during  the  building 
(eh.  vi.  11-13),  and — b.  a  description  of  a  palace- 
building  of  .Solomon,  partly  concurrent  with  that 
of  the  temple  (ch.  vii.  1-11),  are  there  inserted ; 
3.  By  a  somewhat  different  arrangement  of  the 
several  objects  enumerated  and  described  in  1 
Kings  ;  i.  By  the  greater  fulness  and  circum- 
stantiality of  the  description,  as  contained  in 
1  Kings  (for  example,  witli  respect  to  the  ten 
brazen  stands,  ch.  vii.  27-38,  which  our  author, 
iv.  14,  only  slightly  mentions);  and  5.  By  the 
here  again  remarkable  excerpting  habit  of  the 
Chronist.  In  the  following  exposition,  only  that 
which  is  peculiar  to  our  author  will  be  fully  dis- 
cussed ;  but  with  regard  to  that  which  he  has  ill 
common  with  1  Kings,  or  which  he,  compared 
witli  the  more  ample  details  there,  only  briefly 
notices,  reference  will  lie  made  to  the  exposition 


of  Bahr  (Bibelw.  vii.  pp.  38-70),  which  is  cuau*;- 
terized  by  solidity  and  scientific  ability. 

1.  Place  and  Time  of  building  the  Temple: 
ch.  iii.  1,  2. — And  Solomon  t>e<jan  .  .  .  on  mow  ! 
Mor'tah.  Only  here  is  the  site  of  the  temple  so 
named;  but  the  designation  is  no  doubt  identical 
with  "the  land  of  Moriah"  (n'litsn  ]~)N.  "'and 

of  the  appearing  of  the  Lord"),  Gen.  xxii.  2.  The 
place  of  the  celebrated  sacrifice  of  Abraham  was 
even  that  floor  of  Oman  on  which  David  pre- 
sented his  offering,  ami  which  he  had  conse- 
quently chosen  for  the  site  of  the  temple,  the  hill 
lying  north-east  of  Zion,  which  is  now  called  "the 
Haram,"  after  the  holy  mosque  of  the  Mahomme- 
dans  standing  on  it.  Comp.  Rosen,  Das  Haram, 
Goth. i  lSti6,  and  the  plan  and  description  in  Ph. 
WoliFs  Jerusalem  (3d  edit.  1S72),  p.  S'J  ff.—  Which 
was  shown  to  hisfatlu  r  David,  as  the  future  site 
of  the  temple;  see  1  Chron.  xxi.  15  ff.  Against 
this  most  usual  exposition  it  may  certainly  be  ob- 
jected (with  Keil)  that  the  Niphal  i"|J03  else- 
where denotes,  not  "be  shown,"  but  "be  seen, 
appear."  Yet  the  rendering  of  Keil:  "where  He 
i  (Jehovah)  appeared  to  his  father  David"  (so  also 
the  Sept.),  has  this  defect,  that  the  subject 
Jehovah  has  to  be  supplied,  and  that  -|C'N  has 

to  be  taken  in  the  sense  of  Q&  "IC'K,  as  elsewhere 

only  in  the  phrase  -ic'K  DipB3  (Ew.  §  331,  c,  3)— 

(and)  which  lie  had  prepared  In  the  place  of  David, 
which  site  he  (Solomon)  had  prepared  on  the  place 
fixed  by  David.     So  Berth.,  Kamph.,  etc.,  and  in 


CHAP.  III.   W3 


171 


the  main  Luther,  Starke,  and  other  ancients  (for 
example,  Kambauh:  '/hum  donvum  pnzparavit 
Salomo  in  loco  Davidis).     On  the  contrary,  the 

Sept.,  Vul;,'.,  Syr.,  etc.,  translate  as  if  ulpD3 
stood   before   j<;n  TC'X,   "  in   tne   place   which 

David  hail  prepared"  t  the  building  of  the  temple); 
ami  Keil,  in  accordance  with  his  supplying  of 
Jehovah  as  subject  to   nN"0.   interprets:   "who 

( I Javi.  1 )  had  prepared  the  house,  that  is,  the 
Imilding  of  it,  in  the  place  appointed  of  David." 
None  of  these  expositions  is  quite  satisfactory; 
whence  it  is  natural  to  suppose  some  corruption 
of  the  text.  —  Ver.  2.  And  he  began  to  build  in 
the  second  month,  in  tlie  second.     As  Vii'3  cannot 

well  (comp.  Luther,  etc.)  signify  "on  the  second 

day,1'    for   this    would   be    expressed   by   Q<;{jvj 

C'lh?   or  the   like  (with  the  cardinal  number), 

it  is  strongly  to  be  suspected  that  the  word  lias 
come  into  the  text  by  an  error  of  transcription  : 
comp.  I'rit.  Note.  The  second  month  is  Ziph, 
corresponding  nearly  with  our  .May  (comp.  1  Kings 
vi.  37).  —  In  the  fourth  ye  r  of  lii.-  reign,  that  is. 
as  Solomon  reigned  from  1015,  about  the  year 
1012  B.C.  (comp.  Hitzig,  Gesch.  p.  10  f.,  whose 
chronological  determinations  otherwise  contain 
much  that  is  arbitrary;  among  other  things,  the 
assumption  that  Solomon  reigned  from  in:.:;,  i:  r  , 
thus,  on  the  whole,  not  forty  but  sixty  years). 
2.  The  building  of  the  Temple  itsell  ;  and  first, 

of  tile   Porch  and  the   Holy   I'la r  the   Front 

and  Middle  Room):  vers.  3-7. — Ami  this  is  the 
foundation  of  Solomon;  these  are  the  fundamental 
proportions  which  he  employed  in  building.  The 
inf.    Jfoph.   TD^n    is   used  substantively,   as  in 

Ezraiii.  11.  —  Thelemjth  after  the  former  mt  asure, 
the  Mosai  or  holy  cubit,  that,  Ezek.  xl.  5,  xliii. 
\Z,  was  a  handbreadth  longer  than  the  civic  cubit 
of  the  later  time,  in  and  after  the  exile  (comp.  on 
1  Chron.  xxii.  13  f.).  Only  the  length  and  the 
width  of  the  temple  are  here  given,  not  its  h  ight, 
which  was.  1  Kings  vi.  2,  thirty  cubits  — Ver.  4. 
And  the  porch,  that  was  before  the  length,  that 
extended  in  front  of  the  oblong  house  as  its  en- 
trance,—  before  the  breadth  of  the  house,  was 
twenty  cubits,  w.^  measured  in  front:  of  the  width 
of  the  house,  twenty  cubits.  That  the  breadth 
or  depth  of  this  porch  was  not  twenty  cubits,  but 
only  ten  (1  Kings  vi.  8),  is  not  here  said,  but 
follows  of  necessity  from  the  following  statements 
coneeniing  the  size  of  the  most  holy  place  com 
pared  with  that  of  the  holy  place,  which  was  twice 
as  long  (comp.  ver.  3  with  ver.  S).  —  And  the 
height  a  hundred  and  twenty.  A  certainly  erro- 
neous statement;  a  front  building  of  12o  cubits 
height,   before  a  house  only  thirty  cubits  high, 

could  not  be  called  D71X,  DUt  would  have  been  a 
5RUO]  "tower "  (Keil).  Behind  the  present  de- 
fective reading  is  perhaps  concealed  the  state- 
ment that  the  breadth  of  the  porch  was  ten 
cubits.  Berth,  and  Kamph.  wish  to  arrange  the 
text  after  1  Kings  vi.  3  :  "  And  the  porch,  which 
was  before  the  house,  its  breadth  was  ten  cubits 
before  it,  and  the  length,  which  was  be'bre  the 
breadth  of  the  house,  was  twenty  cubits."  But 
there  are  some  objections  to  this  emendation  :  see 
Keil,  p   235  (Remark  1). — Ver.  5.  And  the  ijreat 


him.-'  fu  lined  with  cypress.  The  holy  place  is  called 

the  great  house,  as  forming  the  chief  room  of  the 
whole  house.  "  Line,"  nsn,  coinciding  essen- 
tially with  the  foregoing  nsi".   "overlay,"  standi 

here  twice,  first  of  lining  the  stone  witl  wood, 
and  then  of  overlaying  or  plating  this  wood  with 
gold. — Made  then  on  palms  "nil  garlands,  applied 
to  it  ornaments  of  palms  and  garlands  (according 
to  ]  Kings  vi.  IS,  in  the  form  of  bas-reliefs  cut 
in  the  panels  of  the  wall).      Cn'tDH  =  the  fern. 

nil'Sel  used  in  the  same  sense,  1   Kings  vi.  2!', 

35,  figures  of  palms ;  this  masc.  form  occurs 
also  Ezek.  xli.  28.     niTJ'TJ'.   properly,  chains  of 

gold  wire, — see  ver.  16  and  Ex.  xxviii.  14, — but 
here  ornaments  wound  like  a  chain  on  the  gilded 
walls,  representing  garlands.  —  Ver.  6.  And  he 
garnished  the  house  with  precious  stones  for 
In  until :  comp.  1  Chron.  xxix.  2,  and  Bahr  on 
1  Kings  vi.  7. — And  the  gold  was  gold  of  Par- 
Bairn,  from  Parvaim,  a  country,  as  the  etymon 
of  the  probable  Indian  name  seems  to  indicate, 
situated  in  the  east,  but  of  unknown,  and  not  to  lie 
determined,  site.  On  its  conjectured  identity  with 
Ophir,  and  the  opinions  regarding  it,  see  the  ex- 
cursus alter  ch.  viii. — Ver.  7.  And  he  overlaid  the 
house,  the  beams,  those  of  the  ceiling,  as  those 
next  named,  the  sills  that  are  under  the  doors. 
Somewhat  more  precise  than  the  present  state- 
ments concerning  the  internal  decorations  of  the 
house  (the  holy  place  with  its  porch,  which  are 
here  in  question,  as  ver.  S  ff.  show)  are  those 
contained  in  1  Kings  vi.  18,  29,  '■  0. 

3.  The  Most  Holy  Place,  with  its  Cherubic 
Figures  and  Veil :  Vers.  S-14. — And  he  mode  tin- 
house  of  the  most  holy,  that  its  length  .  .  .  twenty 
cubits.  That,  besides  the  length  and  breadth,  the 
height  also  was  the  same,  and  thus  its  form  was 
cubic,  see  1  Kings  vi.  20.  Our  author  does  not 
specially  set  forth  this  certainly  symbolic  circum- 
stance; on  the  contrary,  his  love  of  the  orna- 
mental and  magnificent  leads  him  to  set  forth 
another  circumstance  omitted  in  1  Kings,  that 
the  weight  of  the  gold  plating  for  the  inner  wall 
of  the  most  holy  place  was  600  talents. — Ver.  9. 
And  the  weight  of  the  nails,  that  served  for  fasten- 
ing the  gold  plate  on  the  wooden  lining  of  the 
walls.  And  this  statement  concerning  the  weight 
of  the  nails  being  fifty  shekels  is  peculiar  to  our 
author,  and  characteristic  of  him;  as  also  the 
following  one  in  6,  concerning  the  inner  gilding 
of  the  upper  chambers  over  the  most  holy  place 
(comp.  1  Chron.  xxviii.  11).  —  Ver.  10.  Two 
cherubim  of  sculptured  work,  literally,  "a  work 
of  imagery."     D'JJVyV,  from  the  Arab,  root  zua, 

finxit,  formavit,  only  here  in  the  O.  T. — Overlaia 
them  with  gold,  a  remark  occurring  also  1  Kings 
vi.  28,  but  there  forming  the  end  of  tl  ■:.  descrip- 
tion of  the  cherubim. — Vers.  10-12.  The  descrip- 
tion of  the  size  and  position  of  the  four  out- 
spread wings,  each  five  cubits  long,  is  clumsy 
and  circumstantial,  after  the  Eastern  fashion,  but 
at  the  same  time  perfectly  obvious  and  clear. 
The  expressions  for  the  mutual  contact  of  the 
tips  of  the  wings  are   jj'jn    and   (once   ver.  12; 

P21,  properly  ;  cleave,  adha?rere, — Ver.  13.  The 
u-iiKjs  of  the.ie  cherubim  spread  forth  twenty 
cubits,  literally,   "were  spreading  forth  (effected 


172 


II.  CHRONICLES 


an  expansion  of)  twenty  cubits  ;"  conip.  on  BHS, 
1  Chron.  xxviii.  18;  2  Chron.  v.  8.  Against 
Berth.,  who  would  expel  -533   out  of  the  text  ; 

see  Keilon  this  passage.  —Stood  on  their  feet,  and 
their  faces  to  the  home,  that  is,  to  the  holy  place, 
not  to  one  another,  as  the  faces  of  the  cherubs  on 
the  mercy-seat  (Ex.  xxv.  20).  That  they  had  in 
this  upright  position  a  height  of  ten  cubits,  the 
author  of  1  Kings  (vi.  26)  affirms  in  his  more 
exact  statement  of  the  proportions.  Are  we  en- 
titled to  infer  from  the  statement  of  our  author 
the  human  form  of  the  cherubim  ?  This  appears 
at  all  events  very  probable ;  comp.  Bahr  on  1 
Kings  vi.  23  ff.,  and  Riehm,  "Die  Cherubim  in 
der  Stiftshiitte  und  im  Tempel,"  Theol.  Stud. 
and  Kril.  1871,  iii.  p.  399  ff.,  where  (as  in  the 
treatise  De  Datura  et  notion''  gymboliea  cheru- 
borum,  1864)  this  theologian  certainly,  for  the 
oldest  time,  conceives  the  cherubim  as  theophauic 
storm-clouds,  and  represents  them  in  the  form  of 
birds,  but,  for  the  latter  time  (and  certainly  for 
that  of  Solomon),  affirms  a  change  of  this  prey- 
bird  form  to  a  winged  human  form.  Similarly 
H.  Schultz,  Alttestamentl.  Theol.  i.  337  If.,  and 
Dillmann,  Art.  "Cherubim"  in  Schenkel's  Bibel- 
Lex'kon. — Ver.  14.  And  he  made  the  veil  of  blue, 
and  purple,  etc.,  thus  of  the  same  four  materials 
of  which  the  veil  in  the  tabernacle  had  been 
made,  and  interwoven  with  the  same  cherubic 
figures  as  it  was;  see  Ex.  xxvi.  31.  On  this 
rOlS.  t'le  inner  veil  between  the  holy  and  the 

most  holy  place,  the  older  description  of  the 
temple  in  1  Kings  vi.  21  says  nothing. 

4.  The  Two  Pillars  Jachin  and  Boaz :  vers. 
15-17;  comp.  the  much  fuller  description  in  1 
Kings  vii.  15-22,  41,  42  (also  ch.  iv.  12  f.).— 
And  he  made  before  the  home  (in  the  porch)  two 
pillars  of  thirty  and. fire  cubits  height;  in  1  Kings, 
rather  of  eighteen  cubits  ;  see  Crit.  Note. — And 
the  capital  that  icas  on  the  top.  Instead  of  the 
nSSn,  head-piece  (from  nSS,  cover,  overlay),  the 

parallel    1   Kings  vii.   16  gives  the  term  mri3, 

"crown,  pommel." — Ver.  16.  Andhe  made  chains 
in  the  rinu,  in  the  girdle-formed  network  encir- 
cling the  top  of  the  pillars,  that  served  for  the 
fastening  of  the  pomegranates,  and  is  otherwise 
called   roab',    network,    but    here   T31,    collar 

(comp.   Gen.   xli.   42;  Ezek.   xvi.    11);   for  T>T\ 

is  certainly  to  be  read   instead  of  "|»3*Ti   which 

gives  no  tolerable  sense,  and  has  drawn  away  the 
old  translations  to  strange  explanations  (Vulg. : 
quasi  catenulas  in  oraculo ;  Syr.  and  Arab. : 
"chains  of  fifty  cubits  length,"  that  is,  reaching 
from  the  most  holy  place  to  the  pillars,  etc.)  ; 
comp.  the  Crit.  Note.     Moreover,  the  term  T3-) 

seems  to  be  a  synonym  rather  of  the  n33b',  »et- 

work,    mentioned   ch.    iv.   12,    13,    than   of  the 

ni?3,  "  balls,  rolls,"  mentioned  in  the  same  place 

(against  Keil). — Made  a  hundred  pomegranates, 
and  put  them  on  the  chains,  perhaps  so  "that 
there  was  an  apple  on  every  link  of  the  chain-like 
ornament"  (Berth.).  The  number  100,  which  is 
given  als  >  in  Jer.  Iii.  23,  determines  also  merely 
the  one  of  the  two  rows  of  pomegranates  which 


hung  on  every  ring  or  girdle  of  the  network. 
That  each  of  these  bore  100  apples,  and  thus  the 
sum  total  of  all  the  apples  on  both  pillars 
amounted  to  400,  is  stated  ch.  iv.  13,  in  accord- 
ance with  1  Kings  vii.  42.  On  ver.  17,  especially 
on  the  names  Jachin  and  Boaz.  see  BaBr  on  1 
Kings  vii.  21. 

5.  The  Holy  Furniture  of  the  Temple  and  its 
Court  :  ch.  iv.  1-10. — Ver.  1.  The  brazen  altar. 
And  he  made  an  altar  of  brass,  the  altar  of  burnt- 
offering.  See  more  particularly  concerning  its 
construction,  more  exactly  described  in  Ezek.  xliii 
13-17,  and  its  probably  terrace-like  appearance,  in 
Keil,  Archceol.  p.  127,  with  the  plan,  plate  iii. 
fig.  2.  That  our  verse  has  no  parallel  in  1  Kings 
vi.  and  vii.  is  perhaps  only  accidental,  but  may 
arise  from  this,  that  there  only  articles  made  by 
Huram  (Hiram)  are  fully  described,  to  which  the 
altar  of  burnt-offering  did  not  belong.  It  is, 
moreover,  only  incidentally  mentioned  in  1  Kings, 
namely,  in  ch.  viii.  22,  64,  on  occasion  of  the 
dedication  of  the  temple,  and  again  in  ch.  ix.  25. 
—Vers.  2-5.  The  Brazen  Sea ;  comp.  1  Kings 
vii.  23-26  and  the  expositors  thereon. — A  line  of 
thirty  cubits  compassed  it  about,  formed  the  mea- 
sure of  its  circumference  (the  actual  existence  of 
such  a  line  is  not  to  be  supposed). — Ver.  3.  And 
figures  of  oxen  were  under  it,  instead  of  which 
1  Kings  vii.  24  has:  "and  coloeynths  (or  flower 
buds,  according  to  Bahr)  were  under  the  brim  of 
it  round  about."     Our    D*"ip3  therefore  appears 

an  error  of  transcription  for  D'l'pB,  *s  in  the 
second  member  -)p3n  for  Q'ypgrt. — Ver.  5.  Hold- 
ing in  it  (many)  baths ;  it  contained  three  thou- 
sand. According  to  1  Kings  vii.  26,  rather  only 
2000,  which  number  alone  suits  the  size  of  the 
vessel  as  described  in  ver.  2  (comp.  Crit.   Note). 

Moreover,   the  p"3",    "  it   contained,"   is   by   no 

means  disturbing,  as  Berth,  and  Kampti.  think, 
who  condemn  it  as  a  gloss  coming  into  the  text 
from  1  Kings.  The  pleonastic  phrase  rather  suits 
the  effort  of  the  author  to  represent  the  size  of 
the  vessel  as  very  great  ;  and  the  construction  is 
essentially  the  same  as  in  the  following  verse. — 
Ver.  6.  The  Ten  Lavers,  with  the  incidental 
Statement  of  the  Use  of  the  Brazen  Sea. — And  he 
made  ten  lavers.  Much  more  full  is  1  Kings  vii. 
27-38,  where  the  stands  bearing  these  lavers  are 
described  with  special  minuteness. — To  trash  in 
tin  in  ;  the  work  of  Hie  burnt-offering  they  washed 
in  them,  the  flesh  of  the  burnt-offerings  to  be 
burned  on  the  altar.     On  rpTI.  scour,  rinse,  as  a 

synonym  of  j»m,   comp.   Josh.    iv.   4 ;    Ezek.  xl. 

38.— Ver.  7.  The  Golden  Candlesticks  in  the  Holy 
Place.  The  notice  of  these  is  wanting,  as  we'-'  as 
the  following  one  referring  to  the  ten  tablt:.  and 
the  next  referring  to  the  two  courts,  in  the  parallel 
text  1  Kings  vii.  39,  perhaps  from  a  gap  in  the 
text.  Yet  incidental  references  to  these  objects 
are  found  there;  see  ch.  vi.  36,  vii.  12,  48,  49. — 
After  their  plan,  properly,  according  to  their 
right,  Dt33B733,  a  reference  to  Ex.  xxv.  31  ff. — 

Ver.  8.  And  he  made  ten  tables,  on  which  to  place 
the  ten  candlesticks,  scarcely  for  the  shew-bread, 
as  seems  to  follow  from  ver.  19;  see  rather  on  this 
passage,  as  on  1  Chron.  xxviii.  16  (against  Light- 
foot),   Starke,    Bahr,   KeU,    etc.—  And  lie   inat't 


CHAP.  IV.  9-V.  1. 


173 


basins  of  gold,  bowls  or  tankards  for  pouring  the 
libation;  comp.  Amos  vi.  6;  scarcely  bowls  for 
receiving  the  blood  of  the  victim  (as  lierth. 
thinks). — Ver.  9.  Ami  he  made  the  courts  of  the 
priests,  the  smaller  or  inner  court  (1  Kings  vi.  36, 
vii.  12),  or  also  the  upper  court,  as  it  is  called, 
.ler.  xxxvi.  10,  on  account  of  its  greater  elevation. 
-And  the  great  court,  the  outer  (nifiTI  con- 
nected with  ivn);  comp.  Ezek.  xliii.  14  ff.,  xlv.  19, 
where  it  is  distinguished  as  the  "  lower"  or  "new  " 
court,  from  the  inner  or  upper  court  of  the  priests. 
A  more  precise  description  of  this  outer  court  is 
wanting  as  well  in  1  Kings  vi.  and  vii.,  where  it 
is  not  even  mentioned,  as  in  our  passage,  where 
inly  its  door  leaves  overlaid  with  brass  are  men- 
tioned.—  Ver.  10.  Addendum  concerning  the 
Position  of  the  Brazen  Sea;  comp.  1  Kings  vii. 
39/-. 

6.  The  Brass  Works  of  Huram  :  vers.  11-18. 
The  list  is  opened  with  the  "pots,  shovels,  ami 
bowls."  objects  belonging  to  the  furniture  of  the 
altar  of  burnt-offering  in  the  court,  that  belong 
properly   to   the    foregoing    section.       Even    so 

1  Kings  vii.  40,  where  likewise  with  7p»l  in   the 

middle  of  the  verse  we  pass  to  all  that  was  made 
by  Huram.  —  The  puts,  and  tin  shovels,  ami  tin 
bowls.     nil'DH  (for  which  1  Kings  vii.  40,  defec 

tively:  fliTan)  are  the  pots  for  taking  away  tin 
ashes  ;  D'V'H,  "le  suove's  f°r  removing  the  ashes 
from  the  altar  ;  niplttSH  (perhaps  to  be  distin- 
guished from    ryp-ijo,  the   sprinkling -bowls   or 

wine  tankards  in  ver.  Sh),  the  bowds  for  receiving 
and  sprinkling  the  blood. — And  Huram  finished 
the  work.  Comp.  from  this  to  the  end  of  the 
section  the  almost  literally  agreeing  verses  1 
Kings  vii.  406-47,  and  Bahr  on  the  passage.  For 
the  partial  deviations  and  errors  in  our  text,  see 
Crit.  Note. — Ver.  10.  And  all  their  vessels. 
Most  recent  expositors  (also  Keil)  wish  to  read, 
after  1  Kings  vii.  45:  "all  these  vessels,"  "pg  ]"IN 

npSiTI  D'^SH,  because   we   cannot   thiuk   in  the 

"vessels"  of  the  vessels  hitherto  named.  But 
might  not  the  forms  (models)  be  meant  in  which 
the  various  vessels  were  cast  ?  The  allusion  to 
the  foundries  of  the  king  in  the  next  verse  makes 

this   very   probable  ;  but   the   reading  n^NH    '" 

1  Kings  vii.  45  appears  by  no  means  absolutely 
settled. — Made    Huram    his  father.      Fur  V3N. 

see  on  eh.  ii.  12. — Of  bright  brass,  BVIB  flBTU, 

accus.  materia; ;  in  2  Kings  the  equivalent  J"I({7U 

U1DO  stands  for  this. — Ver.  17.  In  the  plain  of 

Jordan  (properly,  in  the  circuit  of  Jordan)  the  Icing 
cast  them,  in  the  clay  ground,  properly,  "  in  the 
densities  of  the  ground,"  r.DIKn  '31)3  (or>  if  the 

reading  »aj?a  is  to  be  preferred,  sing.:  in  the  den- 
sity of  the  ground;  •»  t*  t^x"  rn;  yr,s,  Sept.). 
According  to  the  older  exegesis,  the  phrase  denoted: 
in  the  clay  ground,  in  argillosa  terra  (Vulg. ). 
The  designation  of  the  hard  forn  s  for  the  cast  ing, 


which  Berth,  thinks  are  mentioned  here,  should 
rather   be   the    Dri'TO'TO  of  v«r.    16.  —  Between 

Succoth  and  Zeredathah.  In  1  Kings  vii.  46  the 
name  of  the  second  place  is  Znrthan,  which  is  on!) 
another  form  of  Zeredathah  ;  comp.  Jud^.  vii.  22. 
— Ver.  18.  For  the  weight  or'  the  brass  was  not 
found  out,  or  was  not  determined  (Berth.);  that 
is,  there  was  so  great  a  quantity,  that,  etc.  (comp. 
ch.  v.  6). 

7.  Enumeration  of  the  Golden  Vessels  of  the 
Sanctuary,  with  the  Close  of  the  whole  Account 
of  the  Building  :  ver.  19-ch.  v.  1;  comp.  1  Kings 
vii.  48-51,  which  section  also  deviates  much  in 
its  first  verses  from  the  present  one.  —  And  the 
tables  with  the  shew-bread  on  them.  Oi  .ginally, 
perhaps,  only  an  inexact  expression  (synecdoche), 
as  in   1   Chron.  xxviii.   16,   this  mention  of  the 

niinbt?  'ias  nere   certainly   the  appearance  of  a 

multiplicity  of  tables  for  the  shew-bread.  But 
1  Kings  vii.  48  names  quite  distinctly  only  one 
table. — Ver.  20.  And  the  cantlesticks  ...  to  burn 
lifter  their  rule  (CBCT33.  as   ver-    ')  before  the 

oracle,  the  "debir, "  that  is,  the  most  holy  place. 
The  candlesticks  had  accordingly  their  place  in 
the  holy  place  immediately  before  the  veil;  and 
so  the  altar  of  incense  (comp.  Heb.  ix.  4). — Ver. 
21.  And  the  flowers,  and  the  lamps.  Comp.  Bahr 
on  1    Kings  vii.  49.  —  This   was  the   most  perfect 

gold.  am  RITOD,  properly,  "  perfections  of 
gold"  ;  the  elsewhere  not  occurring  J"li?3D  (equi- 
valent to  pTOia,  Ps.  1.   2,   or  pifvjo,  Ezek.  xxiii. 

12)  appears  unintelligible  to  the  Sept.,  and  hence 
the  whole  clause  is  omitted.  As  it  appears  super- 
lluous  along  with  the  costly  gold  at  the  close  of 
the  verse  before,  and  is  wanting  in  1  Kings  vii. 
49,  it  awakens  critical  suspicion. — Ver.  22.  And 
i/i  kniees,  serving  perhaps  to  clean  the  lamps 
(with  the  snuffers),  but  also  for  other  purposes. 
Their  place  among  the  vessels  of  the  temple  is 
attested  also  by  2  Kings  xii.  14;  Jer.  lii.  18.  For 
the  next  nanied  bowls  see  on  ver.  11.     The  ni£L3 

(trays  for  the  incense)  and  ninno   (extinguishers) 

are  also  named  1  Kings  vii.  50:  on  the  contrary, 
the  ni3D  (basons)  named  there  first  are  wanting 

here. — And  the  door  of  the  house,     jyan   nJIDI 

appears  to  be  a  general  collective  phrase  for  the 
"opening,  doorway,  outlet  of  the  house;"  for  it 
includes  two  doors,  that  into  the  holy  place,  and 
that  into  the  holy  of  holies.     The  parallel  1  Kings 

vii.  50:  ri'an  J"lir6"6  ninbni,  leads  to  the  con- 
jecture that  nriBI  is  perhaps  an  error  for  J"liT13i\ 
"and  the  hinges  "  (in  which  case  also  WiriT^ 
must  be  put  for  VDiD^)-  Ch.  T-  1  agrees  almost 
to  the  letter  with  1  Kings  vii.  51.  The  i  before 
rpanTIX  is  best  rendered  by  "  namely";  comr. 

ch.  iv.  19:  less  probable  is  the  rendering:  "as 
well  the  silver  as  also  the  gold"  (Keil).  Fo] 
these  gifts  of  David,  see  the  account  in  1  Chron. 
xviii.  101'.;  also  1  Chron.  xxvi.  26  f,  xxi.v.  3  tl. 


174  II.  CHRONICLES. 


y.   The  Dedication  of  the  Temple:  ch.  v.  2-vii.  10. 

1.  Removal  of  the  Ark  from  Zion  to  the  Temple:  ch.  v.  2-14. 

9.  Then  Solomon  assembled  the  elders  of  Israel,  and  all  the  heads  of  the  tribes, 
the  chiefs  of  the  fathers  of  the  sons  of  Israel,  to  Jerusalem,  to  bring  up  the  ark 

3  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  from  the  city  of  David,  which  is  Zion.  And  all 
the  men  of  Israel  assembled  unto  the  king  in  the  feast,  which  was  the  seventh 

4  month.     And   all  the   elders  of  Israel  came ;  and  the  Levites   bore  the   ark. 

5  And  they  brought  up  the  ark  and  the  tent  of  meeting,  and  all  the  holy  vessels 
fi  that  were  in  the  tent;  the  priests,  the  Levites,1  brought  them  up.     And  king 

Solomon,  and  all  the  assembly  of  Israel  that  assembled  with  him  before  the  ark, 
sacrificed  sheep  and  oxen,  that  could  not  be  told  or  numbered  for  multitude. 

7  And  the  priests  brought  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  into  its  place,  into 
the  oracle  of  the  house,  the  most  holy  place,  under  the  wings  of  the  cherubim. 

8  For  the  cherubim  spread  forth  their  wings  over  the  place  of  the  ark,  and  the 

9  cherubim  covered  the  ark  and  its  staves  above.  And  they  made  the  staves  so 
long  that  the  ends  of  the  staves  were  seen  from  the  ark,2  before  the  oracle,  but 

10  they  were  not  seen  without :  and  they  were  there  unto  this  day.  Nothing  was  in 
the  ark  save  the  two  tables,  which  Moses  put  into  it  at  Horeb,  where  the  Lord 

11  made  [a  covenant]  with  the  sons  of  Israel,  when  they  came  out  of  Egypt.  And  it 
came  to  pass,  when  the  priests  came  out  of  the  holy  place — for  all  the  priests 

I  '?  that  were  present  had  sanctified  themselves,  without  observing  the  courses.    And 

the  Levites,  the  singers  all  of  them,  Asaph,  Heman,  and  Jeduthun,  and  their 
sons  and  brethren,  arrayed  in  byssus,  with  cymbals,  and  psalteries,  and  harps, 
stood  at  the  east  of  the  altar,  and  with  them  a  hundred  and  twenty  priests 

13  sounding  with  trumpets.3  And  the  trumpeters  and  singers  were  as  one  [man]  to 
sound  aloud  with  one  voice  to  praise  and  thank  the  LORD,  and  when  they  lifted 
up  the  voice  with  trumpets,  and  cymbals,  and  instruments  of  song,  and  with 
praising  the  Lord  :  For  He  is  good  ;  for  His  mercy  endureth  for  ever :  then  the 

14  house  was  filled  with  the  cloud  of  the  house  of  the  Lord.  And  the  priests 
could  not  stand  to  minister  before  the  cloud  ;  for  the  glory  of  the  Lord  filled  the 
house  of  God. 

2.   Solomon  praises  the  Lord  on  his  Entrance  into  the  new  Temple :  ch.  vi.  1-11. 

Ch.  VI.   1.  Then  said  Solomon,  The  Lord  hath  said  that  He  would  dwell  in  dark- 

2  ness.  And  I,  even  I,  have  built  a  house  of  abiding  for  Thee,  and  a  place  for  Thy 
dwelling  for  ever. 

3  And  the  king  turned  his  face,  and  blessed  the  whole  congregation  of  Israel : 

4  and  all  the  congregation  of  Israel  stood.  And  he  said,  Blessed  be  the  Lord 
God  of  Israel,  who  hath  spoken  with  His  mouth  to  David  my  father,  and  by  His 

5  hands  hath  fulfilled  it,  saying,  From  the  day  that  I  brought  my  people  out  of 
the  land  of  Egypt,  I  chose^no  city  among  all  the  tribes  of  Israel  to  build  a 
house,  that  my  name  might  lie  there ;  and  I  chose  no  man  to  be  ruler  over  my 

6  people  Israel.     And  I  chose  Jerusalem,  that  my  name  might  be  there ;  and  I 

7  chose  David  to  be  over  my  people  Israel.     And  it  was  in  the  heart  of  David  my 

8  father  to  build  a  house  to  the  name  of  the,  Lord  God  of  Israel.  And  the  Lord 
said  to  David  my  father,  Because  it  was  in  thy  heart  to  build  a  house  to  my 

9  name,  thou  hast  done  well  that  it  was  in  thy  heart.  But  thou  shalt  not  build 
the  house  ;  but  thy  son,  that  cometh  forth  out  of  thy  loins,  he  shall  build  to  my 

1 0  name.  And  the  Lord  hath  established  His  word  that  He  hath  spoken  ;  and  I 
am  risen  up  instead  of  David  my  father,  and  am  set  on  the  throne  of  Israel,  as 
the  Lord  hath  spoken  ;  and  I  have  built  the  house  to  the  name  of  the  Lord  God 

II  of  Isiael.  And  there  I  have  put  the  ark,  wherein  is  the  covenant  of  the  Lord 
that  He  made  with  the  children  of  Israel. 

3.  Solomon's  Prayer  of  Dedication:  ch.  vi.  12—12. 
I  •£         Ana  ne  stood  belore  ihe  altar  of  the  LORD,  before  all  the  congregation  of 


CHAP.  V.  2-VII.  10.  17S 


13  Israel,  and  spread  forth  his  hands.     Fur  Solomon  had  made  a  scaffold  of  brass, 

and  set  it  in  the  midst  of  the  [outer]  court  :  its  length  was  five  cubits,  its  breadth 
rive  cubits,  and  its  height  three  cubits  ;  and  he  stood  upon  it,  and  kneeled  down 
on  Ids  knees  before  all  the  congregation  of  Israel,  and  spread  forth  Ins  hands 

14  towards  heaven.  And  said,  LORD  God  of  Israel,  there  is  no  God  like  Thee  in 
the  heaven  nor  in  the  earth,  who  keepest  the  covenant  and   the  merry  unto  Thy 

15  servants  that  walk  before  Thee  with  all  their  heart.  Who  hast  kept  with  Thy 
servant  David  that  which  Thou  hast  spoken  to  him  ;  and  Thou  speakest  with  Thy 

1G  mouth,  and  hast  fulfilled  it  with  Thy  hand,  as  it  is  this  day.  And  now,  LORE 
God  of  Israel,  keep  with  Thy  servant  David  my  father  that  which  Thou  hasl 
spoken  to  him,  saying,  There  shall  not  be  cut  off  from  thee  a  man  in  my  sight  to 
sit  upon  the  throne  of  Israel,  only  if  thy  sons  take  heed  to  their  way  to  walk  in 

17  my  law,  as  thou  hast  walked  before  me.     And  now,  Lord  God  of  Israel,  let  Thy 

18  word  lie  verified  which  Thou  hast  spoken  unto  Thy  servant  David.  But  -will 
God  in  truth  dwell  with  men  on  the  earth  1     Behold,  heaven,  and  the  heaven   of 

I'.i  heavens,  cannot  contain  Thee;  how  much  less  this  house  which  I  have  built  !  But 
have  respect  unto  the  prayer  of  Thy  servant,  and  to  his  supplication,  0  LoRP  my 
God,  to  hearken  unto  the  cry  and   the  prayer  which  Thy  servant  prayeth  before 

20  Thee.  That  Thine  eyes  may  be  open  upon  this  house  day  and  night,  to  the 
place  where  Thou  hast  said  that  Thou  wilt  put  Thy  name  ;  to  hearken  unto  the 

21  prayer  which  Thy  servant  prayeth  in  this  place.  And  hearken  unto  the  suppli- 
cation of  Thy  servant  and  of  Thy  people  Israel,  which  they  shall  make  in  this 
place,  and  hear  Thou  from  Thy  dwelling-place,  from  heaven  ;  yea,  hear,  and  for- 

22  give      If  a  man  sin  against   his  neighbours,  and  he  lay  on  him  an  oath  to  make 

23  him  swear,  and  he  enter  into  an  oath  before  Thine  altar  in  this  house  :  Then 
hear  Thou  from  heaven,  and  do,  and  judge  Thy  servants,  to  requite  the  wicked, 
and  bring  his  way  upon  his  own  head  ;  and  to  justify  the  righteous,  and  give  him 

24  according  to  his  righteousness.  And  if  Thv  people  Israel  be  smitten  before  the 
enemy,  because  they  have  sinned  against  Thee,  and  shall  return  and  confess  Thy 

25  name,  and  pray  and  entreat  before  Thee  in  this  house  :  Then  hear  Thou  from 
heaven,  and  forgive  the  sin  of  Thy  people  Israel,  and  bring  them  again  unto  the 

26  land  which  Thou  gavest  to  them  and  to  their  fathers.  When  the  heaven  is  shut 
up,  ami  there  is  no  rain,  because  they  have  sinned  against  Thee,  and  they  pray  in 
this   place,  and  confess  Thy  name,  and  turn  from  their  sin,  because  Thou  dost 

27  humble  them:  Then  hear  Thou  from  heaven,  and  forgive  the  sin  of  Thy  servants 
and  of  Thy  people  Israel,  because  Thou  teachest  them  the  good  way  in  which 
they  should  walk,  and  send  rain  upon  the  land  which  Thou  hast  given  unto  Thy 

28  people  tor  an  inheritance.  If  there  be  dearth  in  the  land,  if  there  be  pestilence. 
blasting,  or  mildew,  locust  or  waster;  if  their  enemies  besiege  them  in  the  land 

29  of  their  gates  ;  if  there  be  any  plague  or  sickness.  Every  prayer,  every  suppli- 
cation that  shall  be  made  by  any  man  or  by  all  Thy  people  Israel,  when  they 
shall  know  every  man  his  own   plague  and  his  own  pain,  and  shall  spread  his 

30  hands  to  this  house:  Then  hear  Thou  from  heaven,  Thy  dwelling-place,  and 
forgive,  and   render  unto  every  man  according  to  all  his  ways,  as  Thou  knowest 

31  his  heart  :  for  Thou  alone  knowest  the  heart  of  the  sons  of  man.  That  they 
may  fear  Thee  to  walk  in  Thy  ways,  all  the  days  that  they  live  on   the  ground 

32  which  Thou  gavest  to  our  fathers.  Ami  also  to  the  stranger,  who  is  not  of  Thy 
people  Israel,  but  cometli  from  a  far  country  for  sake  of  Thy  great  name  and 
Thy  mighty  band,  and  Thy  outstretched  arm  ;  if  they  come  and  pray  towards 

33  this  house  :  Then  hear  Thou  4  from  the  heaven,  from  Thy  dwelling-place,  and  do 
all  that  the  stranger  calleth  to  Thee  for,  that  all  peoples  of  the  earth  may  know  Thy 
name,  and  fear  Thee  as  Thy  people  Israel,  and  may  know  that  Thy  name  is  called 

34  upon  this  house  which  I  have  built.  If  Thy  people  go  out  to  war  against  their 
enemies  in  the  way  that  Thou  shalt  send  them,  and  they  pray  unto  Thee  toward 
this  city  which  Thou  hast  chosen,  and  the  house  which  1  have  built  to  Thy  name: 

'i.o  Then  hear  Thou  from  the  heaven  their  prayer  and  their  supplication,  and  main- 

30   tain  their  right.      If  they  sin  against  Thee,  for  there  is  no  man  that  sinneth  not, 

and  Thou  be  angry  with  them,  and  give  them  up  before  their  enemies,  and  their 


'.75 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


M  captors  take  them  to  a  tar  or  near  land.  And  they  turn  their  heart  in  the  land 
in  which  they  are  captive,  and  turn  and  pray  unto  Thee  in  the  land  of  theii 

38  captivity,  saying,  We  have  sinned,  we  have  been  wrong  and  wicked.  And 
they  return  to  Thee  with  all  their  heart,  and  with  all  their  soul,  in  the  land  of 
their  captivity,  whither  they  have  taken  them,  and  pray  toward  the  land  which 
Thou  gavest  to  their  fathers,  and  the  city  which  Thou  hast  chosen,  and  toward 

39  the  house  which  1  have  built  to  Thy  name :  Then  hear  Thou  from  the  heaven, 
from  Thy  dwelling-place,  their  prayer  and  their  supplication,  and  maintain  their 

40  right,  and  forgive  Thy  people  who  have  sinned  against  Thee.  Now,  my  God, 
let  Thine  eyes  now  be  open,  and  Thine  ears  attent  unto  the  prayer  of  this  place. 

41  And  now  arise,  0  Lord  God,  unto  Thy  rest,  Thou  and  the  ark  of  Thy  strength  : 
let  Thy  priests,  0  Lord  God,  be  clothed  with  salvation,  and  let  Thy  saints  be 

42  glad  for  the  good.  O  Lord  God,  turn  not  away  the  face  of  Thy  anointed  ;  re 
member  the  mercies  of  David  Thy  servant. 

4.   The  Divine  Confirmation  (if  the  Dedication  of  the  Temple:  ch.  vii.  1-10. 


fire  came  down  from 
and   the  glory  of  the 


Ch.  vii.  1.  And  when  Solomon  had  ended   [h«]   prayer,  the 
heaven  and  consumed  the  burnt-offering  and  the  sacrifices  : 

2  Lord  filled  the  house.     And  the  priests  could  not  enter  the  house  of  the  Lord, 

3  because  the  glory  of  the  Lord  filled  the  house  of  the  Loud.  And  all  the  sons 
of  Israel  saw  the  fire  come  down,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  upon  the  house,  and 
they  bowed  down  their  faces  to  the  ground  on  the  pavement,  and  worshipped  and 

4  praised  the  Lord  ;  for  He  is  good ;  for  His  mercy  endureth  for  ever.     And  the 

5  king  and  all  the  people  offered  sacrifices  before  the  Lord.  And  king  Solomon 
offered  a  sacrifice  of  twenty  and  two  thousand  oxen,  and  a  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  sheep  :  and  the  king  and  all  the  people  dedicated  the  house  of  God. 

6  And  the  priests  stood  at  their  posts,  and  the  Levites  with  instruments  of  song  of 
the  Lord,  which  David  the  king  had  made,  to  thank  the  Lord,  that  His  mercy 
endureth  for  ever,  when  David  praised  by  their  hand  ;  and  the  priests  blew  the 

7  trumpets  5  before  them,  and  all  Israel  stood.  And  Solomon  hallowed  the  middle 
of  the  court  that  was  before  the  house  of  the  Lord  ;  for  there  he  offered  the 
burnt-offerings  and  the  fat  of  the  peace-offerings  :  because  the  brazen  altar  which 
Solomon  had  made  was  not  able  to  receive  the  burnt-offerings,  and  the  meat- 

8  offerings,  and  the  fat.  And  Solomon  kept  the  feast  at  that  time  seven  days,  and 
all  Israel  with  him,  a  very  great  congregation,  from  Hamath  to  the  river  of 

9  Egypt.    And  they  made  on  the  eighth  day  a  solemn  assembly  ;  for  they  kept  the 
lO  dedication  of  the  altar  seven  days,  and  the  feast  seven  clays.     And  in  the  twenty 

and  third  day  of  the  seventh  month  he  sent  away  the  people  to  their  tents,  glad 
and  merry  in  heart  for  the  goodness  that  the  Lord  had  shown  to  David,  and  to 
Solomon,  and  to  Israel  his  people. 

'  Before  D91?H  is  to  be  supplied  1,  according  to  1  Kings  viii.  4. 

2  pIS'l'ISD  appears  to  be  an  error  of  transcription  for  C'"lj3"|0- 

*  Kethtb:   D^YYrVO  \    Keri:  D^YflO  i    so  ver.  13  and  ch.  vii.  G.     Comp.  Exeg.  Expl.  on  1  Chron.  XT.  24. 

•  nntO.  supported  bv  all  the  witnesses,  Bertheau,  without  reason,  changes  into  nHK  (after  1  Kings  viii.  43). 
'  fieri     Ds"lVn?D,  as  above,  ch.  v   1-'  13 


EXF.G^TICAL. 

Preliminary  Remark. — The  first  three  sec- 
tions or  acts  of  this  account  agree  with  the 
parallel  1  Kings  viii.,  mostly  to  the  letter;  only 
a  notice  referring  to  the  part  of  the  priests, 
Levites,  and  singers  in  the  solemnity  in  vi.  11-13 
is  peculiar  to  our  author.  In  the  fourth  section 
(vii.  1—1 0)  is  found  the  more  considerable  devia- 
tion, thai  instead  of  the  blessing  pronounced  by 
Solomon  on  the  community  of  Israel  (1  Kings 
riii.   54-61),   the  consuming  of  the  offerings  by 


fire  from  heaven  is  narrated  (vii.  1-3  ;  comp.  the 
similar  account  in  the  history  of  the  census  and 
the  plague,  1  Chron.  xxi.  26  f. ). 

1.  Removal  of  the  Ark  from  Zion  to  the 
Temple  :  ch.  v.  2-11  ;  comp.  1  Kings  viii.  1-11 
(and  thereon,  Bahr,  Bibelw.  vii.  72  if. ). — Ver.  3. 
In  thefeast,  which  teas  the  seventh  month.  Accord- 
ing to  1  Kings,  the  statement  :  "in  the  month 
Ethanim,"  appears  to  have  fallen  out  before 
these    words,    though    also     C'lhn    might    be    ■ 

mistake   for  CTna,   "in   the  seventh  montt  "  - 


CHAP.  V.  5-VI.  42. 


177 


V«r.  5.  The  supplement  of  a  i  between  Q'jnan 

and  yijnfsee  Crit.  Note)  seems  indispensable  ; 
■'  for  even  if  Levitical  priests  bore  tin-  ark  and 
the  holy  vessels  of  the  tabernacle  into  the  temple, 
vet  it  is  certain  that  the  tabernacle  itself  (its 
boards,  curtains,  and  coverings)  was  not  eon- 
rayed  by  the  priests,  but  only  by  tin-  Levites, 
Into  the  temple  to  be  preserved  as  sacred  relies, 
fhe  copula  i  is  perhaps  left  out  only  bya  eopj  ist, 
.vhc  thought  of  Q*ipn  D'jnan,  Josh,  iii  3  :  Hint, 
xvii.  !),  IS"  dveii'.  —  Ver.  10.  The  two  tables 
which  Mux**  put  into  it  at  Horeb,  properly, 
"gave,"  |ru,  as  Ex.  xl.  20.     More  clear  and  lull 

is  the  parallel  text  1  Kings  viii.  9  :  n^n  ";*_"S 
q-_",  "which  he  had  put  there." — Ver.  11,  For 

T 

(ill.  the  priests  that  were  present  hud  sanctified 
themselves.  These  words  begin  the  longer 
parenthesis  inserted  by  the  Chronist  in  the 
statement,  1  Kings  viii.  10,  concerning  the 
priests,  Levites,  and  singers,  which  extends  to 
ver.  136.  •'That  were  present,"  literally,  "that 
were  found"  ;  comp.  1  Chron,  xxix.  17  ;  Ezra 
viii.  25. —  Without  observing  the  courses  j  that  is, 
on  account  of  the  greatness  of  the  solemnity,  and 
the  multitude  of  persons  required,  the  series  ol 
exchanging  courses  of  the  priests  (1  Chron.  xxiv. ) 
could  not  be  observed;  all  the  courses  must 
together  sanctify  themselves  and  co-operate.  For 
the  construction   "liD5s6  PN,    comp.    1    Chron. 

xxiii.  2d  :  Ew.  §  321,  ',.—  Ver.  12.  All  of  th  m, 
Asaph,  etc.,  properly,  "as  to  all,  Asaph,"  etc.  ; 

the  introductory  p.  as  1   Chron.  v.    25  (see  on 

this  passage). — Sounding  with  trumpets.  For 
D'lXirna,  see  °"   I   Chron.  xv.  24  ;  comp.  also 

the  remarks  on  the  temple  musicians  and  their 
instruments,  1  Chron.  xv.  17-28. — Ver.  13.  And 
the  trumpeters  and  singers  were  o*  one  man, 
literally,  "and  it  came  to  pass  as  one  concern- 
ing the  trumpeters  and  singers  (^,  as  before),  thai 
they  sounded  loud  with  one  voice."  For  the 
construction  •/"-"TP  n'H,  comp.  Ew.  §  237,  and 
on  the  import  of  "'OCT,  1  Chron.  xv.  16.  The 
"ins  Tip,  "with  one  voice,"  is  properly  redundant, 
but  is  added  to  the  JpDgfil?  to  strengthen  the 
notion   already   lying  in    inx,     "one"  of  the 

unisono  of  the  trumpet  sound,  and  the  singing  of 
the  many  voices.  —  Wlven  they  lifted  up  tin  voice, 
literally,  "and  as  the  lifting  of  the  voice"; 
comp.  Ezra  iii.  12,  ix.  1.  The  words  conned 
again  with  ver.  11a,  and  so  prepare  for  the  con- 
clusion, which,  however,  is  formed  by  the  last 
v. oi.l;  of  the  verse:  Then  the  house  was  filled 
irith  the  cloud  of  the  house  of  tlie  Lord,  the  well- 
known  light-cloud  (shechinah)  dwelling  in  the 
tabernacle  since  the  time  of  Moses,  the  manifesta- 
tion of  the  gracious  presence  of  God  in  llis  cove- 
nant sanctuary.  For  ver.  14,  comp.  1  Kings  viii, 
11,  and  Bahr  thereon. 

2.  Solomon  praises  the  Lord  on  his  Entrance 
into  the  new  temple:  ch.  vi.  1-11  ;  agreeing 
almost  literally  with  1  Kings  viii.  12-21. — We 
notice  some  of  the  never  very  important  devia- 
tions of  our  text. — On  ver.  1,  comp.  Lev.  xvi.  1. 


—  Ver.  2.  And  I,  'Ten  I,  have  built,  etc.  Instead 
of  TP33  '3SV  with  its  emphatic  accentuation  of 

the   subject,    1    Kings  viii.   13  gives  7V33  rvja, 

"1  have  surely  built,"  etc.  Ver.  I.  Blessed  bt 
the  Lord  .  .  .  who  hath  spoken  with  His  mouth. 
etc.,  a  reference  to  1  Chron.  xi.  2,  which  promise 
is  her.-  repeated  with  great  fulness,  resting  indeed 
on  lie- words  of  Nathan  contained  in  1  chron. 
xvii.  4-11,  to  which  allusion  is  made,  especially 
from  ver.  8.  —  Ver.  5.  From  the  day  that  J 
brought  my  people,  etc.  From  this  to  ver.  7, 
the  speech  of  Solomon,  compared  with  1  Kings 
viii.  16  f.,  appears  enlarged,  especially  by  tlie 
sentences  there  wanting,  ver.  5/):  "and  I  chose 
no  man  to  be  ruler,"  etc.,  and  ver.  6ft.-  "and  1 
chose  Jerusalem." — Ver.  11.  And  there  I  have 
put  the  ark.  Somewhat  otherwise  1  Kings  viii. 
21  :  "And  I  have  set  there  a  place  for  the  art" 
QilNH   LipO   for  the  simple  p-i^n). 

3.  Solomon's  Prayer  of  Consecration  :  vera. 
12  12;  except  the.  introduction,  ver.  13,  and 
the  close,  vers.  40-42,  very  closely  agreeing  with 
1  Kings  viii.  22-53. — Ver.  13.  For  Solomon  Imd 
madt  a  scajfbld  of  brass.  This  whole  parenthesis, 
with  the  notice  concerning  the  brazen  scaffold 
(properly,    "basin,"  1^3,  pot-shaped  elevation, 

platform  ;  comp.  Neh.  ix.  4)  in  the  court,  is 
wanting  in  1  Kings;  whether  omitted  by  an  old 
error  of  the  transcriber,  as  Then,  and"  Berth, 
think,  must  remain  doubtful. — Ver.  21.  And 
hear  Thou  from  Thy  dwelling-place,  from  heaven, 
forwhich  1  Kings  viii.  30:  "  hear  to  Thy  dwelling, 
place,  to  heaven,"  perhaps  by  a  mistake  in  copy- 
ing.—  Ver.  33.  Then  hear  Thou,  literally,  "and 
Thou  hear";  the  1  before  nRN,  introducing  tho 

conclusion,  is  wanting  in  1  Kings  viii.  43,  for 
which  reason  Berth,  would  here  also  exclude  it 
fromthe  text,  contrary  to  all  the  mss.  -  Vers.  40-42 
form  a  close  of  the  speech  of  Solomon,  deviating 
greatly  from  1  Kings  viii.  50-53.  Of  the  allusion 
there  to  the  deliverance  of  Israel,  as  the  heritage 
of  the  Lord,  from  the  iron  furnace  of  Egypt,  and 
of  the  promises  given  by  Moses  (vers.  51,  53), 
there  is  lure  nothing.  On  the  contrary,  the 
petition  there  :  "Let  Thine  eyes  be  open,"  etc. 
(ver.  52),  is  here  notably  enlarged  and  strength- 
ened by  the  important  summons:  "Now,  arise 
.  .  .  unto  Thy  rest,  Thou  and  the  ark  of  Thy 
strength."  This  summons  to  the  solemn  and 
formal  taking  possession  of  the  temple,  to  which 
the  billowing  narrative  of  the  fire  coming  down 
on  the  sacrifice  corresponds,  is  justly  declared  by 
Thenius  to  be  original,  and  defended  against  the 
assumption  that  it  is  an  arbitrary  addition  made 
by  the  •  !hronist  1  Berth.,  etc. )  :  for,  in  consequence 
of  the  absence  of  this  summons  to  take  possession 
of  the  sanctuary,  the  point  of  the  whole  prayer 
is  wanting  in  1  Kings  viii.,  and  the  suspicion  is 
raised  that  there  some  lines  have  fallen  out  at  the 
end.  Yet,  in  respect  of  form,  our  author,  in  his 
rendering  of  the  close  of  the  prayer,  might  have 
rested  partly  on  other  old  documents,  particularly 
on  I's.  exxxii.  8-10,  a  passage  which  coincides 
almost  verbally  with  vers.  41,  42  (but  possibly 
also  the  Psalmist  might  have  borrowed  from  the 
original  edition  of  Solomon's  prayer,  correctly 
retained  in  our  passage),  and  on  Isa.  lv.  3,  where 
"the  mercies  of  David"  occur,  coinciding  ver- 
ba lv  with  our  passage  (ver.  42'/),   and  intended, 


178 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


indeed,  in  the  same  sense  (denoting  the  Lord's 
merciful  dealings  with  David,  not  David's  pious 
deeds,  as  Keil  thinks)  ;  eomp.  also  Ps.  Ixxxix. 
50. — And  now  arise,  O  Lord  Cod,  to  Tin:  rest, 
enter  now  the  rest  to  which  the  throne  of  Thy 
glory  has  attained.  nu  for  nrWJO,  only  else- 
where in  Esth.  ix.  16-18,  and  there  in  the  form 
ni}  ;  comp.  also  Num.  x.  36  :   nhU3,  as  there  is 

here  a  significant  accord  with  the  words  of  Moses 
referring  to  the  setting  out  and  resting  of  the  ark 
in  the  wilderness. — And  let  Thy  saints  begladfor 
the  i/ood  (31133,  as  Job  .xx.    18;    Ps.   civ.   28). 

The  parallel  Ps.  exxxii.  9  has  here  more  briefly  : 
"and  let  Thy  saints  shout  for  joy"  (J|13~P   for 

21B2  iriDb"). — Ver.    42.    Turn   not    away   the 

face  of  Thine  anointed,  refuse  not  his  prayer  ; 
comp.  1  Kings  ii.  16.  For  the  "  mercies  of 
David,"  see  above. 

4.  The  Divine  Confirmation  of  the  Dedication 
of  the  Temple  :  ch.  vii.  1-10.  The  first  part  of 
this  section,  vers.  1-3,  is  wanting  in  1  Kings  viii. ; 
the  second,  except,  ver.  6,  which  is  there  wanting, 
agrees  almost  verbally  with  1  Kings  viii.  62-66. 
— And  win  n  ■Solomon.  .  .  the  fire  came  down  from 
heaven.  Both  this  account  of  the  descent  of  a 
miraculous  fire  from  heaven  consuming  the  sacri- 
fice, and  that  of  the  filling  of  the  house  with  tic- 
glory  of  the  Lord,  along  with  the  adoring  worship 
of  the  whole  community  before  God  wonderfully 
manifesting  Himself,  are  peculiar  to  the  Chronist. 
In  1  Kings  viii.  54-61,  instead  of  this  is  found  an 
address  of  Solomon  to  the  assembly,  with  the  ex- 
pression of  thanks  to  God  for  His  goodness  to 
Israel,  and  the  petition  for  the  further  manifesta- 
tion of  His  mercy  and  grace.  The  difference, 
that  our  author  relates  something  miraculous  on 
which  the  books  of  Kings  are  silent,  is  similar  to 
that  in  the  history  of  the- census  and  the  pesti- 
lence, 1  Chron.  xxi.  26.  Yet  the  earlier  account  of 
the  miraculous  rill'iig  of  the  house  with  the  glory 
of  God  (v.  11-14)  is  also  found  in  the  author  of 
1  Kings  viii.  10.  Thus  both  narratives  agree  in 
attesting  a  miraculous  appearance  at  the  temple 
dedication  :  but  that  of  the  older  writer  places 
this  wonder  before  the  prayer  of  Solomon,  without 
placing  a  second  miracle  at  the  end  of  this  prayer, 
whereas  the  <  'hronist  reports  a  twofold  coming  of 
glory  of  the  Lord,  the  first  before  the  prayer,  the 
second  after  it,  and  connected  with  the  consuming 
of  the  offering  by  heavenly  fire  lor.  as  it  may  be 
supposed,  with  Keil,  consisting  in  this  operation 
of  fire).  Arbitrary  reduplication  of  the  miracle 
that  had  already  taken  place  according  to  the 
oldest  record  and  shaping  of  the  supposed  second 
wonder  according  to  the  model  from  the  Mosaic 
time,  Lev.  ix.  23  f.,  are  charged  by  modern 
criticism  (Then.,  Berth.,  Kamph.,  etc.)  against 
the  Chronist  or  the  younger  narrative  adopted  by 
him.  But  it  may  at  least  be  assumed  that  the 
tendency  of  the  I  'hronist  to  the  history  of  worship 
was  the  occasion  of  his  mentioning  the  second 
wonder,  whereas  the  author  of  the  books  of  Kings, 
in  accordance  with  his  attention  to  the  history  of 
the  kingdom,  took  less  interest  in  this.  It  was 
scarcely  abhorrence  of  the  miraculous,  orpreference 
of  the  natural  ami  conceivable,  on  the  part  of  the 
latter,  that  led  him  to  avoid  the  account  of  the 
miraculous  consuming  of  the  offering;  comp.  his 
account  of  the  corresponding  wonder  in  the  history 


of  Elijah  (1  Kings  xviii.),  on  which  our  author  ui 
silent-  on  other  grounds  ;  and  see,  moreovei, 
Evangelical  and  Ethical  Reflections  after  ch.  ix., 
No.  3. — And  consumed  the  burnt-offering  and  the 
sacrifices,  the  offerings  mentioned  ch.  v.  6,  which 
the  king  and  the  people  had  slain  at  the  entrance 
of  the  ark  in  the  temple,  and  which  were  slain 
during  the  prayer  of  dedication,  but  not  yet 
burnt,  partly  on  the  altar  of  burnt-offering,  partly 
on  other  altars  erected  specially  for  them  in  tin- 
inner  courts  (ver.  7). — Ver.  3.  And  all  the  sons  of 
Israel  saw  the  fire,  come  down.  So  also  in  the 
original  fact  of  the  Mosaic  history,  Lev.  ix.  -24.-- 
Aii'l  they  bowed  down  .  .  .  on  tin  pavement.  For 
this  pavement  (nQV"\)  or  flooring  in  the  court, 
that  we  may  not  certainly  conceive  to  be  mosaic 
work  of  ornamental  variegated  stone,  as  in  the 
Persian  citadel  at  Susa,  Esth.  i.  6,  comp.  Ezek. 
xl.  17,  18. — Vers.  4-10.  The  solemnities  of  sacri- 
fice and  festival,  even  to  the  addition  concerning 
the  musical  part  in  ver.  6,  are  described  in  exact 
accordance  with  1  Kings  viii.  62  ii'. ,  even  with 
regard  to  the  number  of  the  victims  offered.  For 
these  great  but  not  incredibly  great  numbers 
(22,000  oxen  and  120,000  sheep),  comp.  partly 
the  remarks  on  the  great  feast  at  Hebron,  1  Chron. 
xii.  39,  partly  the  notice  justly  quoted  by  Berth, 
from  Josephus,  De  hello  Jud.  vi.  9.  3,  according  to 
which,  even  in  the  Roman  times,  within  a  few 
hours,  256,500  passover  lambs  were  slain  at  Jeru- 
salem. These  colossal  offerings  and  festivals 
exceed  our  conception  quite  as  much  as  the  num- 
bers attesting  the  magnitude  of  the  present  steam 
ui-  railway  trade,  or  of  the  modern  warfare,  tran- 
scend  the  imagination  of  the  ancients. — Ver.  6. 
And  the  priests  stood  at  their  posts,  literally, 
"watches";  comp.  ch.  viii.  14,  xxxv.  2;  the 
Vulg.  rightly  in  substance:  in  officiis  suis;  to 
suppose  a  standing  of  the  priests  accoi  ling  to 
their  divisions  (Berth.)  is  unnecessary.  —  When 
David  praised  by  their  hand,  that  is,  executing 
the  song  of  praise  aiTanged  by  David,  so  that  he, 
as  it  were,  praised  God  by  their  musical  perform- 
ance. The  Vulg.  translate  in  substance  correctly, 
but  somewhat  freely:  hymnos  David  canentes  per 
/nanus  suas  (similarly  the  Sept.).  On  the  whole 
verse,  comp.  the  similar  but  somewhat  more 
diffuse  notice  of  the  co-operation  of  the  priests 
and  Levites  in  the  solemnity,  ch.  v.  11-13. — 
Ver.  7.  And  Solomon  hallowed  the  middle  of  the 
court,  "  the  court  immediately  before  the  temple 
forming  the  middle  of  the  sacred  square"  (Then.). 
This  whole  inner  space  had  Solomon  formed  as  it 
were  into  a  great  altar  of  sacrifice,  on  account  of 
the  multitude  of  offerings  to  be  presented.  The 
notice  is  plainly  supplementary,  on  which  account 
C'Tp'l    (with   the   i   relat.    of  mere   sequence   oi 

thought)  may  be  rendered  by  the  pluperfect.  — 
Ver.  8.  And  Solomon  kept  'he  feast  at  that  time, 
namely,  the  feast  of  tabernacles  ;  comp.  Lev. 
xxiii.  36:  Num.  xxix.  35  ff.  On  the  now  f'-Vlw- 
ing  notes  of  time,  and  their  greater  clearness  than 
those  of  the  parallel  1  Kings  viii.  65  f.,  see  Bahr 
on  this  passage. — Ver.  10.  //<  sent  away  the 
people  to  their  tints,  that  is,  their  homes  ; 
comp.  1  Sam.  xiii.  2  :  Ps.  lxxviii.  55;  and  ch.  x.  16 
il  Biings  xii.  16). — For  the  goodness  that  the  Lord 
had.  shown  to  Da  rid  and  to  Salomon.  In  1  Kings 
viii.  66,  "and  to  Solomon"  is  wanting;  but  the 
arbitrary  addition  of  this  expression  is  not  there- 
fore to  be  charged  on  theChronist  (against  Thenisa). 


chat.  vrr.  n-io. 


179 


3.  Revelation  tif the  Lord  to  Soloimn  on  the  Completion  of  the  TempU  and  his  House: 

ch.  vii.   11-22. 

(,'h.  vii.  11.  And  Solomon  finished  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  the  king's  house;  and 
in  all  that  came  into  Solomon's  heart  to  do  in  the  house  of  the  Lokd,  and  in  bis 

12  own  house,  he  succeeded.  And  the  LORD  appeared  to  Solomon  by  night,  and 
said  to  him,  I  have  heard  thy  prayer,  and  have  chosen  this  place  to  myself  for  a 

13  house  of  sacrifice.     If  I  shut  up  heaven  and  there  be  no  rain,  or  if  I  command 
1-1  the  locust  to  devour  the  land,  or  it'  1  send  pestilence  among  my  people.     And  my 

people,  on  whom  my  name  is  called,  humble  themselves,  and  pray,  and  seek  my 

face,  and  turn  from  their  wicked  ways:  then  will  I  hear  from  heaven,  and  forgive 
15  their  sin,  and  heal  their  land.  Now  mine  eyes  shall  be  open,  and  mine  ears  attent 
lb'  to  the  prayer  of  this  place.     And  now  I  have  chosen  and  sanctified  this  house. 

that  my  name  may  be  there  for  ever  ;  and  mine  eyes  and  my  heart  shall  be  there 
17  always.     And  thou,  if  thou  walk  before  me,  as  David  thy  father  walked,  and  do 

according  to  all  that  I  have  commanded  thee,  and  observe  my  statutes  and  my 
IS  judgments  :      Then    will    I    establish    the    throne   of   thy    kingdom,   as    I    have 

covenanted  with  David  thy  lather,  saying,  There  shall  not  be  cut  off  from  thee 
19  a  man  to  rule  in  Israel.     But  if  ye  [ami  yom-  children] 1  turn  away,  and  forsake  my 

statutes  and  my  commandments,  which  I  have  set  before  you,  and  go  and  serve 
12'  i  other  gods,  and  worship  them  :     Then  will  I  pluck  them  out  of  my  land  which  I 

have  given  them  ;  and  this  house,  which  I  have  sanctified  to  my  name,  will  I  cast 

2 1  out  of  my  sight,  and  make  it  a  proverb  and  a  byword  among  all  nations.  And 
this  house,  which  was  high,2  every  passer-by  shall  be  astonished  at  it,  and  he 

22  shall  say,  Why  hath  the  Lord  done  this  unto  this  land  and  to  this  house  I  And 
they  shall  answer,  Because  they  forsook  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers,  who 
brought  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  laid  hold  on  other  gods,  and 
worshipped  them,  and  served  them:  therefore  hath  He  brought  all  this  evil  upon 
them. 

DrVJ^  seems  to  have  fallen  cut  after  DHX,  not  merely  according  to  1  Kings  ix.  ti,  but  Recording  to  the  suffix 
of  the  3d  per   in    D'PICTO    (and  also   Di"l7),  ver.  20. 

2  For  pvj?.  which  rhe  Vulg.  does  not  give,  and  the  Pesch.  and  Arab,  render  by  "desolation,"  DS3y  (vuinx)  appears 
to  have  originally  stood  in  the  text;  thus  instead  of  p  vj?  iTn"~l"*X  there  was  probably  D*15]/  iTiT,  numi  fitt. 
In   the   para. lei    text   1    Kings   ix.  S,    indeed.    jivj?  stands,   and   the   Sept.   renders   our  passage:   xcti  i  oTxtx  oZtos  i 


EXEGETICAL. 

The  parallel  text  1  Kings  ix.  1-9  agrees  in 
substance,  liut  often  not  in  words,  with  oar 
section  ;  in  particular,  the  latter  contains  some 
farther  extensions  and  explanations  of  what  is 
th  re  1'iimmanded,  and  a  longer  independent 
addition,  ver.  12/y-ver.  16a. 

Ver.   lib. — And  all  that  came  into  Solomon's 

h>  ml.  This  is  a  paraphrase  of  '">;;•  pC'rV^rnXI. 
"and  all  the  desire  of  Solomon";  comp.  also 
fr,t  pti'n.   desire,   viii.    6. — Ver.    12.     The   Lord 

appeared  to  Solomon  by  night.  The  addition  : 
"the second  time,  as  He  had  appeared  to  him  at 
Gibeon, "  1  Kings  Lx.  2,  is  wanting  here.  On  the 
contrary,  1  Kings  ix.  wants  all  that  follows  from 
"have  chosen  this  place  for  myself"  to  "have 
chosen  and  sanctified  this  house,"  ver.  16. — Ver. 
13.  If  1  shut  ii/i  heaven  and  there  be  n<>  ruin  ; 
pomp,  vi.  26,  28,  where,  among  other  land  plagues, 
the  three  here  mentioned,  drought,  locust,  and 
pestilence,   are  named.     The  twofold  jn  is  here 


I  equivalent   to   the    Qx,    "if,"  appearing  in  the 

[  third  place  ;  comp.  Isa.  liv.  15  ;  Jer.  iii.  1  ;  Jou 
x  I.  23 ;  and  see  our  remark  on  the  latter  passage. — 
Ver.  14.  And  my  people  .  .  .  humblt  themselves. 
Comp.  vi.  33  ;  Deut.  xxviii.  10  ;  Jer.  xv.  10  ;  on 
ver.  15,  comp.  vi.  40;  on  ver.  16,  comp.  vi.  5, 
6.  —  Ver.    17.   And  do  according  to  all,  literally, 

"  to  do,"  etc.     The  i  before  nil"lv  is  redundant, 

and  must  apparently  be  erased  according  to 
1  Kings  ix. — Ver.  18.  As  1  have  covenanted 
with  David  thy  father,     ippfe  without  the  object 

IV12    appears  to  be  a  mistake   for  'mSI  ;  but 

comp.  v.  10. — There  shall  not  be  cut  off  from 
thee  a  man  to  rule  in  Israel.  For  this  in  l  Bangs 
ix.  5  is :  .   .   .   "  a  man  on  the  throne  of  Israel." 

Our  fnOB^a  b&\D  seems  to  be  an  unintentional 
variation  of  the  text  there,  arising  from  a  recollec- 
tion of  Mic.  v.  1. — Ver.  19.  But  if  ye  rum  dicay. 
For  the  necessary  supplement   of  D2'32V    "and 


ISO 


U.  CHRONICLES. 


your  children,"  comp.  Crit.  Note.  —  Ver.  20. 
Then  will  I  pluck  them  ;  g'r\}  (for  tlie  Jvon   in 

1  Kiugs  ix.  7)  in  this  sense  also  Dent.  xxix. 
27;  1  Kings  xiv.  15.  For  the  following  :  "  cast- 
ing oat"  of  God's  sight,  comp.  Dent.  ix.  17,  Rev. 
ii.  5  :  for  a  "proverb  and  a  byword  among  all 
all  nations,"  Deut.  xxviii.  37,  Jer.  xxiv.  9. — 
Ver.  21.  And  this  house,  which  was  high.  In 
favou  •  of  ti  ?  here  probably   necessary  emenda- 


tion Q«j;  n'ri',  comp.,  besides  the  remark  in  thr 

Crit.  Note,  Mic.  iii.  12  ;  Jer.  xxvi.  IS  :  Ps. 
lxxix.  1.  For  the  following:  "every  passei-by 
sh:dl  be  astonished,"  comp.  Jer.  xviii.  16,  xix.  8. 
—  Why    hath   the   Lord   done    this.      For   n»J3 

1    Kings   has   the   more    usual   and    intelligible 


c.  The  External  Glory  of  Solomon's  Kingdom,  and  his  End. — Ch.  viil.  ix. 

a.  Salomon's  Building,  Serfs,  Divine  Worship,  and  Navigation  .-  ch.  viii. 

Ch.  viii.   1.  And  after  the  course  of  twenty  years,  in  which  Solomon  built  the  house 

2  of  the  Lord,  and  his  own  house.     The  cities  which  Hurain  had  given  to 

Solomon,  Solomon  built,  and  caused  the  sons  of  Israel  to  dwell  in  them. 

3,  4         And  Solomon   went   to   Hamath-zobah,  and  subdued   it.     And  he  built 

Tadmor  in  the  wilderness,  and  all  the  cities  of  stores  which  he  had  built  in 

5  Hamath.     And  he  built  Beth-lioron  the  upper,  and  Beth  boron  the  nether, 

6  fenced  cities,  with  walls,  gates,  and  bars.  And  Baalath,  and  all  the  cities  of 
stores  that  Solomon  had,  and  all  the  chariot-cities  and  cities  of  the  riders, 
and  all  the  desire  of  Solomon  which  he  desired  to  build  in  Jerusalem,  and  in 
Lebanon,  and  in  all  the  land  of  his  dominion. 

7  All  the  people  that  were  left  of  the  Hittites,  and  the  Amorites,  and  the 

8  Perizzites,  and  the  Hivites,  and  the  Jebusites,  who  were  not  of  Israel.  Of 
their  sons  who  were  left  alter  them  in  the  land,  whom  the  sons  of  Israel  had 

9  not  consumed,  these  Solomon  levied  for  serfs  unto  this  day.  But  of  the  sons 
of  Israel '  Solomon  made  none  to  be  servants  for  his  work  ;  but  they  were 
soldiers,  and  captains  of  his  knights,2  and  captains  of  his  chariots  and  riders. 

10  And  these  were  the  chiefs  of  King  Solomon's  officers,3  even  two  hundred  and 
fifty,  that  bare  rule  over  the  people. 

11  And  Solomon  brought  up  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh  from  the  city  of  David 
unto  the  house  that  he  had  built  for  her :  for  he  said,  My  wife  shall  not 
dwell  in  the  house  of  David  king  of  Israel  ;  for  the  places  are  holy  into 
which  the  ark  of  God  hath  come. 

12  Then  Solomon  offered  burnt-offerings  unto  the  Lord  on  the  altar  of  the 

13  Lord,  which  he  had  built  before  the  porch.  And  by  a  daily  rule,  each  day 
he  offered  according  to  the  command  of  Moses,  on  the  sabbaths,  and  on 
the  new  moons,  and  on  the  solemn  feasts,  three  times  a  year,  in  the  feast  of 
unleavened  bread,  and  in  the  feast  of  weeks,  and  in  the  feast  of  tabernacles. 

14  And  he  appointed,  after  the  order  of  David  his  father,  the  courses  of  the 
priests  for  their  service,  and  the  Levites  for  their  charges,  to  praise  and  to 
minister  before  the  priests  by  a  daily  rule  each  da}%  and  the  porters  in  their 
courses  at  ever}'  gate  :  for  so  was  the  command  of  David  the  man  of  God. 

15  And  they  departed  not  from  the  command4  of  the  king  to  the  priests  and 

16  Levites  for  all  things  and  for  the  treasures.  And  all  the  work  of  Solomon 
was  prepared  unto  the  day  of  the  foundation  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and 
until  it  was  finished  :  the  house  of  the  Lord  was  complete. 

17  Then  went  Solomon  to  Ezion-geber,  and  to  Eloth,  on  the  sea-side  in  the 

18  land  of  Edom.  And  Huram  sent  him  by  the  hand  of  his  servants,  ships  and 
servants  knowing  the  sea ;  and  they  went  with  Solomon's  servants  to  Ophir, 
and  fetched  thence  four  hundred  and  fifty  talents  of  gold,  and  brought  them 
to  King  Solomon. 


1  "IC'K    af  ei 


r  ^cOC" 


^B'JDI  must  apparently  be  erased,  as  il  Is  wanting  in  some  mss  ,  and  likewise  in  I  KiDgi 

For  W'pJ?  'nfe>  is  perhaps  to  be  read,  as  1  Kings  ix.,  WvC'1  Vlfefy  "  and  his  captains  and  his  knightt." 
Ktlhih:  D'j'VJ"  (comp  1  Chion.  xviii.  13,  2  Chron.  xvii  '21;  Km:  D'DSSH  fro  1  Kinga  ix.  118). 


(HAP.  VIII.  1-7. 


181 


'  For  JT1X9  some  mss.  have  fllVtSO,  though  tiie  construction  with  "VlD  by  no  means  requires  ibis  change;  comp. 
£w.  5  w'sj,  ,i.  As  litrle  is  it  necessary,  on  account  of  the  Sept.  and  Va  g.,  which  liave  the  plur.  (imUf,  mandMti 
regis),  to  point  rHVD- 


EXECSETIC.VL. 

PRELIMINARY  REMARK. — Here  brief  notes  ami 
aphoristic  accounts,  mostly  referring  to  the  ex- 
ternal occasions  and  events  of  the  reiuin  "I 
Solomon,  are  put  together,  as  in  the  parallel 
1  Kings  ix.  10-23,  in  such  a  way  that  they  form 
as  it  were  a  gleaning  to  the  report  of  the  chief 
work  of  his  reign,  the  building  of  the  temple. 
The  order  is  in  both  places  the  same  :  1.  The 
building  or  finishing  of  several  cities  ;  2.  The 
arrangement  of  tiie  service  for  these  buildings  ; 

3.  The  report  of  the  dwelling  assigned  to  the 
daughter  of  the  Egyptian  king  ;  4.  Regulations 
concerning  sacrifice;  5.  Navigation  to  Ophir. 
But  the  contents  of  these  five  paragraphs  differ 
much  from  one  another  in  the  two  narratives, 
especially  the  first  relating  to  the  building  of  the 
cities  (vers.  1-6  ;  comp.  1  Kings  ix.  10-19), 
where  it  is  clear  that  we  have  extracts,  not 
merely  differing  in  the  mode  of  selection  from  the 
same  sources,  and  aiding  to  complete  each  other, 
but  (with  respect  to  one  point  at  least)  actually 
contradicting  one  another  ;  see  on  vers.  1,  2. 

1.  Solomon's  building  of  Cities  :  vers.  1-6. — 
And  after  the  course  of  fooenty  years,  seven  years 
during  which  the  temple  was  built,  and  thirteen 
years  during  which  t lie  royal  palace  was  built, 
1  Kings  vi.  38,  vii.  1.  With  the  same  date  the 
statement  in  1  Kings  ix.  10  opens. — Ver.  2.  The 
cities  which  Huram  had  gvoen  to  Solomon,  Solo- 
mon built,  completed  and  fortified  (comp.   vers. 

4,  5,  and  1  Kings  ix.  13). — And  caused  the  sons 
of  Israel  to  dwell  in  them,  transplanted  Israelites 
as  colonists  into  them  ;  comp.  2  Kings  xvii.  6. 
1  Kings  ix.  10-13,  deviating  from  tile  present 
statement,  speaks  rather  of  twenty  Israelitish 
cities  not  far  from  Tyre  (in  "Galil")  which 
Solomon  ceded  or  pledged  to  the  Phoenician  king, 
to  indemnify  him  for  the  building  materials  and 
moneys  received  from  him.  These  obviously 
contradictory  statements  it  has  been  attempted 
to  harmonize  in  two  ways— 1.  By  the  assumption 
that  Solomon  first  ceded  the  twenty  cities  to 
Huram,  who,  however,  because  they  were  in  bad 
condition,  or  were  little  worth  to  him  (comp. 
1  Kings  ix.  12:  "and  they  pleased  him  not;" 
and  ver.  13  :  "he  called  them— contemptuously — 
the  land  of  Cabul"),  restored  them  to  him. 
whereupon  Solomon  built  them  up  (Josephus, 
Antiq.  viii.  5.  3;  Seb.  Schmidt,  Starke,  recently 
Keil)  ;  2.  By  the  assumption  that  Solomon  gave 
Huram  twenty  Israelitish  cities,  for  which  the 
latter  gave  him  twenty  Phoenician  cities  ;  and  the 
author  of  1  Kings  speaks  exclusively  of  the  former 
gift,  but  the  Chronist  only  of  the  latter  iKiinchi 
and  other  Rabbis).  The  former  of  these  two  sup- 
positions, for  which  there  is  some  ground  in  1 
Kings  ix.  12  f.,  is  decidedly  preferable.  Yet 
there  is  much  to  say  for  the  assumption  of 
modern  critics,  that  our  passage  contains  a  re- 
modelling of  the  old  statement  in  Kings  in 
favour  of  Solomon  ;  see  Bahr  on  1  Kings  ix. — 
Ver.  3.  And  Solomon  went  to  Hamatk-zobah,  and 

subdued  it,  "prevailed  over  it"  (?j;  pjn,  as  eh. 
txvii.  5 ;  Dan.  xi.  5).     By  Hamath-zobah  is  to 


be  understood,  not  a  city  Hamath  in  the  land  of 
Zobah,  but  rather  the  land  of  Hamath  not  fai 
from  Z'ibah,  the  Syrian  kingdom  of  Hamath 
bordering  on  Zobah  ;  comp.  ver.  4,  from  which 
it  is  clear  that  a  district  or  kingdom,  not  a  city 
i,  meant,  as  m  1  Chron.  xviii.  3,  where  (in  tin 
designation  of  Hadadezer  as  "  king  of  Zooah 
towards  Hamath"!  inversely  the  situation  t 
Zobah  is  determined  by  that  of  the  neighbouring 
Hamath.  For  the  designation  of  bordering,  or 
being  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood,  by  the 
status  constr.,  comp.  the  connection  often  occur- 
ring in  Numbers  and  Joshua:  "the  Jordan  of 
Jericho"  for  "the  Jordan  by  Jericho."  Num. 
xxii.  1,  xxvi.  3,  63,  xxxi.  12,  xxxiii.  48,  xxxv.  1, 
xxxvi.  13,  Josh.  xiii.  32,  etc.,  and  above,  1 
Chron.  vi.  63  (which  seei.  Moreover,  the  account 
of  the  subjugation  of  Hamath  by  Solomon  is 
peculiar  to  our  book.  The  fact,  indeed,  is  pre- 
supposed in  2  Kings  xiv.  2S,  but  is  not  directly 
mentioned  by  the  author  of  the  books  of  Kings. 
— And  he  built  Tadmor  in  the  wilderness,  ami  all 
the  cities  .  .  .  in  Hamath,  the  latter  obviously 
to  protect  the  borders  of  this  newly-conquered 
country  against  the  hostile  King  Rezon  of  Zobah 
(and  more  lately  of  Damascus)  ;  see  1  Kings  xi. 
23  tf.  Tadmor  or  Palmyra,  for  only  this  cele- 
brated old  city  of  tiie  wilderness  can  be  meant  by 
the  expressed  addition  131123,  appears  here  con- 
nected with  the  kingdom  of  Hamath,  or  border- 
ing on  it,  and  made  by  Solomon  to  be  a  border 
fortress  of  it.  This  notice  also,  so  far  at  least  as 
Tadmor  is  concerned,  is  wanting  in  1  Kings  ix. ; 
for  the  Tammor  named  there,  among  other  cities 
fortified  by  Solomon,  ver.  18  (for  which  the  Keri 
puts  "lfoin),  appears  rather  to  be  a  place  in  South 

Palestine,  perhaps  identical  with  the  Tamar  men- 
tioned Ezek.  xlvii.  19,  xlviii.  28,  the  Buftxpi  of 
the  Onomasticon  of  Eusebius,  and  the  present 
Kurnub ;  comp.  Movers,  Chron.  p.  210;  Hitzig, 
Oesch.  p.  160 ;  and  Bahr  on  1  Kings  ix.  18. 
There  is  no  sufficient  reason  to  doubt  the  truth 
of  the  present  statement  of  the  Chronist  regard- 
ing Palmyra  :  the  whole  old  Oriental  tradition 
(even  the  Arabic  legends  in  Schultens,  /«</•  s. 
geoijr.  s.v.    ~ibln)  testifies  to  it. — Ver.   a.   And 

he  built  Upper  and  Nether  Bcthhoron ;  comp.  on 
1  Chron.  vii.  24,  and  for  the  second  accusative 
of  the  object  "liVD  ,_ll?.  "fenced  cities,"  ch.  xi. 

10,  xiv.  6. — Ver.  6.  And  Baalaih,  and  all  the 
cities  of  stores,  cities  for  the  collection  of  provi- 
sions, magazine-cities,  as  in  ver.  4  ;  comp.  ch. 
xvii.  12,  xxxii.  28,  and  Bahr  on  1  Kings  ix.  19. 
Moreover,  of  the  places  here  mentioned,  Uppei 
Beth-boron  is  not  named  in  1  Kings  ix.  15-18, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  the  here  wanting  Hazor, 
Megiddo,  and  Gezer  (ver.  15). 

2.  Arrangement  of  the  Serfs  :  vers.  7-10  :  comp. 
1  Kings  ix.  20-23,  where,  however,  as  the  super- 
scription, ver.  15:  "and  this  is  the  mode  of  the 
levy,"  shows,  a  closer  connection  of  this  section 
with  the  previous  statements  regarding  the  build- 
ings (vers.  15-191  subsists,  whereas  here  tie  sec- 
tion appears  to  follow  the  preceding  one,  withoot 


182 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


any  connecting  link.— Ver.  8.  Of  their  sons  who 
were   left   after  them   in  the   land.       p  be  fore 

DJV33  must  apparently  be  taken  as  the  partitive 

P  (some  of  their  sons)  ;  but  a  hyperbaton  may 

also  be  assumed  :  -){?{<  Dn\)3"p  to*  '3"JO  "lSPK 

(Keil).     The  p  is  by  no  means  to  be  expunged 

because  it  is  wanting  in  1  Kings  ix.  21  (against 
Berth.). — Ver.  9.  But  of  the  sons  of  Israel  Solo- 
mon made  none.  On  the  probable  spuriousness 
of  the  iti'N  before  ]nj   60,  and  on  the  perhaps 

necessary  alteration  of  the  VE^E'  •'"IE',  "captains 
of  his  knights,"  into  "his  captains  and  his 
knights,'1  see  Crit.  Notes. —Ver.  10.  And  these 
were  the  chiefs  of  King  Solomon's  officers.  So 
according  to  the  Keri,  coinciding  with  1  Kings 
ix.  23  ;  the  Ketliib  D'a^il  nj?  would  give  the 

sense:  "chiefs  of  the  overseers."  The  number 
250  is  confirmed  by  the  Sept.  and  Vulg.  in  our 
passage,  whereas  the  same  translators  and 
Josephus,  in  the  parallel  1  Kings  ix.  2a,  present 
the  higher  number  550.  The  explanation  of  this 
difference  see  on  ch.  ii.  17  ;  in  our  passage  only 
the  Israelitish  overseers  or  taskmasters,  in  1  Kings 
ix.  23  the  Canaanitish  also,  are  counted. 

3.  The  Change  of  the  Dwelling-place  of  the 
Daughter  of  Pharaoh:  ver.  11. — Tll£  daughter 
of  Pharaoh.  This  is  most  probably  the  daughter 
of  Psusennes,  the  last  king  of  the  twenty-first 
(Tanitic)  dynasty.  In  1  Kings  ix.  24  this  notice 
is  more  easily  introduced,  as  it  is  preceded  by  an 
account  of  the  marriage  of  Solomon  with  this 
daughter  of  Pharaoh,  1  Kings  iii.  1  f.,  which  is 
wholly  wanting  in  Chronicles. — For  lie  said.  My 
wife  shall  not  dwell.  This  reason  for  the  removal 
of  his  wife  is  not  found  in  1  Kings  ix.  24,  yet,  by 
its  allusion  to  the  special  sanctifying  of  the  house 
of  David  by  the  presence  of  the  ark,  it  corresponds 
with  the  mode  of  thought  characteristic  of  the 
Chronist. — Are  holy,  the  places  into  which  the 
ark  of  the  Lord  came  ;    n?3~l  has  here  in  some 

sort  a  neuter  significance;  romp.  Ew.  §  318,  b. 
The  statement,  1  Kings  ix.  246,  that  at  the  time 
of  this  transference  of  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh 
Solomon  built  Millu,  is  wholly  wanting  in  our 
passage,  as  not  sufficiently  important  for  the  ten- 
dency of  our  author. 

4.  Kegulations  concerning  Sacrifice  :  vers. 
12-16;  comp.  1  Kings  ix.  25,  where  the  corre- 
sponding report  appears  in  a  considerably  shorter 
form.  —  Then  Solomon  offered  burnt-offerings  unto 
the  Lord.  "  Then,"  namely,  after  the  building 
of  the  temple  was  completed,  and  the  dedication 
finished. — On  the  altar  of  the  Lord,  which  lie  had 
built,  on  that  which  had  been  erected  by  him  in 
the  new  sanctuary,  no  longer  on  that  before  the 
tabernacle  in  Gibeon.  as  formerly  in  the  beginning 
of  his  reign,  ch.  iii.  1.— Ver.  13.  And  by  daily 
rule  each  day  he  offered,  "and  in  the  matter 
of  a  day  in  the  day  to  offer  ; "  the  i  before 
-Q-|3  is  explicative,  "  namely, "  and  the  3  before 

13T   is  the  so-called  3   essentia;:   "consisting, 

namely,  in  the  daily,  in  that  which  is  appointed 
for  every  day,"  according  to  the  law  Lev.  xxiii. 
87.     The  infinitive    nibynb  stands  in   the   later 


as  111   xxix.    2o, 
here  by  rOXTO 


usage  for  the  infin.  absol.  (Ew.  §  280,  d) :  tonip. 
for  example,  1  Chron.  ix.  25,  xiii.  4,  xv.  2. — And 
on  the  solemn  feasts,  three  times  a  year,  on  the 
three  great  festivals,  which  are  then  named  in 
order.  —  Ver.  14.  And  he  appointed,  after  tlie 
order  of  David  his  father,  the  courses  of  t/te 
priests;  couip.  1  Chron.  xxiv.  25,  2d,  and  for 
the  designation  of  David  as  "the  man  of  God," 
Neh.  xii.  24. — Ver.  15.  Ami  they  departed  not 
from  the  command  of  the  king.  See  the  Crit. 
Note,  and  comp.  for  the  second  member,  1  Chron. 
xxvi.  20-28. — Ver.  IB.  And  all  the  work  of 
Solomon  was  prepared.      |3Pll, 

xxxv.  10,  16.     What  is  meant 

is  shown  by  the  following  'ui  "ICAD,  which  may 

be  taken  either  (with  Kamph.)  as  genitive  de- 
pending on  Di'.T,  or  (with   Berth.,  Keil,  etc.)  as 

apposition  to  J"D}OD,   "unto  this  day,  namely, 

the  founding,"  etc.  In  the  former  case,  which 
appears  to  us  preferable,  for  the  construction  with 
ly,  perhaps  Ezra  viii.  29  might  be  compared. — 

The  house  of  the  Lord  teas  complete,  set  up  in  all 
its  parts,  finished  as  a  house  of  God.  The  notice, 
which  is  found  literally  the  same  in  1  Kings  ix. 
25,  is  meant  to  denote,  not  perhaps  the  building, 
but  rather  the  fitting  up  and  arrangement  of  the 
temple  for  divine  worship,  as  brought  to  final 
completion.  It  cannot  therefore  be  regarded 
i with  Berth.)  as  the  subscription  to  all  that 
precedes  from  ch.  i.  18,  but  closes  only  the  pre- 
sent paragraph  referring  to  worship,  which  forms 
a  sort  of  appendix  to  the  account  of  the  temple 
building. 

5.  The  Navigation  to  Ophir  :  vers.  17,  18. — 
Then  went  Solomon.  Comp.  1  Kings  ix.  26, 
where  the  reference  to  this  trade  with  Ophir, 
otherwise  agreeing  pretty  closely  with  our  passage 
(26-28),  begins  with  the  words  :  "And  Solomon 
made  ships"  l.nE'y  ';N1  instead  of  the  present 
"6n  IS*-  B)'  "then"  our  author  transfers  these 
nautical  undertakings  in  general  to  the  second 
half  of  the  reign  of  Solomon,  or  the  time  after 
the  building  of  the  temple  and  the  palace.  For 
Ezion-geber  and  Eloth  on  the  sea  (1  Kings  more 
exactly:  "Ezion-geber  beside  Eloth,"  and  then, 
"on  the  shore  of  the  sea"),  comp.  the  expositors 
on  1  Kings  ix. — Ver.  18.  And  Huram  sint  him 
.  .  .  ships.  It  is  no  more  necessary  to  suppose  a 
transport  of  ships  ready  made  across  the  isthmus 
of  Suez  than  a  circumnavigation  of  Africa.  The 
assumption  of  a  supply  of  timber  for  ships,  and 
of  mariners,  by  the  Phoenician  king,  is  quite 
sufficient;  and  with  this  (which  is  defended  by 
Keil,  Bah r,  etc.)  our  passage  appears  to  be  not 
contradictory  to  1  Kings  ix.  27. — And  fetched 
thence  four  hundred  and  fifty  talents  of  gold. 
According  to  1  Kings  ix.  28,  the  profit  amounted 
only  to  420  talents,  a  difference  which  may  be 
explained  either  by  assuming  a  change  of  the 
numeral  J  into  J,  or  a  fault  of  memory  on  the 
part  of  one  of  the  two  reporters  (perhaps  a  round 
number  chosen  by  the  Chronist).  Moreover,  it 
appears  to  be  not  a  single  gain,  but  the  sum  total 
of  the  gold  gained  in  the  repeated  voyages  to 
Ophir  that  is  here  spoken  of  ;  comp.  ch.  ix.  lb. 

,4ptf.ni>ix.—  It  is  necessary  to   go   somewhat 
fully  into  the  question  of  the  situation  of  Oplii :. 


CHAP.  VIII. 


183 


on  account  of  the  many  scientific  memoirs  recently 
published  on  it,  especially  in  geographical  litera- 
ture and  travels  (comp.  our  former  brief  remarks 
on  Job  xxii.  2J,  and  those  of  Ua.hr  on  1  Kings 
x.  22). 

1.  As  Ezion-geber  on  tin'  Red  Sea  is  quite 
detiuittdy  given,  both  in  -  *  'hron.  viii.  1  7  I.  and 
1  Kings  ix.  26-28,  as  the  si  nting -point  of  the 
voyages  under  .Solomon  to  Ophir,  and  as  Jeho- 
shaphat's  later  attempt  to  renew  tins  trade,  1 
Kings  xxii.  49,  2  Clu'oll.  XX.  S5,  was  made  from 
the  same  port,  all  those  conjectures  concerning 
the  site  of  Ophir  are  to  be  accounted  null  that 
place  it  anywhere  west  uf  Phoenicia  and  Palestine, 
whether  near  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean  or 
any  of  its  bays,  or  beyond  the  Mediterranean,  in 
the  region  <>t  the  new  world.  This  includes  a. 
the  opinions  of  Hardt,  Calmet,  Oldermann,  of 
whom  the  first  sought  Ophir  in  Phoenicia,  the 
second  in  Armenia,  and  the  third  in  Iberia  ;  b. 
the  different  hypotheses  referring  to  certain 
coasts,  islands,  or  lands  of  America  or  Oceanica, 
as  the  opinion  of  Columbus  that  the  Ophir  of 
Solomon  was  re  liscovered  in  the  country  of 
Haiti  ;  that  of  the  Spanish  navigator  Mendana, 
under  Philip  n.,  who  in  1567  designated  a  group 
of  islands,  abounding  in  gold,  and  inhabited  by 
cannibals,  east  of  New  Guinea,  which  he  took  for 
Ophir  by  the  name  of  Solomon's  Archipelago  ; 
that  of  Arias  Moutauus,  Vatablus,  Osiander,  P. 
Fr.  Pfeffelius,  etc.,  who  identified  the  .gold 
regions  of  Peru  and  Mexico  first  with  Parvaim 
(ch.  iii.  o,  Parvaim  =  Peruaim,  double  Peru,  tin- 
two  Perns),  and  then  also  with  Ophir;  that  ol 
the  French  engineer  Ouffroy  dc  Thoron  (in  an 
article  in  the  Genevan  journal  Le  Globe,  1869), 
who  thinks  that  the  name  Ophir  is  rather  to  be 
found  in  the  Japura,  a  branch  of  the  Amazon, 
and  in  accordance  with  this,  transfers  Parvaim 
and  Tarshish  (ch.  ix.  21)  to  Brazil;  and  the 
partly  still  mote  extravagant  and  uncritical 
fancies  of  Abbe  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg,  George 
Brown,  in  his  Palaorama  (German  edit.  En. 
1867),  etc  Comp.  Ritter,  Erdkunde,  xiv.  353  11'. ; 
Ausland  l-*r2,  No.  23,  p.  532  ;  Globus,  vol. 
xvii.  p.  382  f.,  and  vol.  xxi.  p.  214  ;  anl  Pressed, 
Art.  "Ophir''  in  Herzbg's  Real-Encycl.  x.  656. 
From  the  notices  of  Parvaim  (ch.  iii.  6)  and 
Tarshish  (ch.  i\.  21  i  in  our  book,  not  the  hast 
hint  can  he  drawn  in  favour  of  a  western  Ophir, 
or  of  a  western  direction  of  the  Ophir  trade.  For, 
with  regard  to  Parvaim,  the  single  and  quite 
incidental  mention  of  the  gold  of  Parvaim  leaves 
room  for  all  possible  conjectures  concerning  the 
import  of  the  name,'  while  yet  an  eastern  situa- 
tion for  this  gold  country  is  in  itself  the  most 

1  It  has  been  aitempted  to  identify  Parvaim  with  Bar- 
bat'w,  or  Pari. alia,  a  town  standing,  according  t  •  Plin.  //. 
tV.  vi  :.12,  on  the  Tigris  fCastell.  Lex  heptagl.  3t"j2);  to  affirm 
it  e=  Seph&rVHim,  2  Kings  xvii.  24.  on  the  one  hand,  and 
=  Siphron,  Num.  xxxiv.  S,  on  the  other,  and  accordingly  io 
refer  it  to  the  gold-bearing  Chrysorrhnas  in  Syria 

berg,  Ilrern  .  <in<l  Vtrd  B»W  iv.  14)  .  to  explain  tie-  lame.!. 
the  same  with  ophir,  and  identify  the  Parvairo-Ophir  eitt.ei 
with  Peru  (Arias  Mont  ,  etc. :  s.  <  abov)  or  with  Up  obane, 
now  Ceylon  (Bucharf,  Pholeg,  ii  27:  Halt.  Ally.  Wtnhulorit, 
iii.  413;  and  Starke,  Synops  on  2  Cbroit.  iii.  6> :  orlas'Iy,  to 
explain  the  name  from  'he  Indian,  and  so  compare  either 
the  Sanscr.  purva,  "before,  eastern"  ■  Wilfool  hi  .t.-eir. 
Researches,  viii.  276:  Gesen.  Tti.  ii  112?),  or  para,  "moan- 
tain  "  ( Parvaim  =  I'.tvu^.  ipv),  is  Hirzic  on  Dan  x  5.  who, 
however,  transfers  this  doable  mountain  to  South  Arabia. 
Comp.  also  Leyrer's  (Ait  "  Parvaim''  in  Herzog's  Real.- 
Encycl.)  reference  to  the  Paryadros  ranee  on  the  gold-liear- 
itie  I'hasis  in  Colchis,  as  will  as  the  combination  of  Ki.ohel 
preferred  in  the  text. 


probable  ti  •■  •  "<  i  h.  iii.  6)  ;  and  of  ;ill  ihi  con- 
ieoturi  regarding  it,  that  of  Knobel,  in  which  he 
combines  tin-  name  with  Sepharvaiw  Scphar, 
Gen.  x.  80,  and  places  it  in  the  Joktanide  Smith 
Ar..ln,i,  or  Oman  ( V&lkfrtaf.  p.  161),  has  most  in 
its  favour;  see  No.  5.  With  regard  to  Ihe  ship? 
of  Solomon  sailing  to  Tarshish,  as  ch.  ix.  23 
seems  to  affirm,  this  rests  most  probably  on  a 
misunderstanding  of  the  phrase  :  "ships  of  Tar- 
shish "  (si  e  on  the  passage  I;  and,  accordingly,  the 
various  hypotheses  on  the  relation  of  Tarshish  to 
Ophir  which  have  been  invented  (as  that  of 
Micbaelis,  Spicileg.  ijeogr.  Ih  ir.  i.  98  If.):  that 
Hiram's  and  Solomon's  fleets  sailed  beyond  Tar- 
shish, thai  is,  beyond  Spain,  round  Africa,  as  the 
Phoenicians  did  100  years  later  un  ler  PI 
Vrho,  but  iii  tin- opposite  direction,  to  Ophir  in 
the  East  Indies;  that  of  Weston  in  lie-  Classic. 
■loam.  1821,  Sept.,  p.  17  I.,  and  of  K  -i  1  in  the 
Dorpat  Contributions,  1833,  ii.  240,  and  in  his 
earlier  Coinm.  on  lh<:  Books  <;/"  Kings,  1846,  p. 
311,  according  to  which  the  Ophir  voyages  pro- 
ceeded from  Ezion-geber,  and  the  Tarshish  or 
Spanish  voyages  from  Joppa ;  that  of  Seetzen, 
■•  Ueber  Ophir"  in  Von  Zach's  Moiia'licher 
Korrespondenz,  xix.  p.  331  H'.,  who,  in  2  Chron, 
ix.  21,  finds  a  promontory  Tarsis  on  the  Kara- 
inaiiiin  coast  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  which  is  men- 
tioned in  the  old  accounts  conceraiu  >  ;  lie  Periplu9 
of  Nearehus,  and  endeavours  to  render  probable 
his  removal  of  Ophir  to  South  Arahia),  —  are 
u  holly  superfluous  and  groundless. 

2.  If  the  eastern  situation  of  Ophir  stand,  we 
may  take  the  name  first  as  a  general  designation 
of  all  possible  gold-yielding  lands  east  ol  Pales- 
tine, and  therefore  as  an  equally  indefinite  and 
vague  geographical  notion  with  that  of  Kush  in 
Hebrew  antiquity,  Scythia  among  the  Greeks, 
India  in  the  Middle  Ages,  or  Tartary,  the  Levant, 
etc.,  in  modern  times.  But  it  is  against  this 
indefinite  and  therefore  very  convenient  assump- 
tion of  Jos.  Acosta,  Heeren,  Hartmann,  Tychsen, 
and  Zeune,  that,  according  to  all  the  notices  n 
history  of  the  voyages  to  Ophir,  this  must  have 
been  a  definite  country,  or,  in  other  words,  that 
ih'  end  of  this  voyage  should,  no  more  than 
Ezion-geber  its  starting-point,  be  robbed  of  its 
concrete  import,  and  generalized  into  the  inde- 
finite. 

3.  Among  the  gold-producing  roasts  east  of 
Palestine,  Last  India,  in  particular  some  province, 
coast,  or  island  of  East  India,  appears  to  have  a 
specially  high  claim  to  identification  with  Ophir; 
tor  —  1.  The  name  Ophir  finds  its  most  con- 
venient meaning  in  Indian  words  or  local  names, 
whether  we  combine  the  form  usual  in  the  Sept 
Stififi  or  Sivf'if  (also  ^.uifv/.ii,  Sn^st.ai,  as  well  as 
the  Coptic  designation-.  Sophir,  lor  India,  with 
the  Sanscr.  Supdra,  "fair  coast"  (Lassen,  Ind. 
Alterthumskunde,  i.  107),  and  with  Zavrifa.  of 
Ptolemy  Oom-ap*  in  the  Peripl.,  or  refer  to 
the  pastoral  tribe  of  the  Ahliira,  between  the 
mouths  of  the  Indus  and  the  Gulf  of  Cambay. 
2.  Several  of  the  commodities  brought  to  Pales- 
tine from  Ophir,  namely,  the  peacocks,  apes,  and 


the  ah 


giin  or  sandal-wood  (see  2  Chron.  ix.  10, 


21,  and  comp.  1  Kings  x.  12,  22),  arc  specifically 
Indian  products,  that  seem  to  have  been  brought 
only  thence,  and  wdiose  export  from  any  non- 
Indian  emporium  is  scarcely  conceivable.  3.  The 
names  also  of  those  imports  seem  capable  of  a  spe- 
cially easy  explanation  from  the  Indian  language; 


184 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


comp.   with   Q'a'p,   "  apes,"   the  Sanscr.   Kepi, 

with  D^^n,  peacocks,  the  Sanscr.   Cikhi,   Mala 

har.  toghei,  with  D'HO^K   or   D'ta^K  the  Sanscr. 

rnlgu  {valgum).  4.  The  length  of  the  voyage. 
which,  according  to  2  Ghron.  ix.  21  (1  Kings  x. 
22),  required  so  much  time,  that  only  once  in 
three  years  the  fleet  of  Tarshish  came  and  brought 
gold  and  other  costly  wares  of  Ophir,  appears  to 
indicate  a  country  that  was  at  least  as  far  as  East 
India  from  the  northern  point  of  the  Red  Sea. 
For  these  reasons,  and  partly  also  on  account  of 
some  old  traditions  pointing  to  India,  for  instance, 
in  Josephus,  Anliij.  viii.  6.  4,  a  number  of  eminent 
scholars  since  Bochart  (Phaleg,  ii.  27  11. ),  W. 
Ouseley  and  Hadr.  Reland  (Dissert,  miscel.  No. 
IV.,  de  Ophir),  of  the  moderns,  especially  Lassen 
(Ind.  Alterthivmshmde),  Eitter  (Erdkande,  xiv. 
346-431).  and  Kiepert  (in  the  yationalzeitung 
1872,  No.  xlvi.),  have  declared  themselves  for 
some  coast  of  India  as  corresponding  to  the 
ancient  Ophir. — But  several  objections  may  In- 
made  to  these  arguments:  To  1.  That  suitable 
coincidences  of  names  or  accordances  with  Ophir 
are  presented  in  East  Africa  and  Arabia  as  well 
as  in  those  localities  of  India  (see  below i;  besides, 
neither  the  region  of  Sufara  or  Supara  (near  Goa), 
nor  that  of  Abhira,  south-east  of  the  Delta  of 
Indus,  is  gold-producing,  or  even  specially  near 
any  gold  district.  To  2.  That  almug-wood.  apes, 
and  peacocks,  if  really  exclusive  products  of  India 
(what  may  be  doubted  with  regard  to  the  almug- 
wood  from  2  Chron.  ii.  7,  and  cannot  be  asserted 
respecting  the  apes),  might  very  well  be  brought, 
not  directly  from  India,  but  from  a  port  of  Arabia, 
or  even  East  Africa,  whither  Indian  or  other  ships 
had  carried  them.  To  3.  That  the  etyma  of  the 
names  almuggim,  kophim,  and  tukkiiin  are 
Indian,  as  above  quoted,  is  by  no  means  indubit- 
ably certain  ;  for  in  "almuggim,"  which  does'not 
much  resemble  the  Sanscr.  valgu,  tlu  Arabic 
article  al-  seems  rather  to  be  present.     That  □">3ri 

is  =  the  Malabar  tSghai  may  be  doubted  on 
strong  philological  grounds  (see  Rodiger  in  Gesen. 
Thes.  p.   1502);  and  apes  might   be  called  Q'ap, 

from  the  Greek  xims,  xf./ics,  which,  according  to 
Aristot.  Hist,  animal,  ii.  8,  Strabo,  Pliu.,  etc., 
lesignates  an  ^Ethiopian  species  of  ape.  More- 
over, the  latest  Egyptology  has  found  the  latter 
name  (in  the  form  hap,  kaph,  kafi)  also  on 
the  primeval  Egyptian  monuments,  which  renders 
its  Sanscrit  origin  altogether  doubtful  (see  Diimi- 
chen,  Die  Flotte  einer  egyptischen  Konigin,  1S68  ; 
and  ci  mp.  R.  Rosier  in  the  Ansland,  1872,  p. 
iUm.  To  4.  That  no  weight  is  to  be  attached  to 
the  length  of  the  voyage,  when  we  i  onsider  the 
slow  method  of  the  ancients,  especially  of  tin- 
ancient  sea  voyages  (comp.  Odyss.  xv.  454  m); 
and  this  argument  might  be  urged  as  well  in 
favour  of  the  southern  East  Africa ;  even  the 
defenders  of  the  hypotheses  implying  still  farther 
regions  (see  No.  1)  might  avail  themselves  of  it. 

4.  If  from  all  this  the  determination  of  the  site 
of  Ophir  in  East  India  seems  doubtful  and  pre- 
carious, it  fares  little  better  with  that  which  has 
been  further  urged  in  favour  of  the  East  African 
coast,  especially  Sofala,  on  the  channel  of  Mozam- 
bique (about  20'  south  hit.).  Following  the  steps 
>t  the  Portuguese  travellers  of  the  lb'th  and  17th 


centuries,  as  de  Barros,  Juan  dos  Santos,  Th. 
Lopez,  Montesquieu,  d'Anville,  J.  Bruce,  Robert- 
son in  the  last  century,  and  recently  Quatremere 
(Mimoire  sur  le  pays  a" Ophir  in  the  Meii .  de 
VInstit.  mi/.  1845,  torn.  xv.  ii.  p.  350  sq. ',  Movers 
{Die  PhOnizier,  ii.  3,  5S  IE),  the  British  geogra- 
phers II.  Murchison  and  J.  Crawfurl,  and  recently 
the  eminent  African  traveller  Karl  Mauch,  the 
geographer  Peterinann  partly  approving  his  views 
(see  his  Mittlieilunyen,  etc.,  1 S 7 2,  p.  4,  p. 
121  ff. ),  also  the  director  of  missions,  Wange- 
mann  (Kreuzseitung  of  30th  Jan.  1872),  and  ar 
anonymous  reporter  in  Ausland  (1^72,  No. 
10),  have  endeavoured  to  render  probable  the 
identity  of  Sofala  or  some  neighbouring  South 
African  coast  with  Ophir.  The  chief  grounds  for 
this  view  are  :  1.  To  the  name  Ophir  appears  to 
correspond,  if  not  that  of  Sofala  (which  seen.s 
rather  to  lead  to  rf?2t;'.  "  lowland  "),  yet  that  of 

a  mountain  Fura  or  Afura,  with  ancient,  pro- 
bably Phoenician,  ruins,  of  which  the  Portuguese 
were  cognisant  in  the  lb'th  and  17th  centuries 
(see  dos  Santos,  ^Ethiopia  orwntaXie,  Evora  1609), 
and  which  have  been  lately  rediscovered  by  K. 
Mauch,  and  have  been  with  gnat  probability 
identified  with  the  Zembabye  or  Zimbaoe  of  the 
Portuguese,  the  Agysymba  of  Ptolemy.  2.  The 
wealth  of  East  Ah'ica  in  gold  excels  that  of  East 
India,  especially  the  East  Indian  coast ;  and  with 
regard  to  the  coast  of  Sofala  and  the  ancient 
Agysymba  or  Zimbaoe,  its  wealth  in  gob  dust 
and  minerals  is  celebrated  by  .  ntiquity.  The 
situation  of  the  mountain  Fura  with  the  ruins 
mentioned,  dos  Santos  defines  briefly  as  "in  the 
gold  laud  "  [iraeto  do  ou.ro).  3.  The  wealth  also 
of  East  Africa  in  ivory  (D,3n3tJ',  -  Chron.  ix.  21; 

1  Kings  x.  22 1  was  much  greater  than  that  of 
India  ;  apes  also  and  precious  stones  the  East 
African  emporia  could  certainly  furnish  in  great 
abundance.  4.  The  report  of  Merodotus  iv.  42 
concerning  the  circumnavigation  of  Africa  by 
Necho,  proves  that  the  Phoenicians  were  wont  to 
extend  their  voyages  from  the  Red  Sea  far  south- 
ward along  the  east  coast  of  Africa.  5.  The  ruins 
lately  discovered  again  by  Mauch  of  the  ancient 
Zimbaoe  on  the  Fura  or  Afura  mountains,  with 
their  rough  cyclopean  stone  walls  built  without 
mortar,  on  an  average  fifteen  feet  thick  and  thirty 
feet  high  (see  the  particulars  in  March's  letters  to 
the  missionaries  Griitzner  and  Merensky  in  Peter- 
maim  as  quoted,  and  in  a  recent  letter  of  Mauch 
to  the  African  traveller  Ed.  Mohr.  published  in 
the  Weserzeilung,  Dec.  1872),  bear  a  very  ancient 
stamp;  the  ornaments  wrought  on  them  point  at 
least  to  a  time  before  the  Portugm  se  and  the 
Arabs,  and  could  apparently  be  derived  only  from 
the  Phoenicians  or  Jews,  because  numerous  cedar 
beams,  employed  apparently  for  ceilings,  are  found 
in  them,  and  also  because  one  of  the  two  dis- 
covered buildings  presents,  as  Mauch  asserts,  "an 
imitation  of  Solomon's  temple,  a  fortress  and 
house  of  God  at  the  same  time"  (?).  But  none 
of  these  reasons  is  decisive  ;  for  in  regard  to — 1. 
The  etymology  Ophir  =  Afura,  Fura,  ha-  about 
the  same  precarious  value  as  the  combination 
with  the  Sanscr.  Abhira;  Ofir  or  Ofar  (Ofra;  see 
No.  5)  of  South  Arabia  has  at  leas  as  good  a 
claim  to  be  taken  for  the  biblical  Ophir  as  that 
region  of  inner  Africa  first  named  by  recent 
writers,  which  lies,  moreover,  200  leagues  land- 
ward from  the  coast  of  Sofala.    To  2.  i  'ear  traces 


CHAP.  VIII. 


185 


that  the  golden  wealth  of  the  region  in  question 
was  known  to  the  Phoenicians  or  to  the  people 
before  the  Christian  era  are  still  wanting.  To  3. 
Along  with  ivory,  apes,  etc.,  the  often  quoted 
classical  passages  of  the  Old  Testament  name 
also  quite  distinctly  the  non-African  products, 
peacocks  and  (probably)  sandal- wood,  as  imported 
by  the  traders  of  Solomon.  To  4.  The  circum- 
navigation of  Africa  under  Necho  proves  nothing 
for  a  much  earlier  period  ;  it  is  described  by 
Herodotus  quite  distinctly  as  something  unheard 
of,  quite  new  and  isolated  ;  and  from  Ptolemy  and 
the  old  geographers  it  is  evident  that  the  east 
coast  of  Africa  was  known  and  accessible  to  the 
ancients  only  as  far  as  Prasum  promont.,  the  pre- 
sent (ape  Delgado,  10-11°  south  lat,  and  not 
farther  south.  To  5.  The  existence  of  the  ruins 
of  Zimbaoe  before  the  Portuguese  and  Arabs,  the 
presence  of  cedar-wood  (?),  the  supposed  partial 
resemblance  to  the  construction  of  Solomon's 
temple,  by  no  means  prove  its  Phoenician  or 
ancient  Israelitish  origin;  to  establish  this  would 
require  much  more  exact  and  extensive  investiga- 
tions than  those  carried  on  by  Mauch  in  Ids  dying 
visit  of  last  rear  I  comp.  also  Petermann  as  quoted, 
p.  125). 

5.  The  greatest  abundance  of  probabilities,  bill 
certainly  nothing  more  definite  or  decisive  than 
probabilities,  IL  -  s  with  those  learned  investigators 
who  seek  Ophir  somewhere  in  South  Arabia,  as 
the  Arabian  geographers  Edrisi  and  Abulfeda, 
partly  also  Bochart,  further  Niebuhr,  Seetzen  (in 
v.  Zach  as  quoted),  Volney,  Gosselin,  Vincent, 
Rosenmiiller,  Gesenius,  Ewald,  Knobel  (  VOlker- 
ta/el,  p.  190  f.),  Hitzig  (Oasch.  Israel.*,  p.  156  f.), 
Bahr,  and  Keil  (on  1  Kings  x.  22),  the  English 
geographer  C.  Bcke.  the  French  traveller  Jos. 
Halevy,  Pressel  also  (Art.  "  Ophir"  in  Herzog  as 
(jie  ir. I),  and  Albr.  Roscher  (Ptokmaus  und  die 
Handelsntrassen  in  Centrala/rika,  Gotha  1857), 
the  latter  two  with  the  peculiar  modification  that 
they  take  an  island  near  the  coast  of  South  Arabia, 
perhaps  Dahlak  in  the  Red  Sea  (so  especially 
Roscher),  or  Socotora  (so  Pressel),  for  the  proper 
Ophir,  whence  Solomon's  traders  fetched  the 
various  products  mentioned.  If  now  the  latter  as- 
sumption, which  rests  on  the  report  by  Eupolemus, 
in  Euseb.  Prcep.  evang.  ix.  30,  of  an  "island 
Urphe  or  Uphre "  (Ovfriel),  situated  in  the 
Erythraean  Sea.  rich  in  gold  mines,  and  already 
found  by  David,  appears  very  precarious  on  ac- 
count of  the  doubtful  character  of  its  voucher, 
yet  the  following  arguments,  that  are  scarcely  to 
be  invalidated,  speak  fur  South  Arabia  in  general : 
J .  In  Gen.  x.  29  occurs  the  name  Ophir  among 
the  .loktanite  tribes  of  South  Arabia,  and  signifi- 
•intlv  indeed  along  with  another  tribe,  that  like- 
wise bears  the  name  or  a  gold  land,  Havilah  (Gen. 
ii.  111.  2.  The  Arabian  geographer  Edrisi  knew 
in  the  present  Oman  in  the  south-east  of  Arabia 
no  less  than  three  places  whose  names  accord 
with  Ophir — are,  indeed,  essentially  like  in  sound, 
namely — a.Ofar,  two  days'  journey  landwards  IV  m 
Sonar,  the  present  Sur  :  b.  Afir  or  Ghafir  iu  El 
Ahsa  ;  c.  A  Mount  Otir  in  Bahrein  (see  Edrisi  in 
Jauhert.  i.  117,  152  fl'  I.  3.  Many  biblical  parage* 
attest  the  great  wealth  in  gold  of  South  Arabia' 
with  special  reference  to  Saba,  situated  in  the 
south-west,  as  the  account  of  the  queen  of  Sheba 
in  ch.  ix.  (1  Kings  x.);  Ps.  lxxii.  15;  Isa.  Ix.  6; 
Ezek.  xxvii.  22;  likewise  more  generally,  without 
special  reference  to  the  south-west,  several  classical 


authors,  as  Strabo,  xvi.  pp.  777,  784  ;  Diodorus,  ii. 
50,  iii.  44,  etc.  (comp.  Bochart,  Phaleg,  ii.  27). 
4.  The  passages  of  Scripture  testify  in  part  that 
Arabia  was  rich  also  in  precious  stones,  especially 
Isa.  Ix.  and  Ezek.  xxvii. ;  and  Strabo,  as  quoted, 
attests  that  it  produced  silver,  at  least  in  the 
country  of  the  Nabataans.  5.  The  remaining 
products  named  in  ch.  ix.  10,  21,  and  1  Kings  x. 
12,  22,  which  might  come  only  from  India,  or  only 
from  Africa,  as  ivory,  apes,  pi  acocks,  sandal 
wood,  must  be  brought  by  Arabian  and  Indiat 
traders  to  the  marts  of  Arabia  Felix,  as  well  to 
the  eastern  (Oman,  Ophin  as  the  western  (Sheba) 
part  of  the  south  coast,  and  thence  again  exchanged 
into  the  Phoenician  and  Hebrew  fleets.  The  high 
antiquity,  reaching  far  beyond  the  time  id'  Solo- 
mon, of  such  a  trade  through  South  Aralfta  of 
Hither  Asia,  at  least  with  India  (therefore  also 
with  Africa,  especially  with  ^Ethiopia  and  Upper 
Egypt),  isattested  in  the  surest  and  fullest  manner  ; 
see  Lassen,  Ind.  Alterthumskunde,  ii.  593-506 ; 
Movers,  Phmh.  ii.  3,  pp.  247,  256.  If  accordingly 
we  are  to  seek  Ophir  with  the  greatest  probability 
in  south-eastern  Arabia,  the  present  Oman,  there 
is  still  much  that  is  obscure  in  reference  to  its 
situation,  its  mines  and  metals,  its  ports,  its 
relation  to  the  neighbouring  Sabsea.  More  exact 
investigations  into  the  situation  of  the  regions  in 
question,  which  Moslem  fanaticism  has  almost 
secluded  from  Europeans,  and  for  the  scientific 
exploration  of  which  important  contributions 
have  been  made  only  in  recent  times,  by  v.  Wrede, 
\V.  Munzinger,  Joseph  Halevy,  and  H.  v.  Maltzan, 
will  alone  yield  authentic  disclosures  in  this  direc- 
tion. Whether  we  are  warranted  in  making  so 
sharp  a  separation  of  the  Ophir  of  Gen.  x.  29  as 
a  country  belonging  to  Arabia,  and  of  that  of  the 
books  of  Kings  and  Chronicles  as  a  region  possibly 
far  removed  from  Arabia,  as  the  French  Vivien  de 
St.  Martin  declared  to  be  necessary,  against  Jos. 
Halevy  in  a  session  of  the  Paris  Geographical 
Society  (comp.  also  F.  v.  Hellwald  in  the  Aunfand, 
1872,  No.  23,  p.  53tf),  appears  doubtful.  It  is 
difficult  to  produce  exegetical  grounds  for  such  a 
separation  of  the  two  Ophirs  ;  the  juxtaposition 
of  that  of  Genesis  besides  a  neighbouring  Havilah, 
without  doubt  also  a  gold -producing  district, 
appears  to  favour  the  opposite  conclusion  (see 
above,  1  [and  Introd.  §  6]). 

[To  the  note  at  the  end  of  §  6,  Introd.,  may  be 
added  the  following  considerations:  1.  It  is  ob- 
vious that  the  voyage  to  Ophir,  1  Kings  ix.  28, 
x.  11,  2  Chron.  viii.  18,  ix.  10,  in  quest  of  gold, 
almug-trees,  and  precious  stones,  was  distinct 
from  that  to  Tarshish,  1  Kings  x.  22,  2  Chron 
ix.  21,  for  gold,  silver,  ivory,  apes,  and  peacocks, 
which  was  made  in  three  years.  2.  It  is  certain 
that  the  former,  and  most  probable  that  the  latter, 
voyage  proceeded  from  Ezion-geber  or  Elath  on  the 
eastern  gulf  of  the  Red  Sea,  1  Kings  ix.  20,  xxii. 
48;  2  Chron.  viii.  17,  xx.  36.  In  this  way  the 
trade  of  Solomon  did  not  interfere  with  that  of 
Hiram  his  ally,  which  proceeded  directly  from  the 
seaboard  of  Phoenicia.  3.  Ships  going  to  Tar- 
shish, which  was  the  longer  voyage,  might  visit 
Ophir  by  the  way,  1  Kings  xxii.  48;  2  Chron. 
xx.  36.  As  Tarshish  was  of  the  line  of  Javan, 
and  belonged  to  the  west,  his  country  could  only 
he  reached  from  the  Red  Sea  by  doubling  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope.  This  would  account  for  the 
three  years  spent  on  the  voyage.  It  would  also 
favour  the  probability  that  Ophir  nas  to  be  found 


186  II.  CHRONICLES. 


on  the  coast  of  the  Red  Sea,  either  in  Arabia  or  '  soutli  as  well  as  the  north  of  the  Straits  of 
Africa,  or  both.  4.  There  are  traces  in  Scripture  Gibraltar.  Hence  Solomon's  traders  may  have 
of  the  name  of  a  country,  especially  if  it  be  also  i  met  with  Tarshish  even  on  the  gold  coast  of 
the  name  of  the  tribe,  travelling  with  the  tribe.  :  Africa,  especially  as  the  coast  of  this  country  wait 
Thus  Asshur,  Havilah,  Cush,  Tarshish,  and  particularly  inviting  to  ancient  mariners  from  it* 
Ophir  may  have  changed  their  centre  in  the  '  slight  indentations.  As  all  this  is  possible,  if 
course  of  ages.  Ill  particular,  Ophir  may  have  I  not  probable,  we  are  not  warranted  in  assuming 
had  settlements  on  the  east  and  west  of  the  Red  a  contradiction,  or  even  an  inaccuracy,  in  the 
Sea  :  and   Tarshish    may  have  ranged   over   the    report  of  the  writer  of  Chronicles. — J.  (>.  M. 1 

/3.    The  Visit  of  the  Queen  afSheha:  ch.  ix.  1-12. 

Cu  XX.  1.  And  the  queen  of  Sheba  heard  the  fame  of  Solomon,  and  she  came  to 
prove  Solomon  with  riddles  to  Jerusalem,  with  a  very  great  company,  and 
camels  bearing  spices,  and  gold  in  abundance,  and  precious  stones ;  and  she 

2  came  to  Solomon,  and  spake  to  him  of  all  that  was  in  her  heart.  And  Solomon 
answered  her  all  her  questions,  and  there  was  nothing  hid  from  Solomon 

3  that  lie  answered  her  not.     And  the  queen  of  Sheba  saw  the  wisdom  of 

4  Solomon,  and  the  house  that  he  had  built.  And  the  meat  for  his  table,  and 
the  sitting  of  his  servants,  and  the  attendance  of  his  ministers,  and  their 
apparel,  and  his  cup-bearers,  and  their  apparel,  and  his  ascent1  by  which  he 

5  went  up  to  the  house  of  the  Lord  ;  and  there  was  no  more  spirit  in  her.  And 
she  said  to  the  king,  True  was  the  word  that  I  heard  in  my  land  of  thy  affairs, 

6  and  of  thy  wisdom.  And  I  believed  not  their  words,  until  I  came,  and  mine 
eyes  had  seen ;  and,  behold,  the  half  of  the  greatness  of  thy  wisdom  was  not 

7  told  me  :  thou  exceedest  the  fame  that  I  heard.  Happy  are  thy  men,  and 
happy  are  these  thy  servants,  who  stand  continually  before  thee,  and  hear  thy 

8  wisdom.  Blessed  be  the  Lord  thy  God,  who  delighted  in  thee,  to  set  thee 
on  His  throne  as  king  for  the  Lord  thy  God  ;  because  thy  God  loved  Israel, 
to  establish  him  for  ever,  and  make  thee  king  over  them,  to  do  judgment  and 
righteousness. 

9  And  she  gave  the  king  a  hundred  and  twenty  talents  of  gold,  and  spices 
in  great  abundance,  and  precious  stones  ;  and  there  was  no  such  spice  as  that 

10  which  the  queen  of  Sheba  gave  King  Solomon.  And  also  the  servants  ot 
Huram,  and  the  servants  of  Solomon,  who  brought  gold  from  Ophir,  brought 

11  sandal-wood  and  precious  stones.  And  the  king  made  of  the  sandal-wood 
walks  for  the  house  of  God  and  the  king's  house,  and  harps  and  psalteries  for 

12  singers  :  and  none  such  were  seen  before  in  the  land  of  Judah.  And  King 
Solomon  gave  to  the  queen  of  Sheba  all  her  desire,  whatsoever  she  asked, 
besides  that  which  she  had  brought  unto  the  king  ;  and  she  turned,  and  went 
away  to  her  own  land,  she  and  her  servants. 

y.  Solomon's  Pomp,  Riches,  and  Glory  vers.  13—28. 

13  And   the  weight  of  the  gold  which  came  to  Solomon  in  one  year  was  six 

14  hundred  and  sixty  and  six  talents  of  gold.  Besides  that  which  chapmen3  and 
merchants  brought ;  and  all  the  kings  of  Arabia  and  governors  of  the  country 

15  brought  gold  and  silver  to  Solomon.  And  King  Solomon  made  two  hundred 
targets  of  beaten  gold  ;  six  hundred  [shekeii]  of  beaten  gold  laid  he  on  one 

10  target.  And  three  hundred  shields  of  beaten  gold  ;  three  hundred  [shekels]  of 
gold  laid  he  on  one  shield  ;  ami  the  king  put  them  in  the  house  of  the  forest 

17  of  Lebanon.     And  the  king  made  a  great  throne  of  ivory,  and  overlaid  it  with 

18  pure  gold.  And  there  were  six  steps  to  the  throne,  and  a  footstool  was 
fastened  to  the  throne  with  gold,  and  arms  on  each  side  of  the  seat,  and  two 

19  lions  stood  beside  the  arms.     And  twelve  lions  stood  there  on  the  six  steps 

20  on  each  side  ;  the  like  was  not  made  in  any  kingdom.  And  all  the  drinking 
vessels  of  King  Solomon  were  of  gold,  and  all  the  vessels  in  the  house  of  the 
forest  of  Lebanon  were  of  precious  gold  ;  silver  was  of  no  account  in  the  days 

21  of  Solomon.  For  the  king's  ships  went  to  Tarshish  with  the  servants  of 
Huram  :  once  in  three  years  came  the  ships  of  Tarshish,  and  brought  gold 
and  silver,  ivory  and  apes,  and  peacocks. 


CHAP.  IX.  1-16. 


18? 


22  And  King  Solomon  was  greater  in  riches  and  wisdom  than  all  the  kings 

23  of  the  earth.     And  all  the  kings  of  the  earth  sought  the   face  of  Solomon,  to 

24  heir  his  wisdom,  that  God  had  put  in  his  heart.  And  they  brought  each  his 
gift,  vessels  of  silver  and  of  gold,  and  garments,  armour  and  spices,  horses  and 

25  mules,  a  rate  year  by  year.  And  Solomon  had  four  thousand  stalls  for  horses 
and  chariots,  and  twelve  thousand  riders;  and  he  placed  them  in  the  chariot- 

26  cities,  and  with  the  king  at  Jerusalem.  Ami  he  was  ruling  over  all  kings 
from  the  river  unto  the  land  of  the  Philistines,  and  to  the  border  of  Egypt. 

27  And  the  king  made  silver  in  Jerusalem  as  stones,  and  he  made  the  cedars  as 

28  the  sycamores  that  are  in  the  Shephelah  for  abundance.  And  they  brought 
horses  to  Solomon  out  of  Egypt  and  out  of  all  lands. 

3.   Close  ol  the  History  of  Solomon :  vers.  29-31. 

29  And  the  rest  of  the  arts  of  Solomon,  first  and  last,  are  they  not  written  in 
the  words  of  Nathan  the  prophet,  and  in  the  prophecy  of  Ahijah  the  Shilonite, 
and  in  the  visions  of  Iddi3  the  seer,  concerning  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat  1 

30,  31  And  Solomon  reigned  in  Jerusalem  overall  Israel  forty  years.  And  Solomon 
slept  with  his  fathers,  and  they  buried  him  in  the  city  of  David  his  father; 
and  Rehoboam  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

1   UV^yi.  "and  hi*  ascent,  his  stair,"  is  exhibited  by  all  the  Hebrew  MSS-;  whereas  the  old  translations  uniformly 
end,  with  the  1Kb  tex  .  1  Iv  ngs  x.  5:  ^n?yV  "and  liis  burnt-offerings,  which  he  offered,"  etc. 
1  On  the  very  divergent  v  riants  nf  the  old  translations  of   Q^Hnn    *U'3S,  see  Exeg.  Expl. 
*  Ktthti*   ^y.  Keri   i"n>".    DoQbrlesa  the  same  prophet  is  meant  who  is  elsewhere  called  fay  (ch.  xit.  15,  xiii  22). 


EXEGBTICAL. 

On  account  of  the  mostly  verbal  agreement  of 
ihe  first  two  of  these  three  sections  with  1  Kings 
x.,  and  of  the  last  with  1  Kings  xi.  41-43,  we 
have  only  to  explain  the  peculiarities  of  the 
present  text.  For  the  rest,  the  expositors  of  the 
book  of  Kings  are  to  be  compared. 

1.  Visit  of  the  Queen  of  Sheba  :  vers.  1-12  ; 
comp.  1  Kings  x.  1-13. — And  the  queen  of  Sheba 
heard  the  fame  of  Solomon.  The  difficult  addi- 
tion to  "the  fame  of  Solomon"  in  1  Kings: 
"concerning  the  name  of  the  Lord,"  is  wanting 
here,  whether  intentionally  or  by  inadvertence  is 
doubtful. — Ver.  4.  And  his  ascent  by  which  he 
went   up.     Whether,  according  to  1   Kings  x.  5, 

'l31  inpyi,    "and  his  burnt-offerings,  which  he 

offered,"  is  to  be  read  here  also  with  the  old 
translations  (and  Josephus,  Antiq  viii.  6.  5),  it  is 
difficult  to  decide.  Bahr  takes  our  reading  to  be 
original,  and  therefore  to  be  restored  in  1  Kings. 
— And  there  teas  no  more  spirit  in  her,  she  was 
beside  herself;  comp.  Josh.  ii.  11,  v.  1.— Ver.  6. 
And  I  believed  not  their  words;  1  Kings:  "I 
believed  not  the  words." — The  half  of  the  great- 
ness nf  thy  wisdom  was  not  told  me.  Slightly 
different  is  the  phrase  in  1  Kings  (see  Bahr).  On 
fV3"iD,    "multitude,   fulness,"  comp.    1  Chron. 

xii.  29;  2  Chron.  xxx.  IS  ;  Lev.  xxv.  37.  — Ver. 
8.  Toset  thee  on  His  throne  as  king  for  the  Lord. 
More  simply  in  1  Kings:  "To  set  thee  on  the 
throne  of  Israel";  as  also,  in  that  which  im- 
mediately follows,  the  circumstantial  "to  establish 
him  "  (iTDl'n?)  is  there  wanting,  and  "forever" 

(DTIlv)  is  attached  as  an  adverb  to  "loved." — 

Ver    10.   And  also  the  servants  of  Iluram,  and 


ilii  servants  of  Solomon.  In  1  Kings  more  briefly: 
"  and  also  the  ships  of  Hiram."  For  the  then 
mentioned  algum  or  sandal-wood,  see  on  ch.  ii. 
7,  and  the  excursus  after  ch.  viii.,  No.  3. — Ver. 
11.  And  the  king  made  .  .  .  walks,  not  "stairs" 
(Luther)  or  "seats"  (Thenius,  after  the  Pesch.), 
but  raised  walks,  pavements,  so  that  these 
ni?DD  of  our  text  are  essentially  the  same  with 

the  "ryD'o   of  1   Kings  (explained   by   Raschi  as 

n3'i"l>  tesselated  pavement). — Ver.  12.  Besides 
that  which  she  had  brought  to  the  king,  besides 
the  gifts  in  return  (equivalents)  for  that  which 
was  presented  by  her,  but  more  clearly  in  1  Kings 
x.  13.     The  emendation  of  Bertheau:  t^sn  ICX 

p6   for    -hti   ItX'nn  "IB>K,  is    unnecessary  ;    the 

rendering  of  the  Vulg. :  et  multo  plura  quam 
attub  rat  ad  eum,  is  inexact  and  extravagant. 

2.  Solomon's  Riches,  Pomp,  and  Glory :  vers. 
13-28  ;  comp.  1  Kings  x.  14-22. — Besides  that 
which  the  chapmen  and  merchants  brought, 
literally,  "  irrespective  of  the  chapmen  .  .  . 
bringing  "   (who   brought).         D^rin  'u'JN    aro 

properly  spies  (Num.  xiv.  6,  xxxiv.  2),  here 
spying,  travelling  about  for  trade  ;  this  phrase, 
substantially  agreeing  with  the  following  Q'TTD 

(Gen.  xxiii.  16),  was  not  understood  by  the  old 
translators  ;  hence theVulg.  has  legati  diversamim 
gentium  (followed  by  Berth,  and  Bahr,  1  Kings 
x.  15  :  envoys),  the  Sept.:  t?.vh  ™i  avde&Jv  rwi 
furirmpy/i'mn ;  Syr.  and  Arab.:  "besides  the 
tribute  of   the  cities"    (D'ljjn   for    D'HFin,  and 

perhaps   D3J3D    for   't'JSa)- — Ver.    16-     Three 

hundred  (shekels)  of  gold  laid  he  on  one  shield.   Foi 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


this  1  Kings  x.  17  has  "three  pounds  of  gold  to 
one  shield,"  merely  a  verbal  difference,  as  the 
lnina  contains  a  hundred  shekels. — Ver.  18.  And 
a  footstool  fastened  to  the  throne  witli  ijold.  The 
participle  DVnN'J,  " fastened "  (or  "enclosed"), 

refers  to  the  two  preceding  objects,  the  steps  and 
the  footstool.      It  is  certainly  not  impossible  that 

originally  VinKO  HD^  W  thfrtt,  "allJ  the 
top  of  the  throne  was  round  from  behind,"  as  in 
1  Kings  x.  19,  stood  in  the  text  ;  comp.  Thenius 
and  Berth.  -Ver.  21.  For  the  kiny's  ships  went 
to    Tarshish.      It    is    most    obvious    to    regard 

tT'L'-in  ni^h  Di'JN    as  a  mistaken   paraphrase 

of  the  original  and  usual  phrase,  found  also 
in  1   Kings  x.   22  :  f'lenn  ni53K,    "  Tarshish- 

traders"  (comp.  our  East-Indiamen),  and  thus 
not  find  in  our  passage  an  actual  testimony  for 
voyages  of  Solomon  to  Tartessus  by  the  Red  Sea 
(comp.  Introd.  §  b',  No.  5,  and  the  excursus  at 
the  end  of  ch,  viii  ,  No.  1).  The  mistake  which 
is  here  made  by  the  Chronist  standing  far  away 
from  the  events,  appears  precisely  similar  to  that 
which  occurs  in  ch.  ii.  7  of  our'  book,  relative  to 
the  algum-trees  to  be  sent  from  Lebanon,  which 
Solomon  desired  of  Huram  (see  on  this  passage). 
Only  if  we  might  understand  (with  Quatremere, 
Seetzen,  etc.  ;  comp.  the  excursus  on  Ophir,  No. 
1)  by  Tarshish  a  place  different  from  Tartessus, 
or  Spain,  situated  eastward,  as  the  promontory 
Tarsi'  in  the  Persian  Gulf,  which  Nearchus 
doubled  with  tin-  fleet  of  Alexander  (comp.  the 
supposed  TafTii;  mentioned  by  Arrian,  hid.  37. 
9),  may  the  charge  of  an  error  he  removed  from 
our  author  (to  which  also  Petermann  seems 
inclined  in  his  Georjr.  MittheUunyen,  j872,  iv. 
p.  126).  For  the  other  statements  of  our  verse, 
see  the  excursus  on  ch.  viii.  already  quoted. — 
Ver.  25.  And  Solomon  had  four  thousand  stalls 
for  horses.  The  numerous  deviations  now  follow- 
ing to  the  close  of  the  section  (ver.  28)  from 
1  Kings  x.  26-29,  are  explained  by  this,  that  our 
author  had  already  introduced,  ch.  i.  14-17,  an 
account  of  Solomon's  chariots,  horses,  and  horse- 
trading  with  Egypt  (see  on  this  passage),  for 
which  reason  in  the  present  place  he  partly  con- 
trasts (especially  ver.  28)  that  which  refers  to  these 
things,  and  partly  completes  it  by  reports  from 
1  Kings  v.  1,  6  ;  comp.  Biihron  these  passages. 

3.  Close  of  the  History  of  Solomon  :  vers. 
29-31;  comp.  1  Kings  xi.  41  43,  where,  however, 
instead  of  the  three  sources  named  by  our  author, 
ver.  29,  reference  is  made  merely  to  the  '■  book 
of  the  history  of  Solomon."  For  ver.  29  f.,  see 
Introd.  §  5,  II.— Ver.  30.  And  Solomon  reigned 
.  .  .  forty  years.  Instead  of  forty  years,  Hitzig 
(Gesch.  dis  V.  1st:  pp.  10  and  161  f.)  claims  60 
years  for  the  reign  of  Solomon,  because  Josephus 
assigns  to  the  very  youthful  king,  who  came  to 
the  throne  at  the  age  of  not  more  than  20  years 
(comp.  1  Kings  iii.  7),  an  age  of  80  or  even  94 
years  {Ant'n/.  viii.  7.  8).  But  that  the  reports  of 
Josephns  concerning  the  reign  of  Solomon  are 
contused  and  self-contradictory,  has  been  shown 
by  Bengel,  Ordo  temp.  p.  95,  who  has  also 
correctly  harmonized  the  41  years  of  Rehoboam 
when  he  ascended  the  throne  with  the  40  years 
of  the  reign  of  Solomon  attested  by  our  passage 
sl in L  1  Kings  xi.  42  ;  comp.  Winer,  Realworterb., 
art.  "Salomo,"p.  365. 


EVANGELICAL  AND  ETHICAL  KEFLECTIONS,  APOLO- 
GETIC AND  HOMILETIC  TUOl'GHTS,  ON  CH. 
I.-IX. 

The  statement  of  the  Chronist  does  not  differ 
quite  so  much  from  the  history  of  Solomon  in 
1  Kings  1-11  in  its  compass  and  arrangement,  as 
his  statement  of  the  history  of  David  from  its 
older  parallel  in  the  books  of  Samuel;  in  particu- 
lar, he  has  not  found  it  necessary  m  Solomon  to 
go  over  a  previous  history  of  so  great  weight  as 
that  of  David  in  1  Samuel  ;  and  therefore  so  im- 
portant insertions  and  expansions  in  the  inner 
and  religious  side  of  the  reign  of  Solomon  were 
not  requisite  as  in  that  of  David.  Yet  the  form 
given  by  him  to  the  history  of  Solomon's  reign 
deviates  from  that  in  1  Kings,  in  a  way  that  is 
characteristic  of  his  theocratic  position  and  prag 
matism,  in  which  recurs  all  that  peculiarity 
which  distinguishes  his  conception  and  treatment 
of  the  history  of  David. 

1.  The  Levitico-religious  element  comes  out 
very  strong,  partly  in  those  brief  insertions  con- 
cerning the  co-operation  of  the  priests,  Levites, 
and  singers  in  the  festivals,  as  ch.  v.  11-13 
(1  Kings  viii.  10),  viii.  12-16  (1  Kings  ix.  25), 
partly  in  the  fact  that  our  author  transfers  from 
the  old  statement  into  his  own  all  that  serves  to 
signalize  the  external  pomp  and  glory  of  Solomon's 
reign,  but  not  likewise  all  that  relates  to  his 
wisdom.  Thus  we  miss  in  him  the  narrative  of 
the  wise,  sentence  concerning  the  two  contending 
mothers  (1  Kings  iii.  16-28*,  and  the  description 
of  his  wisdom  ami  learning,  surpassing  all  the  sons 
of  the  east,  and  all  the  wise  men  of  Egypt,  dis- 
playing itself  in  thousands  of  proverbs  and  songs 
(1  Kings  v.  9-14);  whereas  of  that  which  serves 
to  characterize  his  great  pomp  and  might,  irre- 
spective of  the  list  of  his  court  officers  and  twelve 
princes,  1  Kings  iv.  1-20,  not  only  is  nothing 
omitted,  but  some  things  appear  purposely 
enhanced  by  the  omission  of  less  favourable 
trials  and  circumstances;  in  particular,  the 
account  of  the  cities  received  from  Huram  of 
Tyre,  ch.  viii.  1  f.  (see  ob  the  passage).  It  is 
therefore  not  so  much  Solomon  the  incompar- 
ably wise  as  Solomon  the  incomparably  glorious 
theocratic  ruler  whose  picture  he  wished  to  draw. 
The  glory,  especially  that  which  displays  itself 
in  the  rich  unfolding  of  the  religious  life  (comp. 
Matt.  vi.  29),  forms  the  chief  immediate  object 
of  his  representation,  not  the  wisdom,  that  other 
quality  of  the  great  king  set  forth  as  pre-emi- 
nently wonderful  in  the  words  of  Jesus  (comp. 
Matt.  xii.  42). 

2.  That,  from  the  effort  to  glorify  Solomon  as 
much  as  possible,  some  facts  of  his  history  ad- 
verse to  this  end  have  been  designedly  omitted  by 
our  author,  is  evident  partly  from  his  proceeding 
in  the  same  way  in  the  histoiy  of  David,  and 
partly  from  the  comparison  of  his  narrative  with 
that  of  the  book  of  Kings.  Neither  the  par- 
ticulars of  Solomon's  ascending  the  throne  and 
beginning  his  reign,  of  which  those  relating  to 
the  removal  of  three  evil-doers — Adonijah,  Joab, 
and  Shimei — would  have  cast  a  less  favourable 
light  on  his  character  (see  1  Kings  ii. ),  nre  related 
by  him,  nor  is  anything  mentioned  of  the  even- 
ing of  his  life,  disturbed  on  the  one  hand  by  in- 
tercourse with  idolatrous  wives  U  Kings  xi.  1-13). 
and  on  the  other  by  unfortunate  wars  and  re- 
bellions (by  Hadad,  Rezon,  and  Jeroboam).      Not 


CHAP.  I.-IX. 


183 


as  if  thi!  charge  of  dishonest  colouring  or  violent 
suppression  of  the  truth  could  be  made  against 
our  author  on  account  of  those  omissiona  He 
betrays,  on  many  occasions,  with  sufficient  clear- 
ness, his  acquaintance  with  the  omitted  facts. 
As  he  had  alluded  (1  Chron.  xxix.  24)  to  the 
suppression  and  punishment  of  the  rebellion  of 
Adonijah  at  the  close  of  his  history  of  David,  so 
he  betrays  his  knowledge  of  the  revolt  of  Jero- 
boam in  the  closing  remark  of  the  present  section 
(is,  29);  alludes  a  little  before  to  the  conflicts  with 
liezon  and  liadad  (viii.  4  ;  see  on  the  passage) ; 
indicates,  by  the  manner  in  which  he  mentions 
the  Egyptian  king's  daughter,  his  acquaintance 
with  the  corrupt  influence  of  foreign  wives  during 
Solomon's  reign  ;  and  afterwards,  in  the  introduc- 
tion of  his  history  of  Rehohoam  (x.  '■'<  f.  i,  he  does 
not  ignore  the  account  given  in  the  book  of 
Kings  of  the  murmuring  of  the  people  dissatisfied 
with  his  severity  and  partial  niisgovcrnment.  In 
short,  that  his  reign  did  not  altogether  warrant 
the  name  Shelomoh  (peaceful,  prince  of  peace), 
that  its  splendour  in  a  religious  and  moral  respect 
was  tarnished  by  many  dark  spots,  and  hence 
the  heavy  judgments  (eh.  vii.  10-22)  that  were 
pronounced  by  God  on  him  and  his  descendants 
began  already  to  take  partial  effect — all  this  ap- 
pears by  no  means  unknown  to  our  author. 
Already  the  names  of  the  three  prophets  whom 
he  quotes,  eh.  ix.,  as  guarantees  for  his  statement, 
are  a  sufficient  security  that  to  him  was  imparted 
a  knowledge  of  those  facts  that  form,  as  it  were, 
the  dark  side  of  the  otherwise  so  splendid  appear- 
ance of  the  wise  and  glorious  prince,  in  no  less 
fulness  than  to  the  author  of  the  book  of  Kings 
(who,  on  his  part,  does  not  expressly  mention 
these  prophetic  vouchers),  but  that  it  did  not  lie 
in  his  plan  to  add  certain  dark  parts  to  the  bright 
and  glowing  picture  of  Solomon's  glorious  king- 
dom, the  like  of  which  no  king  over  Israel  had 
had  (1  Chmn.  xxix.  25).  It  may  he  that,  if 
Solomon's  fall  into  lust  and  idolatry  had  been 
ascertained  and  credibly  reported  to  him  as  a 
transient  darkening  of  his  life-path,  from  which 
he  at  length  recovered  in  genuine  repentance,  he 
would  not  have  passed  in  silence  over  that  sail 
blot  on  his  fame,  but  would  have  given  to  his 
history  such  a  close  as  that  of  Manassch  (xxxiii. 
1-20).  But  he  certainly  had  not  found  in  his 
sources  any  more  trace  than  the  author  of  Kings 
of  such  closing  repentance  of  the  deeply  fallen 
prince.1  He  therefore  preferred  to  cast  the 
mantle  of  silence  over  the  last  times  of  the 
prince  whom  it  was  now  his  concern  to  paint 
as  the  ideal  of  that  theocratic  glory  (3o£*,  Matt. 
vi.  29)  long  before  his  time  become  proverbial 
among  the  people, 

3.  The  statement  of  the  Chronist  would  then 
cnly  deserve  the  reproach  of  historical  untrust- 
wcrthiness,  if  in  an  intrinsically  incredible  direc- 
tion it  departed  far  from  that  of  the  parallel 
account,  and  exhibited  from  beginning  to  end  a 
greater  number  of  legen  lary  exaggerations  of 
that  which  is  there  related  into  the  miraculous. 

1  See  in  general,  against  this  hypothesis,  which  miyht 
find  support  at  most  in  tie-  of  itself  qure  problematical  am! 

little  probable  composition  by  Solum f  th>-  book  Cnht-k-th 

(and  in  tins  view  has  recen  ly  h  en  defenied  by  Bi-i-nh. 
sch'aft-r  in  his  Seii'fi  Vnteratchmigen  Bberdai  Bach  K"hr:eth, 
Freiburg  ikto,  ami  by  Mart.  Son-  In  lahrg  1870,  part  ill.  of 
Hit-  Zetuchri/t  fur  iCih  Tlteolngu  and  A'o'V),  hVngsten- 
berg,  Quch.  rivs  Rekhts  0  itrs  im  Mien  bund*,  hi.  p  142, 
and  Biihr  in  v.  I  vi  of  the  Rjoenv.  p-  les  ff. 


But  of  such  propensity  to  apocryphal  legendary 
distortion  of  his  materials  no  trace  is  to  be  dis- 
covered in  our  author.  The  partial  deviations  in 
his  numbers  from  those  of  the  oldrr  parallel  t<  xt 
are  by  no  means  to  he  regarded  as  exaggerations 
of  smaller  proportions  there  given  ;  tiny  rest 
often  on  purely  external  ami  accidental  corrup- 
tions of  the  text  (as,  for  example,  eh.  viii.  IS,  the 
■l.'.ii  talents  of  gold  from  Ophir,  instead  of  the 
420  of  the  book  of  Kings  ;  and  ch.  iii.  4,  the  120 
cubits  height  of  the  porch  of  the  temple),  or  run 
out  into  mere  apparent  contradictions  and  mis- 
understandings (as,  for  example,  with  regard  to 
tin-  quantities  of  provisions  for  the  woodmen,  ch. 
ii.  9,  and  the  number  of  overseers  ;  see  on  ch.  ii. 
17  and  viii.  10)  ;  and  ill  several  decisive  cases, 
where  a  later  exaggerator  would  have  found 
special  occasion  for  excess,  he  agrees  to  the  letter 
with  the  author  of  1  Kings,  as  in  ;he  22,000 
oxen  and  120,000  sheep  at  the  dedication  of  the 
temple  (ch.  vii.  5),  in  the  determination  of  the 
yearly  revenue  of  Solomon  at  Ob'li  talents  of  gold 
(ch.  ix.  13),  etc.  And  elsewhere,  that  which  at 
first  sight  looks  like  an  historical  exaggeration, 
reduces  itself  mostly  to  misunderstood  or,  if  we 
will,  inadequate  expressions  of  the  later  historian, 
who  is  far  removed  from  the  events  described,  as 
in  tin  cases  mentioned  in  ch.  ii.  7,  ix.  21,  per- 
haps also  viii.  1,  2.  The  sole  important  event  of 
a  miraculous  character  with  which  the  Chronist 
has  enlarged  the  history  of  Solomon,  compared 
with  that  in  the  book  of  Kings,  is  that  which  he 
records,  ch.  vii.  1-3,  of  the  consecratii  n  of  the 
sacrifice  in  the  new  temple  by  fire  from  heaven, 
a  fact  which  he  has  handed  down  in  his  repre- 
sentation of  the  history  of  David,  in  a  passage 
where  the  older  narrative  has  nothing  of  the  kind 
(1  Chron.  xxi.  2b').  Suspicion  is  excited  here 
partly  by  the  position  of  the  fact  after  Solomon's 
long  prayer  of  dedication,  whereas  the  entrance  of 
tin  glory  of  the  Lord  into  the  new  house  of  God 
was  placed  before  it  (as  also  in  1  Kings),  partly 
by  the  complete  silence  of  the  older  reporter  con- 
cerning the  second  miracle,  in  place  of  which  he 
introduces  an  address  of  Solomon  to  the  assembled 
people  (1  Kings  viii.  55-61).  But  as  the  separa- 
tion of  the  probably  single  miraculous  fact  into 
two  acts  does  not  appear  inexplicable  in  the 
magnitude  and  strongly  evangelical  import  of  the 
whole  scene  in  question  (let  us  bear  in  mind  also 
the  uncommonly  great  number  of  the  sacriliees 
offered  on  the  numerous  altars  occupying  the 
whole  inner  court;  see  on  ch.  vii.  7),  so  the  silence 
of  the  author  of  1  Kings  concerning  a  miracle 
of  surpassingly  religious  (Levitical  and  priestly) 
interest  cannot  be  deemed  strange  or  unaccount- 
able, if  we  properly  weigh  the  prominently 
theocratic  and  prophetic  interest  by  which  this 
older  writer  is  influenced  :  comp.  Keil,  p.  247: 
"To  communicate  this  speech  of  Solomon  (1 
Kings  viii.  55  ft.)  to  the  people  quite  accords 
with  the  plan  of  the  book  of  Kings,  in  which 
the  prophetical  aspect  of  the  realization  of  the 
divine  counsel  of  grace,  by  the  doing  and  suffer- 
ing of  the  kings,  prevails  ;  whereas  the  more 
minute  entering  into  the  history  of  worship  was 
remote  from  his  plan.  The  mention  of  the  fire 
which  consumed  the  sacrifices  we  should  consider 
warranted  in  the  book  of  Kings,  only  if  the 
temple  had  been  thereby  consecrated  for  the 
abode  of  the  divine  gracious  presence,  or  for  a 
sanctuary  of  the    Lord.     But  the  consuming  t( 


190  II.  CHRONICLES. 


the  victim    by  divine  fire  had  not  this  import,  heaven,  was  so  important  a  matter,  that  it  could 

Jehovah  consecrated  the  temple  for  the  dwelling-  not  be  omitted,  whereas  the  blessing  pronounced 

place  of  His  name,   for  the  seat  of  his  gracious  by  Solomon  on  the  people,  as  already  contained 

presence,  only  in  this  way,  that  in  the  introduction  implicate  in  the  prayer  of  consecration,   did  Dot 

of  the  ark  into  the  most  holy  place  He  manifested  seem   so   important  as  to  be  admitted   into  Iris 

his  presence   by  the  cloud  filling  the  sanctuary,  work." 

The  consuming  of  the  sacrifice  on  the  altar  by  4.  On  Solomon's  great  wealth,  as  it  is  re- 
fire  from  heaven  was  th.  confirmatory  sign  only  peatedly  described,  especially  eh.  i.  14  if.  and  ix. 
for  this,  that  He  who  sat  on  the  mercy-seat  in  the  13  II'.,  Bengel  (on  ch.  ix.  27)  makes  the  striking 
temple  will  graciously  accept  the  offerings  to  be  remark  :  "It  is  strange  how  soon  so  mucli  can 
made  on  the  altar  of  this  temple  ;  and,  as  the  be  accumulated  and  again  vanish  away  !  Men 
people  could  only  approach  the  Lord  before  the  could  not  endure  it  if  it  were  always  so  ;  they 
altar  with  sacrifice,  a  confirmation  for  the  people  would  wander  from  God,  and  be  distracted  by  the 
that  He  from  His  throne  will  apply  His  covenant  creatures  ;  as  Solomon  himself  did  not  long  act 
grace  to  those  who  present  their  offerings  before  well.  He  had  the  benefit  of  David  as  his  father  ; 
Him  ;  comp.  Lev.  ix.  23  f.  For  the  plan  of  the  he  had  gone  through  tribulation,  whereas  Solo- 
author  of  Chronicles,  namely,  to  depict  exactly  mon  entered  at  once  on  possession  !  That  is  a 
the  glory  of  the  worship  of  the  past,  this  divine  weighty  difference."  Comp.,  with  regard  to 
confirmation  of  the  sacrificial  worship,  that  was  homiletic  hints,  on  the  history  of  Solomon,  the 
to  be  continually  performed  in  the  temple  as  the  copious  remarks  of  Bahr  on  1  Kings  i.  11 
nnlv   legitimate   place   of  worship,   by  fire  from  {Bibelw.  vol.  vii. ). 

3.  THE  KINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM  OF  JUDAH  FROM  REHOBOAM  TO  ZEDEKIAH  — 

Ch.  x.-x.\v\  i 

a.  Rehosoam.    The  Puophet  Shemaiah. — Ch.  x.-xii. 
«..  Revolt  of  ike  Tin  Tribes  from  the  House  of  David:  ch.  x.  1-xi.  4. 

Ch.  X.  I.  And  Rehoboam  went  to  Sheckem  :  for  to  Shechem  was  all  Israel  come  to 

2  make  him  king.  And  when  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat  heard  it,  and  he  in 
Egypt,  whither  he   had  fled  from   the  presence  of  Solomon  the  king,  then 

3  Jeroboam  returned  out  of  Egypt.     And  they  sent  and  called  him  :  and  Jero- 

4  boam  and  all  Israel  came  ;  and  they  spake  to  Rehoboam,  saying,  Thy  father 
made  our  yoke  grievous  :  and  now  ease  thou  the  grievous  service  of  thy  father, 

5  and  his  heavy  yoke  that  he  put  upon  us,  and  we  will  serve  thee.  And 
he  said  unto  them,  Yet  three  days  hence,  return  unto  me  :  and  the  people 
departed. 

6  And    Kine   Rehoboam   took  counsel   with   the  elders  that  stood  before 

o  <  . 

Solomon  his  father  when  he  was  living,  saying,  How  do  you  advise  me  to 

7  return  answer  to  this  people.  And  they  spake  unto  him,  saying,  If  thou  be 
kind  to  this  people,  and  please  them,  and  speak  good  words  to  them,  they 

b  will  serve  thee  all  thy  days.  And  he  forsook  the  counsel  of  the  old  men 
which  they  gave,  and  took  counsel  of  the  young  men  that  grew  up  with  him, 

9  who  stood  before  him.  And  he  said  unto  them,  What  do  ye  advise,  that  we 
may  return  answer  to  this  people,  who  have  spoken  to  me,  saying,  Ease  thou 

10  the  yoke  which  thy  father  put  upon  us  1  And  the  young  men  that  grew  up 
with  him  spake  unto  him,  saying,  Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  the  people  that 
spake  unto  thee,  saying,  Thy  father  made  our  yoke  heavy,  but  do  thou  ease 
our  yoke  :  thus  shalt  thou  say  to  them,  My  little  finger  is  thicker  than  my 

11  father's  thighs.  And  now  my  father  laid  a  heavy  yoke  upon  you,  but  I  will 
add  to  your  yoke  :  my  father  chastised  you  with  whips,  but  I  will  chastise 
you  with  scorpions. 

12  And  Jeroboam  and  all  the  people  came  to  Rehoboam  on  the  third  day,  as 

13  the  king  had  spoken,  saying,  Come  again  to  me  on  the  third  day.  And  the 
king  answered  them  roughly  :  and  King  Rehoboam  forsook  the  counsel  of 

14  the  old  men.  And  he  spake  to  them  after  the  counsel  of  the  young  men, 
saying,  My  father  made  your  yoke  heavy,'  but  I  will  add  thereto  :  my  father 

15  chastised  you  with  whips,  but  I  will  chastise  you  with  scorpions.  And  the 
king  hearkened  not  to  the  people  ;  for  the  cause  was  of  God,  that  the  Lord 
might  accomplish  His  word,  which  He  spake  by  Ahijah  of  Shiloh  to  Jeroboam 

16  the  son  of  Nebat.     And  all  Israel  saw2  that  the  king  hearkened  not  unto 


CHAP.  X.-XIl.  131 


them:  the  people  answered  the  king,  savin-,  What  portion  have  we  m  Davidl 
We  have  no  inheritance  in  the  son  of  Jesse;  every  man  to  your  tents,  0 
Israel  :  now  look  to  thy  house,  David.     And  all   Israel  went  to  his  tents. 

17  And  the  children  of  Israel  thatdwelt  in  the  cities  of  Judah,  Rehohoam  reigned 

18  over  them.     And  King  Rehoboam  sent  Hadoram,*  who  was  oyer  the  socage; 
and  the  sons  of  Israel  stoned  him  with  stones,  that   he  died:  and    king 

19  Rehoboam  hastened  to  get  up  into  his  chariot  to  flee  to  Jerusalem.     And 
Israel  revolted  from  the  house  of  David  unto  this  day. 

OH   XI.  1.  And  Rehoboam  cane;  to  Jerusalem,  and  assembled  the  house  of  Judah 

and  Benjamin,  a  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  chosen  warriors,  to  fight  with 

•2   Israel,  to  bring  back  the  kingdom  to  Rehoboam.     And  the  word  of  the  LORIi 

3  came 'to  Shemaiah  the  man  of  God,  saving,  Speak  unto  Rehoboam  son  of 
Solomon,  king  of  Judah,  and  to  all  Israel  in  Judah  and  Benjamin,  saying, 

4  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Ye  shall  not  go  up,  nor  fight  with  your  brethren  :  return 
every  man  to  his  house ;  for  this  thing  is  come  from  me  :  and  they  hearkened 
to  the  words  of  the  Lord,  and  returned  from  going  against  Jeroboam. 

$.  Reiijn  of  Rehoboam:  oh.  xi.  5-xii.  10. 

5  And  Rehoboam  dwelt  in  Jerusalem,  and  built  cities  for  defence  in  Judah. 
6,  7  And  he  built  Bethlehem,  and  Etam,  and  Tekoa.  And  Beth-zur,  and  Socho, 
8'  9  and  Adullam.     And  Gath,  and   Mareshah,  and   Ziph.     And  Adoraim,  and 

10  Lachish,  and  Azekah.     And  Zorah,  and  Ajalon,  and   Hebron,  which  are  in 

11  Judah  and  Benjamin,  fenced  cities.     And  he  fortified  the  strongholds,  and  put 
1  i  captains  in  them,  and  stores  of  food,  and  oil,  and  wine.     And  in  every  severa 

city  shields  and  spears,  and  made  them  very  strong:  and  he  had  Judah  and 
Benjamin. 

13  And  the  priests  and  the  Levites  that  were  in  all  Israel  resorted  to  him 

14  out  of  all  their  border.  For  the  Levites  left  their  suburbs,  and  their  posses- 
sion, and  came  to  Judah  and  Jerusalem  :  for  Jeroboam  and  his  sons  had  cast 

15  them  off  from  executing  the  priest's  office  unto  the  Lord.  And  he  ordained 
him  priests  for  the  high  places,  and  for  the  he-goats,  and  for  the  calves  which 

16  he  made.  And  after  "them,  out  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel,  such  as  set  then- 
heart  to  seek  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  came  to  Jerusalem  to  sacrifice  to  the 

17  Lord  God  of  their  fathers.  And  they  strengthened  the  kingdom  of  Judah, 
and  upheld  Rehoboam  son  of  Solomon  three  years;  for  they  walked  three 
years  in  the  way  of  David  and  Solomon. 

18  And  Rehoboam  took  him  to  wife  Mahalath,  daughter*  of  Jerimoth  son  of 

19  David,  and  of  Abihail5  daughter  of  Eliab  son  of  Jesse.     And  she  bare  him 

20  sons  :  Jeush,  and  Shemariah,  and  Zaham.  And  after  her  he  took  Maachah 
daughter  of  Absalom,  and  she  bare  him  Abijah,  and  Attai,  and  Ziza,  and 

21  Shelomith.  And  Rehoboam  loved  Maachah  the  daughter  of  Absalom  more 
than  all  his  wives  and  concubines  :  for  he  took  eighteen   wives  and  sixty0 

22  concubines ;  and  begat  twenty  and  eight  sons,  and  sixty  daughters.  And 
Rehoboam  made  Abijah   son  of  Maachah  the  chief,   to   be  ruler  over  his 

23  brethren  :  for  he  thought  to  make  him  king.  And  he  dealt  wisely,  and 
distributed  of  all  his  sons  in  all  the  countries  of  Judah  and  Benjamin,  unto 
all  fenced  cities ;  and  gave  them  victual  in  abundance  :  and  he  desired  for 
them  many  wives. 

t  H   XII.   1.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Rehoboam  had  established  the  kingdom,  and 
strengthened   himself,  he   forsook  the   law  of  the  Lord,  and  all  Israel  with 

2  him.  °  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  fifth  year  of  King  Rehoboam.  that  Shishak 
king  of  Egypt   came   up  against   Jerusalem,  because   they    had   transgressed 

3  against  the  Lord.     With  twelve  hundred  chariots,  and  sixty  thousand  riders: 
and  the  people  were  without  number  that  came  with  him  out  of  Egypt ; 

4  Lubites,  Succites,  and  Cushites.     And  he  took  the  fenced  cities  which  per- 

5  tained  to  Judah,  and  came  to  Jerusalem.     And  Shemaiah  the  prophet  came 
to  Rehoboam,  and  the  princes  of  Judah  that  were  gathered  into  Jerusalem 


192 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


before  Shishak,  and  said  unto  them,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Ye  have  forsaken 

6  me,  and  I  nlso  have  forsaken  you  in  the  hand  of  Shishak.  And  the  princes 
of  Israel  and  the  king  humbled  themselves,  and  said,  The  Lord  is  righteous. 

7  And  when  the  Lord  saw  that  they  humbled  themselves,  the  word  of  the 
Lord  came  to  Shemaiah,  saying,  They  have  humbled  themselves;  I  will  not 
destroy  them,  but  I  will  soon  grant  them   deliverance  ;  and  my  wrath  shall 

8  not  be  poured  out  upon  Jerusalem  by  Shishak.  But  they  .-hall  be  his 
servants:  that  they  may  know  my  service,  and  the  service  of  the  kingdoms 
of  the  lands. 

i  And  Shishak  king  of  Egypt  came  up  against  Jerusalem,  and  took  tin- 
treasures  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  the  treasures  of  the  king's  house ;  he 
took  the  whole  ;  and  he  took  the  shields  of  gold  which  Solomon  had  made. 

10  And  instead  of  them  King  Rehoboam  made  shields  of  brass,  and  committed 
them  into  the  hand  of  the  captains  of  the  runners,  who  kept  the  entrance  of 

11  the  king's  house.  And  when  the  king  entered  into  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
the  runners  came  and  carried  them,  and  brought  them  again  into  the  chamber 

12  of  the  runners.  And  when  he  humbled  himself,  the  anger  of  the  Lord  turned 
from  him,  and  he  would  not  destroy  him  altogether  :  and  in  Judah  also  there 
were  good  things. 

13  And  King  Rehoboam  strengthened  himself  in  Jerusalem,  and  reigned  ;  for 
Rehoboam  was  forty  and  one  years  old  when  he  became  king,  and  he  reigned 
seventeen  years  in  Jerusalem,  the  city  which  the  Lord  had  chosen  to  put  His 
name  there  out  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel :  and  his  mother's  name  was  Naamah 

14  the  Ammonitess.  And  he  did  evil ;  for  he  did  not  direct  his  heart  to  seek 
the  Lord. 

15  And  the  acts  of  Rehoboam,  first  and  last,  are  they  not  written  in  the 
words  of  Shemaiah  the  prophet,  and  of  Iddo  the  seer  for  the  register  ?  and 

16  the  wars  of  Rehoboam  and  Jeroboam  were  continual.  And  Rehoboam  slept 
with  his  fathers,  and  was  buried  in  the  city  of  David  :  and  Abijah  reigned 
in  his  stead. 

1  For  *P23n  *3X.  "my  father  made  heavy"  (so  a'so  1  Kings  xii.  14),  the  best  mss.  and  some  olri  prints  (1  Soncin., 
Complut.):  "P32X  S3K.  "I  will  make  heavy"  your  yoke,  and  will  now  add  to  it.  Nbrdi,  Berth.,  etc.,  give  the  latter 
reading  the  preference. 

}JO  is  certainly  wanting  in  most  Hss.,  in  the  old  translations  (Sept.,  Vulg,  Chald..  though  not  Syr.  and  Arab  ),  and 
in  the  older  polyglots,  but  can  scarcely  be  spared, 

3  For  D"l"!n  1  Kings  xii.  IS  presents  D"nN  (comp.  2  Sam.  xx.  24).  So  also  Sep',  cod.  Al.  in  our  passage,  whereas 
cod    Tat.  writes  ' A^anipotfj.  (comp.  I  Kings  iv   (1),  piobably  collect  as  to  the  fact:  see  Exeg  Expl. 

*  With  the Keri,  which  alr*r-,  J3  into  H3,  agree  several  M8S.,  aa  well  as  the  Sept.  and  Vulg.  (in  the  Syr.  versioa 
the  passage  vers.  18-23  is  altogether  wanting). 

a  The  1  before  ?*rP3N  is  certainly  wanting  in  all  copes  of  the  Hebrew  text,  but  was  lead  by  the  Sept,  and 
cannot  be  dispensed  with. 

6  \11  th-  m~s.  and  versions  certairly  testify  to  the  number  sixty;  but  internal  grounds  of  probability  speak  for  tha 
number,  given  by  Josepluis,  Mittq.  viu.  10.  1,  of  only  thirty  concubines;  comp.  the  Exeg.  Expl. 


EXEGETICAL. 

Preliminary  Eemahk.— The  Chronist  pre- 
sents only  the  first  section  of  the  history  of 
Rehoboam,  relating  to  the  revolt  of  the  ten  tribes 
and  the  division  of  the  kingdom,  in  exact,  mostly 
literal,  agreement  with  the  account  of  the  books 
of  Kings  (comp.  eh.  x.  1-xi.  4  with  1  Kings  xii. 
1-24).  The  proper  history  of  his  reign  lie  treats 
with  considerable  enlargement,  by  tin-  addition  of 
several  statements,  wanting  in  the  parallel  text, 
concerning  his  building  of  forts,  reception  of  the 
priests  and  Levites  from  the  northern  k.ngdom, 
and  his  family  affairs  (ch.  xi.  5-23).  He  also 
reports  at  length  the  history  of  the  invasion  of 
Shishak,    and   the  subjection  of  Rehoboam,   and 


records  the  words  spoken  by  the  prophet  Shemaiah 
at  the  divine  command  (ch.  xii.  1-12;  comp.  1  Kings 
xiv.  25-28).  He  refers  even  to  the  notes  of  this 
Shemaiah  as  his  source  for  this  enlarged  account 
(ch.  xii.  15). 

1.  The  .Revolt  of  the  Ten  Tribes:  ch,  x.;  comi 
the  explanations  of  Biihr  on  1  Kings  xii.  Here 
we  have  only  to  remark  some  deviations  from  the 
text  of  Kings. — Ver.  2.  And  when  Jeroboam  .  .  . 
and  he  in  Egypt.  1  Kings:  "and  he  was  yet 
in  Egypt "  (yiij)  our  narrator  omits,  because  he 

had  related  nothing  of  Jeroboam's  flight  from 
Solomon  into  Egypt;  comp.  1  Kings  xi.  26-40). — 

Ver.  5.  Tel  three  days  (wait).    1  Kings  :  "Go  (53?) 


CHAP.  X.   14-XI.   11. 


19  I 


yet  three  days." — Ver.  14.  Oil  the  reading  *:s 
l^aay,  deviating  from  1  Kings,  see  the  Crit  Note. 

— Ver.  15.  For  the  cause  was  ofQod,  literally,  "for 
it  was  a  decree  (turning)  of  GoJ."     Both  ri323 

and  its  parallel  n3D  >'•  1  Kings  are  S.to.%  x. — 

Ver.  16.  And  all  Israel  saw.     If  ^"i  "' '' "  '     he 

cast  out  of  tin-  text,  according  to  most   ancient 

testimonies  (see  <  rit.  Note),  it  must  he  translated: 
"'and  all  Israel  (or  'as  to  all  Israel'),  when  the 
king  hearkened  nut  unto  them,  the  people  an- 
swered."—  What  portion  hare  ne  in  David? 
What  have  we  tu  do  with  the  lions.'  of  1 1 
may  take  care  of  itself.  See  again  the  fourth  line 
ct  the  strophically- arranged  speech.  —  Ver.  l^. 
On  the  probable  identity  of  the  taskmaster  \  Luther: 
"receiver  of  rents  ")  Adoram,  or,  as  our  author 
writes,  Hadoram,  with  the  Adoniram  of  1  Kings 
iv.  6,  see  Bahr  ou  1  Kings  xii.  18. — Ver.  19.  Unto 
this  day ;  comp.  1  Chron.  iv.  41,  43,  v.  26,  and 
the  remarks  in  the  Introd.  §  5,  I.  p.  16. 

2.  Prevention  of  the  War  of  Rehoboarn  with 
Jeroboam  by  the  Prophet  Shemaiah  :  ch.  xi. 
1-4.  This  incident  also,  that  belongs  to  the 
history  of  the  revolt  of  the  ten  tribes,  is  recorded 
by  our  author  in  substantial  agreement  with  the 
author  of  1  Kings  ;  comp.  1  Kings  xii.  21-24, 
and  Bahr  on  the  passage.  Only  to  1  Kings  xii. 
20  (Jeroboam  is  raised  by  the  ten  tribes,  in  solemn 
assembly,  to  the  throne  of  the  northern  kingdom) 
no  parallel  is  found  in  our  text,  because  the 
I  'hionist  sedulously  avoids  all  particulars  con- 
cerning the  history  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel. — 
Ver.  3.  Speak  unto  Rehoboarn  .  .  .  and  to  alt 
Israel  in  Judah  and  Benjamin.  Observe  the 
peculiar  depth,  almost  New  Testament  (remind- 
ing us  of  Gal.  vi.  16  ;  Rom.  ii.  29,  iv.  12)  depth 
of  the  sense  which  our  author  here  attaches  to 
the  name  "  Israel."  It  is  otherwise,  certainly, 
ver.  1,  and  again  ver.  16a,  where  he  specially 
designates  the  northern  kingdom  by  "Israel"; 
yet  in  ver.  16  follows  immediately  after  the  name 
Israel,  again  in  that  evangelical,  deeper,  and  more 
universal  sense  ;  so  ch.  xii.  1. — Ver.  4.   For  this 

king  is  come  fr>>ni  me,  I  have  decreed  the  revolt 
of  the  disloyal  tribes  as  a  punishment  for  the 
disobedience  of  the  house  of  David  :  comp.  ch. 
X.  15.  The  there  mentioned  revelation  by  Ahijah 
the  prophet  of  Jeroboam  is  here  confirmed  by 
Shemaiah  the  prophet  of  Rehoboarn. — And  re- 
turned from  'join,)  against  Jeroboam.  Fortius 
1  Kings  xii.  24  his  :  "and  turned  home,  accord- 
ing to  the  word  of  the  Lord,"  a  deviation  arising 
perhaps  from  a  mere  omission  in  writing  Our 
text  has  probably  the  original;  for  the  twofold 
mention  of  the  word  of  Jehovah  shortly  after  one 
another  is  somewhat  drawling,  leading  us  to 
suspect  a  corruption  of  the  text. 

3.  Building  of  Forts  by  Rehoboarn  :  vers.  5-12 
(without  parallel  in  Kings). — And  built  cities  for 

defence  in  Jvdah,  livD?.   "for  a  fort."     Judah 

is  here  the  name,  not  of  the  tribe  (ver.  10),  but 
jf  the  whole  southern  kingdom  ;  for  a  part  of  the 
fifteen  forts  now  to  be  named  lay  in  Benjamin. — 
Ver.  6.  And  he  built  Bethlehem  and  Etnm.  That 
Bethlehem  was  a  fort,  for  which  it  was  fitted  by 
Its  tolerably  high  situation  on  a  rocky  eminence, 
we  learn  onh  from  this  passage.  On  the  here 
mentioned    Erani,   as   ditferent    from    the    more 


southern  one  in  the  tribe  of  Simeon,  Bee  u;i  eh. 
iv.  82.  Tobler  (JJritte  Wanderung,  etc.,  p.  J9) 
has  ag  on  pointed  out  our  Etam  in  the  Ain  .Yuan, 
a  side  glen  south-west  of  Urtas,  or  irtas,  the 

well-known  starting  point  of  Solomon's  aqueduct 
tor  Jerusalem.  For  Tekoa,  now  Tvkua,  a  hih- 
top  covered  with  ruin,,  two  hours  south  of  Beth- 
lehem, see  the  Fxpl.  on  Josh.  XV.  59  and  oi. 
Amos  i.  1.— Ver.  7.  For  Beth-zur  (now  l»it  Sur, 
between  Urtas  and  Hebron),  comp.  Fay  on  Josh, 
xv.  58;  lor  Socho  (now  Shuweike,  three  ami  a 
half  hours  -oath  west  of  Jerusalem)  and  Adnllan. 
( perhaps =Dula,  six  miles  east  of  Beit-jibrin),  see 
the  smie  on  Josh.  xv.  35. — Ver.  8.  Oath  (comp. 
1  Chron.  xviii.  1  ;  1  Kings  ii.  39)  ;  its  situation 
is  not  yet  exai  tly  ascertained  ;  it  is  perhi  | 
Ascalon,  where  is  now  found  a  Wa  Iv  el  Oat,  north 
of  the  ruins  of  this  city  (K.  Furrer,  Wanderungen, 
etc.,  1865,  p.  133)  ;  according  to  others  (for  ex- 
ample, C.  Schick)  =  the  conical  hill  Tel  Safieh  in 
the  Shephelah  west  of  Ascalon. — Mareshah—fhe 
later  Marissa  (betweeu  Hebron  and  Philistia)  and 
the  present  Marash,  a  ruin  twenty-four  minutes 
south  of  Beit-jibrin  or  Eleutheropolis  ;  comp. 
Fay  on  Josh.  xv.  44;  and  for  Ziph  ton  the  hills 
of  Judah,  one  and  a  quarter  hour  south-east  of 
Hebron),  comp.  the  same  on  Josh.  xv.  24,  55. — 
Ver.  9.  Adoraim  =  the  Idumsean  city  "Aiupix, 
1  Mace.  xiii.  20,  or  Cu»f£.,  Josephus,  Antirj.  xiii. 
15.  4,  now  Dura,  two  and  a  half  hours  west  of 
Hebron  (Robinson,  iii.  209). — Lachish=Um  La- 
kish,  on  the  road  from  Gaza  to  Hebron  ;  comp. 
on  Josh.  x.  3,  xv.  39. — Azekah,  according  to 
1  Sam.  xvii.  1,  Josh.  x.  10,  not  far  from  Socho, 
but  not  yet  fully  ascertained. — Ver.  10.  And 
Zorah  and  Ajalon,  both  originally  (Josh.  xix. 
41)  I'ities  belonging  to  the  tribe  of  Dan,  which 
afterwards,  on  the  migration  of  the  Danites  to 
North  Palestine  (Jndg.  xviii.  1),  were  probably 
occupied  by  the  Beujamites,  and  thenceforth 
reckoned  to  the  tribe  of  Benjamin.  For  the 
situation  of  Zorah,  see  on  1  Chron.  ii.  53  ;  for 
Ajalon  (now  Jalo),  the  expositors  on  Josh.  x.  12. 
These  two  Benjamite  cities  are  perhaps  the  most 
northerly  of  the  fifteen  cities  fortified  by  Reho- 
boarn. All  the  others,  including  Hebron,  which 
closes  the  list  (formerly  Kiriath-arba,  now  el- 
Khalil,  the  ancient  patriarchal  city),  lie  south  or 
south-west  of  Jerusalem,  in  the  middle  or  south 
of  the  tribe  of  Judah.  it  follows,  perhaps,  from 
this  position  of  the  line  of  forts  on  the  south 
border  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  and  thus  in  t lie 
main  directed  toward  Egypt,  that  Rehoboarn 
began  to  establish  them  after  the  invasion  of 
Shishak  (Keil).  So  far  as  the  arrangement  of 
our  section  follows  a  material  rather  than  a  chro- 
nological principle  of  division,  nothing  seems  to 
stand  in  the  way  of  this  assumption  ;  but  it  can 
scarcely  be  reconciled  with  ch.  xii.  4  ;  see  on 
this  passage.  — Ver.  11.  And  he  fortified  thi 
strongholds,  put  them  in  a  good  state  of  defence 
by     nominating     captains      (DT^J.      properly, 

"princes,  leaders"),  provisioning  them  and  (ver. 
12)  arming  them  properly. — And  he  had  Jvdah 
and  Benjamin.  This  notice,  forming  the  cli  se  0 
tic  statement  concerning  the  measures  of  Reho- 
or  the  security  of  his  kingdom,  leads 
directly  to  the  following  section,  which  describes 
the  Leritical  and  priestly  followers  of  Rehoboarn 
as  flowing  not  merely  from  Judah  and  Benjamin, 
but  from  the  whole  kingdom 

X 


104- 


II.  C1IKUN1CLES. 


4.  Adhesion  of  the  Levites  out  of  all  Israel  to 
the  Kiugilom  of  Rehoboam  :  vers.  13-17 — as  is  to 
he  expected,  a  notice  peculiar  to  the  Chronist,  to 
which,  however,  the  author  of  1  Kings  affords  an 
indirect  confirmation,  in  so  far  as  he  twice  refers 
to  the  institution  of  a  new  non-Levitical  priest- 
hood on  the  part  of  Jeroboam,  1  Kings  xii.  31, 
xiii.  33  f. — And  the  priests  and  the  Levites  that 
were  in  all  Israel  resorted  to  him,  "  placed  them- 
selves before  him  to  receive  his  commands,  placed 
themselves   at  his  disposal;"    co.i.p.    3i"nn    in 

.lob  i.  6,  ii.  1  ;  Zech.  vi.  5. — Ver.  14.  For  the 
levites  left  their  suburbs,  their  commons  or  pas- 
ture grounds  (D'CHJD,  as  in  cu-  vi-   40  ft,  xiii. 

2  ;  Num.  xxxv.  2-8). — For  Jeroboam  and  his 
mns  had  cast  them  off  from  executing  the  priest's 
office.  See  the  fuller  account  of  the  erection  of 
the  impure  worship  of  Jehovah  with  a  new  non- 
Levitical  priesthood  in  the  kingdom  of  Jeroboam, 
1  Kings  xii.  26-31.  By  the  sons  of  Jeroboam 
our  passage  naturally  means  his  successors,  none 
of  whom  rejected  the  impure  worship  which  he 
had  introduced.  They  were  also  in  so  far  his 
sons  in  a  spiritual  sense,  although,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  his  immediate  successor  Nadab,  they 
belonged  to  other  dynasties. — Ver.   15.    And  he 

ordained  him  priests.  This  'ijl  i">  "IOJW  con- 
tinues the  proof  begun  with  the  second    13    in 

ver.  14.  —For  the  high  places  (in  Dan  and  Bethel, 
1  Kings  xii.),  and  the  he-goats,  etc.,  the  idols  of 
the  form  of  he-goats,  after  the  pattern  of  the 
Egyptian  Pan,  to  whom,  though  not  Jeroboam 
himself,  yet  his  later  successors,  sinking  into  a 
still  grosser  idolatry,  offered  sacrifice  ;  comp. 
Lev.  xvii.  7,  whence  the  term  E'Vyb  is  taken. 

The  calves  named  in  the  third  place  are  the  re- 
presentatives of  Jehovah  under  the  form  of  a 
calf,  as  Jeroboam  (after  the  example  of  Aaron, 
Ex.  xxxii.)  had  made  them,  1  Kings  xii.  28,  and 
as  they  retained  their  places  of  worship  during 
^he  whole  period  of  the  northern  kingdom  in 
Dan,  Bethel,  and  perhaps  elsewhere.  According 
to  this  state  of  things,  the  "calves"  should  pro- 
perly have  been  named  before  the  "he-goats." 
That  the  author  makes  no  note  of  the  gradual 
sinking  into  grosser  idolatrj'  in  the  development 
of  the  northern  kingdom,  is  explained  by  his 
theocratic  zealous  abhorrence  of  idolatry  in 
general,  the  various  forms  and  steps  of  which 
appear  to  him  all  equally  bad. — Ver.  16.  And 
after  them  .   .   .  such  as  set  their  heart,  etc.     On 

J?  jnj.  comp.  1  Chron.  xxii.  19.     What  is  here 

related  of  the  emigration  of  theocratic  pious 
Israelites  from  the  other  tribes  to  Judah  and 
Benjamin  is  repeated  afterwards  under  Asa  (ch. 
xv.  9)  and  Hezekiah  (xxx.  11).  That,  moreover, 
the  time  during  which  the  reign  of  Rehoboam 
gathered  and  attracted  the  true  worshippers  of 
Jehovah  in  other  tribes  amounted  only  to  three 
years,  and  afterwards  made  way  for  an  inclination 
to  foreign  and  idolatrous  customs  (on  which  that 
accession  of  pious  Israelites  from  the  neighbouring 
kingdom  ceased),  is  manifest  from  ver.  17;  comp. 
with  ch.  xii.  1  ff. 

5.  Domestic  Affairs  of  Rehoboam  :  vers.  18-23  ; 
again  without  parallel  in  the  books  of  Kings,  and 
wanting  also  in  the  Syr.  version  of  Chronicles 
(which  arises  merely  from  an  oversight^  —  Maha- 


lath,  daughter  of  Jerimotk.  The  name  of  the 
father-in-law  of  Rehoboam  is  wanting  in  the  list 
of  the  sons  of  David  (1  Chron.  iii.  1-8).      niO,V 

might  possibly  be  corrupted  from  DITUV,  or  be  a 

by-form  of  this  name  ;  it  is  easier  to  suppose  that 
he  was  one  of  the  many  sons  of  David  by  the  con- 
cubines.— And  of  Abihail  daughter  of  Eliab  son 
of  Jesse.  As  necesiary  as  the  supply  of  the  want- 
ing 1  before  7TV3S  (see  Crit.  Note)  is  the  taking 

of  this  name  as  the  genitive,  thus  (contrary  to  the 
Sept.  and  Vulg.,  which  rather  make  her  a  second 
wife  of  Rehoboam)  as  the  name  of  the  mother  of 
Mahalath.  For — 1.  Ver.  19  shows  that  only  one 
wife  of  Rehoboam,  the  mother  of  the  three  there 
named  otherwise  unknown  sons,  should  be  named; 
2.  Along  with  the  obscure  father  of  Mahalath 
we  expect  the  name  of  her  mother,  who  is  more 
celebrated,  because  she  descends  from  Eliab  the 
brother  of  David  ;  3.  A  daughter  of  Eliab  the 
eldest  brother  of  David  (1  Chron.  ii.  13  ;  1  Sam. 
xvii.  18)  could  scarcely  have  been  a  wife  of  Reho- 
boam the  grandson  of  David  ;  even  as  grand- 
daughter of  Eliab  (comp.  ver.  20),  Abihail  suited 
better  in  age  a  son  of  David  than  a  son  and 
successor  of  Solomon. — Ver.  20.  And  after  her 
he  took  Maachah  daughter  of  Absalom.  This 
second  wife  of  Rehoboam  is  perhaps  to  be  regarded, 
not  strictly  as  the  daughter,  but  the  grand- 
daughter of  Absalom,  the  daughter  of  Tamar,  the 
only  daughter,  and  perhaps  only  child,  of  this 
unlucky  prince  ;  comp.  2  Sam.  xiv.  27,  xviii.  IS, 
and  Josrphus,  Antiq.  viii.  10.  1,  as  well  as  ch. 
xiii.  2  of  our  book.  —  And  she  bare  him  Abijah. 
Only  this  first-born  of  Maachah,  whose  name, 
moreover,   is  constantly  written   Abijam    (□'3K) 

ill  1  Kings,  is  more  particularly  known  to  us  as 
the  successor  of  Rehoboam  ;  the  three  younger 
sons,  Attai,  Ziza,  and  Shelomith,  do  not  occur 
elsewhere. — Ver.  21.  For  he  took  eighteen  wives 
(Sti'3,  as  in  ch.  xiii.  21)  and  sixty  concubines.  On 
account  of  the  number  of  daughters  immediately 
after  given  as  sixty,  it  is  not  improbable  that 
Josephus,  who  tells  only  of  thirty  concubines, 
deserves  the  preference  ;  comp.  Crit.  Note. — Ver. 
22.  To  be  ruler  among  his  brethren  ;  to  this  ex- 
planatory apposition  to  {J'Xip  is  added  the  fol- 
lowing ioipon?  n2,  as  a  further  determination 

of  that,  which  the  king  meant  by  Abijah 's  eleva- 
tion to  be  chief.  On  the  breviloquenee  here, 
comp.  Ew.  §  351,  c. — Ver.  23.  Andhe  dealt  wisely, 
and  distributed  of  all  his  sons  in  all  the  countries 
of  Judah  and  Benjamin  ;  he  showed  his  pru- 
dence as  sovereign  and  as  father  by  appointing  his 
numerous  sons  as  captains  in  the  several  forts 
of  his  kingdom,  employing  them  usefully,  and 
separating  them  from  one  another,  to  prevent 
any  attempts  at  rebellion  among  them. — And  he 
desired  for  them  many  wives,  made  many  mar- 
riages between  them  and  the  daughters  of  the 
land,  both  to  make  them  contented  and  to  make 
firmer  connections  between  his  house  and  the 
inhabitants  of  the  land.  The  desiring  or  asking 
(yX"')  of  wives  for  his  sons  became  him  as  their 

father  and  natural  guardian  :  the  author  will 
scarcely  charge  him  with  an  immoral,  pimp-likv 
gratification  of  the  lusts  of  his  sons. 


CHAT.  XII. 


19ft 


6.  The  Invasion  of  Shishak  :  ch.  xii.  1-12  ; 
comp.  the  briefer  narrative  of  1  Kings  xiv.  25-28. 
— And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Rehoboam  had  estab- 
lished  tlit  kingdom,  and  strengthened  himself, 
literally,  "at  the  time  of  the  establishing" 
(rsns,  "if.  act.  with  indefinite  subject),  and  on 

the  strengthening  of  him  or  it  (inpTPIB.  from  the 

nam.    verbale   npTfl,  strengthening  ;  comp.  xxvi. 

16  ;  Dan.  xi.  2V — He  forsook  the  law  of  the  Lord 
(by  a  partial  falling  into  idolatry  j  comp.  1  Kings 

\n.  22  If),  and  all  Israel  with  him,  all  the  in- 
habitants of  the  southern  kingdom,  who  are  here, 
somewhat  to  their  shame,  designated  Israelites  ; 
romp.  ver.  6  and  ch.  xi.  3. — Ver.  2.  Awl  it  came 
to  pass  in  the  fifth  year  of  King  Rehoboam,  thus 
soon  but  not  immediately  alter  his  apostasy 
from  the  Lord.  Concerning  Shishak  ( =  Sheshonk, 
Sesonehis,  the  first  king  of  the  22d  dynasty  of 
Manetho),  and  the  relievo  proceeding  from  him, 
celebrating  the  present  campaign  against  tin- 
Jews,  and  victory  over  Rehoboam,  that  probably 
exhibits  Rehoboam  himself  among  his  captives, 
see  Thenius  on  1  Kings  xi.  40,  and  Bahr  on 
1  Kings  xiv.  25.  —  Ver.  3.  With  twelve  hundred 
chariots,  and  sixty  thousand  riders.  In  1  Kings 
these  data  concerning  the  strength  of  the 
Egyptian  army  are  wanting,  though  they  are  by 
no    means    incredible.       Of    the    auxiliaries    of 

Shishak,  the  Lubites  (ffiyQ)  are  certainly  those 

Egyptian  Libyans  (the  Libyiegyptii  of  the 
ancients)  who  are  also  named  with  the  Egyptians 
in  ch.  xvi.  8,  Nah.  iii.  9,  Dan.  xi.  43,  and 
from  whom  the  Lehabim  of  the  Mosaic  table  of 
nations  are  perhaps  not  different  ;  comp.  Knohel 
on  Gen.  x.  13.  The  Succites  (Q">3D)  are,  accord- 
ing to  the  Sept.  and  Vulg.,  troglodytes,  cave- 
dwellers,  to  which  the  Hebrew  etymon  seems  to 
point,  dwellers  in  holes  of  the  earth,  probably  of 
Ethiopian  origin,  and  inhabiting  the  mountains 
of  Eastern  Egypt.  The  Cushites  are  probably  in- 
habitants of  Ethiopia  proper,  that  is,  Abyssinia, 
as  they  are  also  named,  Nah.  iii.  9,  as  allies  of 
Egypt  (along  with  "Put"  and  "  Lubim "). — 
Ver.  4.  And  he  took  the  fenced  cilies  which  per- 
tained to  Judah;  comp.  eh.  xi.  5  ff.  These  may 
not  yet  have  been  very  strong,  or  their  works 
proved  insufficient  against  the  military  force  of 
Egypt  ;  comp.  on  ch.  xi.  10. — Vers.  5-8.  The 
Prophetic  Mission  of  Shemaiah,  and  the  con- 
sequent Submission  of  the  Jews  and  Mitigation 
of  their  Punishment, — a  section  quite  wanting  in 
1  Kings.  —  But  I  will  soon  grant  them  delict  ranee. 
UJJOI1.  properly,  "  for  a  little,"  that  is,  in  a  short 

time,  soon  ;  comp.  Ezra  ix.  8  (rightly  Berth., 
Keil,  etc.,  against  Kamph.,  who  translates  :  "a 
small  deliverance"). — And  my  wrath  shall  not  be 
pou  n  d  out  upon  Jerusalem  In/  Shishak.  No  judg- 
ment offull  extirpation  shall  overtake  the  capital; 
comp.  xxxiv.  25. — That  they  may  know  my  si  rvice 
and  the  service  of  the  kings  of  the  lands  :  that  they 
may  experience  what  a  difference  their  is  between 
the  government  of  the  Lord  in  the  theocracy  of 
Israel,  and  the  so  much  more  oppressive  rule  of 
heathen  kings. — On  vers.  9-11,  comp.  Bahr's 
remarks  on  1  Kings  xiv.  26-28.  — Ver.  12.  And 
when  he  humbled  himself ',  literally,  "and  in  his 
self-humiliation."      On   the   following   elliptical 


phrase:    JVnC'iT?  fcOV    "and   not   to   destroj 

(ilid  Jehovah's  wratli  turn  itself),  comp.  the  like 
breyiloouence  in  ch.  xi.  12,  and  the  passage  th'-ie 
quoted  from  Ew. — And  in  .ludah  also  there  were 
,/.«„/  things.  This  was  a  further  motive  to  the 
Lord  to  restrain  his  wrath,  in  addition  to  the 
first  motive,  consisting  in  the  repentance  of  Reho- 
boam. 

7.  Close  of  the  History  of  Rehoboam  :  vtrs. 
13-16  (comp.  ;  Kings  xiv.  21,  22,  29-81).— And 
King  Rehoboam  strengthened  himself;  comp.  ch- 
i.  1,  xiii.  21;  concerning  the  following  note  "lag-, 
which  it  seems  necessary  to  change  into  twenty-one 
years,  comp.  Bahr  on  1  Kings  xiv.  21. — Naamah 
the  Ammonitess,  the  daughter  of  the  Ammonite 
King  Nahash  (1  Chron.  xix.  1),  according  to  a 
probable  note  of  the  Sept.  after  ]  Kings  xii.  24. 
— Ver.  14.  For  he  did  not  direct  his  heart.  For 
this  phrase,  comp.  ch.  xix.  3,  xxx.  HI  ;  Ezra  vii. 
10. — Ver.  15.  Are  they  nut  wr'UU  "  i"  th<:  words 
of  Shemaiah  the  prophet.  On  this  quotation,  and 
especially  on  the  obscure  phrase  "for  the  n 
(C'nTlIT?).  see  Introd.  §  5,  II. — And  the  wars  of 

Rehoboam  and  Jeroboam,  their  smaller  dealings 
and  disputes,  in  which  their  continued  hostile 
disposition  showed  itself;  see  Bahr  on  1  Kings 
xiv.  30. 

EVANGELICAL  AND  MORAL  REFLECTIONS  UN 
CH.   X.-Xil. 

1.  In  the  reign  of  Rehoboam,  as  the  Chron ist 
represents  it,  is  signalized  above  all  the  tendency 
to  keep  the  kingly  ideal  of  David  and  Solomon 
pure  from  the  dark  stains  of  untheocratic  opinion 
and  destructive,  apostasy  into  idolatry.  Some 
time  after  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  this  corrupt 
influence  comes  out  distinctly  and  clearly,  aeeoin- 
panied  with  divine  punishments  as  its  evil  effect 
(ch.  xii.  1  ff.  I,  though  in  the  first  three  years 
Rehoboam  and  his  subjects  "walked  in  the  way 
of  David  and  Solomon"  (ch.  xi.  17).  Yet  in  the 
first  half  of  the  section,  the  account  of  the  secession 
of  the  ten  tribes  under  Jeroboam,  several  expres- 
sions betray  the  acquaintance  of  the  author  with 
the  tart  that  corruption  had  begun  already  under 
Solomon.  The  polygamy  and  idolatry  of  this 
glorious  king,  and  the  consequent  divine  correc- 
tions and  threatenings  of  punishment,  he  had  not 
mentioned  in  his  representation  of  the  history  of 
Solomon  (comp.  the  Evangelical  and  Ethical 
Reflections  on  ch.  i.  -ix. ).  But  now  in  Rehoboam 
there  is  express  reference  to  that  which  had  been 
prophesied  on  account  of  those  errors  of  Solomon 
by  Ahijah  the  Shilonite  against  him,  and  in 
favour  of  Jeroboam  (eh.  x.  15  ;  comp.  1  Kings 
xi.  29-39).  And  this  part  of  our  author's  narra- 
tive indicates  that  his  religious  and  moral  tall 
had  aires  y  been  productive  of  many  immediate 
evils  in  his  kingdom,  that  his  government  had 
become  latterly  quite  a  misgovernment  (comp. 
1  Kings  xi.  1 4  ff. ),  by  the  mention  of  the  repe  ited 
request  of  the  dissatisfied  people  :  "  lighten  the 
heavy  yoke  which  thy  father  laid  on  us"  (ch.  x. 
4,  9,  10  ;  comp.  ver.  15),  .and  by  the  report  of  the 
words  of  the  ten  tribes  betraying  an  a  ready  deep- 
seated  dissatisfaction  with  the  previous  govern- 
ment :  "  What  portion  have  we  in  David?  We 
have  no  inheritance  in  the  son  of  Jesse"  (ver.  16). 
Thus,  according  iz,  our  author,  the  ideal  time 
of  David  and  Solomon  closes  with   this,   that   it 


19S 


II.  CHRONICLED. 


presents  at  last  the  germs  of  a  growing  and 
grasping  corruption,  while  that  which  had  to  be 
recorded  concerning  it  is  first  introduced  in  the 
section  belonging  to  Rehoboam,  and  therefore 
chiefly  in  the  form  of  an  appendix  to  the  already 
concluded  history  of  Solomon.  Indeed,  to  our 
autlnr,  the  evangdisal  result  of  the  reign  of 
Solojion  is  simply  chit  which  is  brought  forward 
in  1  Kings  xi.  "Along  with  a  great  outgrowth 
of  public  prosperity,  we  observe  a  gangrene  com- 
mencing, that  gnaws  unceasingly,  and  destroys 
the  religi  m  of  the  people,  the  condition  of  their 
salvation,  and  this  salvation  itself  It  becomes 
manifest  that  the  peace,  which  a  merely  human 
ruler  can  give,  bears  in  itself  the  germ  of  decay, 
that  it  brings  with  it  temptations,  which  a  lesser 
anointed  of  the  Lord  (like  David  or  Solomon)  can- 
not give  the  power  to  withstand.  The  result  oi 
the  whole  brilliant  period  is  a  Kyrie  Eleison  and 
an  :  0  that  Thou  wouldst  rend  the  heavens  and 
come  down  !  "  (Hengstenberg,  Gesch.  dm  Kekhes 
Oottes  unttr  dem  Alten  Bunde,  ii.  2,  146  f. ) 

2.  Thus  the  Chronist  partly  only  places  Reho- 
boam, with  respect  to  the  beginning  of  his  reign, 
in  an  unfavourable  contrast  with  the  brilliant 
reign  of  his  father  Solomon.  In  a  certain  respect 
(particularly  with  regard  to  the  tendency  to 
tyrannical  cruelty  and  domineering  pride:  see  eh. 
x.  10,  14)  he  puts  them  on  a  par,  and  makes  the 
son  only  gradually  different  from  the  father,  by 
descending  a  step  lower.  So  with  regard  to  the 
further  course  of  Rehoboam's  reign.  At  first 
Rehoboam  continues  the  effort  of  his  father,  if 
not  to  enlarge,  at  least  to  establish  the  kingdom 
(comp.  ch.  xi.  5-12  with  i.  14  ff.,  viii.  1-10,  ix. 
25-28).  But  certainly  his  fortifications  are  of  no 
avail  to  ward  off  the  war-storm  bursting  on  the 
country  from  Egypt,  no  more  than  his  defiant 
threat  of  a  warlike  attack  could  have  hindered 
the  dismemberment  of  the  kingdom  that  still 
held  together  under  his  father  (comp.  x.  15  ff., 
xi.  1  ff. ).  He  likewise  applied  himself  during  the 
first  three  years  of  his  reign  to  the  tlieocratically 
pure  and  correct  principles  of  government  which 
were  followed  by  his  father,  if  not  to  the  last  yet 
during  the  greater  part  of  his  reign,  with  so 
much  blessing  to  himself  and  his  people.  He 
thereby  makes  Jerusalem  and  the  southern  king- 
dom for  a  time  the  refuge  and  gathering-place  of 
the  pious  worshippers  of  the  Lord  of  priestly  and 
non- priestly  descent  from  the  whole  kingdom, 
and,  so  to  speak,  effects  the  transfer  of  the  tribe 
of  Levi  to  his  sway,  so  far  only  as  those  of  them 
who  were  scattered  among  all  the  tribes  can  find 
a  settlement  in  Jiu'nh  and  Benjamin.  But  this 
attractive  power  in  the  sense  of  forming  and  con- 
solidating a  theocracy  (ch.  xi.  13-17)  did  not 
last  long.  After  three  years,  he  "  forsook  the 
lav  of  the  Lord,  and  all  Israel  with  him  "  (eh.  xii. 
1).  "What  Solomon  was  abl;  ti  do  during  at 
least  two-thirds  of  his  reign  of  forty  years,  to 
maintain  the  "  hearing  heart  "  and  the  true  wis- 
dom with  which  the  Lord  hail  endowed  him, 
this  Rehoboam  was  scarcely  able  to  do  during  a 
sixth  part  of  his  rei^n  of  seventeen  years.  In 
this  also  he  resembles  his  father  ;  but  he  behaves 
much  worse,  and  seems  to  surpass  him  in  a  bad 
sense.  Hence  he  has  to  endure  much  greater 
shame  and  humiliation  ;  for  if  the  Lord  had  only 
to  threaten  Solomon  thus  :  "I  will  humble  the 
seed  of  David,  but  not  for  ever"  (1  Kings  xi. 
39),   this  prophetic  threat  pronounced  by  Ahijah 


is  now  fulfilled  in  bitter  earnest  on  him  and  his 
people  (ch.  xii.  2  ff. ) ;  and  what  the  prophetic  in- 
terpreter says  in  behalf  of  a  right  understanding 
of  the  misfortune  that  had  befallen  them  (ch.  xii. 
7,  8)  is  certainly  not  altogether  comfortless,  but 
at  the  same  time  not  unconditionally  promising. 
The  punishment  shall  be  mild,  not  of  long 
endurance  ;  but  for  a  time  its  bitterness  shall  lie 
required,  that  they  may  understand  what  it  is  to 
prefer  the  rule  of  a  heathen  king  to  the  mild 
sway  of  God. 

3.  There  is  something  peculiar  in  the  position 
which  the  Chronist  gives  to  the  family  history  of 
Kehoboam  (ch.  xi.  18-23).  He  tells  of  his 
eighteen  wives  and  sixty  (or,  if  the  number  is  to 
be  reduced  according  to  Josephus,  thirty)  con- 
cubines with  objective  candour,  without  adding 
a  judgment  unfavourable  to  the  moral  character 
of  the  king.  While  he  passes  with  significant 
silence  over  the  extravagant  polygamy  of  the 
latter  years  of  Solomon,  to  spare  the  ^reat  and 
wise  king,  and  even  thereby  indicates  the  un- 
theocratic  and  immoral  character  of  an  im- 
moderate harem,  he  seems  to  find  the  married 
life  of  Rehoboam  not  more  offensive  than  that  of 
David,  of  whom  he  expressly  named  at  least 
seven  lawful  wives,  and  mentioned  besides  the 
possession  of  an  indefinite  number  of  concubines, 
without  expressing  any  disapprobation.  The 
manner  also  in  which  Rehoboam  procured  for  his 
sons  many  wives  from  the  daughters  of  the  land 
(ch.  xi.  23),  he  adduces  merely  as  a  proof  of  his 
prudent  dealing,  not  in  the  tone  of  serious  blame 
or  moral  disapprobation.  He  places  this  state- 
ment also  before  the  account  of  his  fall  into 
idolatry,  without  noticing  in  the  way  of  censure 
the  manifest  connection  of  the  two  things,  the 
polygamy  of  himself  and  his  sons,  and  his  giving 
way  to  the  worship  of  foreign  gods.  He  almost 
appears,  indeed,  as  afterwards  in  the  case  of 
Abijah's  fourteen  wives  and  thirty-eight  children 
(ch.  xiii.  21),  to  have  regarded  the  taking  of 
many  wives  and  begetting  of  numerous  children 
as  something  laudable,  serving  to  multiply  and 
perpetuate  the  house  of  David.  This  manner  of 
thinking  is  characteristic  of  the  strict  theocrats  of 
the  later  times,  that  form  the  transition  to  the 
Pharisaic  orthodoxy  of  the  New  Testament  epoch 
(comp.  Introd.  §  6).  Because  the  law  does  not 
directly  forbid  polygamy,  he  readily  allows  on  this 
point  an  almost  unlimited  compliance  with  the 
lusts  of  the  flesh,  while  he  censures  with  strict- 
ness the  as  it  were  only  theocratic  error  of 
which  the  same  king  becomes  guilty  by  falling 
into  idolatry  in  the  fourth  year  of  his  reign,  as 
he  had  before  shown  his  abhorrence  of  that  still 
greater  idolatrous  error  of  the  king  and  subjects 
of  the  northern  kingdom  in  the  strongest,  indeed 

almost  hyperbolical,  terms  (ch.  xi.  15).     We  i -t 

here  the  same  rather  externally  orthodox  ttinn 
morally  strict  tendency,  which  our  author  dis- 
covers also  in  many  other  points.  It  is  the 
ethically  imperfect  and  crude,  not  yet  evangeli- 
cally consecrated  and  glorified,  stage  of  the  legal 
standpoint  of  the  Old  Testament,  which  is  ex- 
pressed in  this  lax  position  of  the  Chronist  with 
regard  to  the  custom  of  polygamy.  New  Ti  sta- 
ment  statements,  such  as  those  relating  to  Moses' 
regard  to  the  hard-heartedness  of  the  Jews,  to  the 
killing  power  of  the  letter  of  the  law,  to  the 
shadowy  and  not  essentia]  character,  to  the  weak- 
ness  and   impotence  of  the   law  (Matt.    xix.    8; 


CHAP.  XIII  -XVL  197 


2  L'oi'.  iii.  6  ;  Rom.  viii.  3  ;  Col.  ii.  17  ;   Ilrb.  x.     meaning  by  a  phenomenon  like  this  (comp.  also 
1,  eti:.),  first  receive  their  full  light  and  deeper  |  John  i.  17  ;  Gal.  ii.  16  IT.,  iii.  10  11'.,   iv.  :j,  !)  tf  1 

b.  Abijah. — Ch.  xiii. 

L'h.  xiii.  1.  Iii  the  eighteenth  year  of  King  Jeroboam,  Abijah  became  king  over 

2  Judah.  He  r\  igued  three  years  in  Jerusalem ;  and  his  mother's  name  was 
Miehaiah,1  daughter  of  Uriel  of  Gibeah. 

3  And  there  was  war  between  Abijah  and  Jeroboam.  And  Abijah  began 
the  war  with  an  army  of  valiant  warriors,  four  hundred  thousand  chosen  men  ■ 
and  Jeroboam  prepared  war  against  him  with  eight  hundred  thousand  chosen 

4  men,  valiant  in  might.     And  Abijah  arose  on  Mount  Zemaraim,  which  is  in 

5  Mount  Ejjhraim,  and  said,  Hear  me,  Jeroboam  and  all  Israel.  Do  you  not 
know  that   the  Lord  God  of  Israel  gave  the  kingdom  over  Israel  to  David 

C  for  ever,  to  him  and  to  his  sons  by  a  covenant  of  salt  '\  And  Jeroboam  son 
of  Nebat,  servant  of  Solomon  son  of  David,  arose  and  rebelled  against  his 

7  master.  And  vain  men,  of  no  account,  gathered  unto  him,  and  withstood 
Eehoboam  son  of  Solomon  ;  and   Rehoboam   was  young  and  weak  of  heart, 

8  and  held  not  out  against  them.  And  now  ye  are  saying  that  ye  will  hold 
out  against  the  kingdom  of  the  Lord  in  the  hand  of  the  sons  of  David  ;  and 
ye  are  a  great  multitude,  and  with  you  are  golden  calves,  which  Jeroboam 

9  made  you  for  gods.  Have  ye  not  cast  out  the  priests  of  the  Lord,  the  sons 
of  Aaron,  and  the  Levites,  and  made  you  priests  like  the  nations  of  the  lands  ? 
whosoever  cometh  to  fill  his  hand  with  a  young  steer  and  seven  rams  is  a 

10  priest  to  them  that  are  no  gods.  And  we,  the  Lord  is  our  God,  and  we  have 
not  forsaken  Him  ;  and  the  priests  that  minister  to  the  Lord  are  the  sons  of 

11  Aaron,  and  the  Levites  in  their  business.  And  they  burn  unto  the  Lord 
burnt-offerings  every  morning  and  every  evening,  and  incense  of  spices,  and 
laying  of  bread  on  the  pure  table,  and  the  candlestick  of  gold  and  its  lamps 
to  burn  every  evening  :  for  we  keep  the  charge  of  the  Lord  our  God  ;  but  j  e 

12  have  forsaken  Him.  And  behold,  with  us,  at  our  head,  are  God  and  His 
priests,  and  the  clanging  trumpets  to  sound  against  you  :  sons  of  Israel, 
fight  not  against  the  Lord  God  of  your  fathers  ;  for  ye  shall  not  prosper. 

13  And  Jeroboam  led  round  an  ambush  to  come  behind  them;  and  they  were 

14  before  Judah,  and  the  ambush  was  behind  them.  And  Judah  turned,  and 
behold  they  had  the  battle  before  and  behind  ;  and  they  cried  unto  the  Lord, 

15  and  the  priests  sounded  with  the  trumpets.  And  the  men  of  Judah  shouted; 
and  when  the  men  of  Judah  shouted,  God  smote  Jeroboam  and  all  Israel 

16  before  Abijah  and  Judah.     And  the  sons  of  Israel  fled  before  Judah  ;  and 

17  God  gave  them  into  their  hand.  And  Abijah  and  his  people  smote  them  with 
a  great  slaughter;  and  there  fell  slain  of  Israel  five  hundred  thousand  chosen 

18  men.  And  the  sons  of  Israel  were  humbled  at  that  time  ;  and  the  sons  of 
Judah    prevailed,  because   they  trusted   in   the   Lord   God  of  their  fathers. 

19  And  Abijah  pursued  after  Jeroboam,  and  took  cities  from  him  :  Bethel  and 
her   daughters,  and   Jeshanah 2   and  her  daughters,  and  Ephron3  and  her 

20  daughters.     And  Jeroboam  had  no  more  strength  in  the  days  of  Abijah  ;  and 

21  the  Lord  smote  him,  and  he  died.  And  Abijah  strengthened  himself,  and 
took   to  him  fourteen  wives,  and  begat  twenty  and  two  sons  and  sixteen 

22  daughters.     And  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Abijah,  and  his  ways,  and  his  words, 

23  are  written  in  the  commentary  of  the  prophet  Iddo.  And  Abijah  slept  with 
his  fathers,  and  they  buried  him  in  the  city  of  David;  and  Asa  his  son 
reigned  in  his  stead.     In  his  days  the  land  was  quiet  ten  years. 

c  Asa.    The  Prophets  Azariah  Son  of  Oded  and  Hanani. — Ch.  xiv.-xvi. 

«.  Asa's  Tlieucratic  Zeal  and  Care  fur  the  Defence  of  the  Kivgihm :  ch.  xiv.  1-7. 

Ch.  XIV.  1.  And  Asa  did  that  which  was  good  and  right  in  the  eyes  of  the   Lord 
2  his  God.     And  he  took  away  the  altars  of  the  strange  gods,  and  the  high 


ns  II.  CHRONICLES 


3  places,  and  brake  the  pillars,  and  cat  down  the  Asherim.  And  commanded 
Judah  to  seek  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers,  and  to  do  the  law  and  the 

4  commandment.  And  he  took  away  out  of  all  the  cities  of  Judah  the  high 
places  and  the  sun-statues  :  and  the  kingdom  was  quiet  before  him. 

5  And  he  built  fenced  cities  in  Judah  ;  for  the  land  had  rest,  and  there  was 

6  no  war  with  him  in  those  days ;  for  the  Lord  gave  him  rest.  And  he  said 
to  Judah,  Let  us  build  these  cities,  and  make  about  them  walls  and  towers, 
gates  and  bars,  and  the  land  is  yet  before  us ;  because  we  have  sought  the 
Lord  our  God,  and  He  hath  given  us  rest  around  :  and  they  built  and  pros- 

7  pered.  And  A-a  had  an  army,  bearing  shield  and  spear,  out  of  Judah  three 
hundred  thousand,  and  out  of  Benjamin,  bearing  shield  and  drawing  bow, 
two  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  :  all  these  were  men  of  valour. 

/3.  Asa's  Victory  over  Zerah  the  Ethiopian:  vers.  8-14. 

S         And  Zerah  the  Ethiopian  came  out  against  them  with  a  host  of  a  thousand 

9  thousand,  and  three  hundred  chariots  ;  and  he  came  to  Mareshah.     And  Asa 

went  out  against  him,  and  they  joined  battle  in  the  valley  of  Zephathah  at 

10  Mareshah.     And  Asa  cried  unto  the  Lord  his  God,  and  said,  Lord,  no  one 

is  nigh  Thee  to  help  with  the  mighty  or  with  no  might ;  help  us,  0  Lord 

our  God,  for  we  rely  on  Thee,  and  in  Thy  name  we  go  against  this  multitude  : 

110  Lord,  Thou  art  our  God;  no  man  may  hold  out  against  Thee.     And  the 

Lord  smote  the  Ethiopians  before  Asa,  and  before  Judah  ;  and  the  Ethiopians 

12  fled.  And  Asa,  and  the  people  that  were  with  him,  pursued  them  unto 
Gerar  :  and  the  Ethiopians  fell,  so  that  there  was  no  recovery  ;  for  they  were 
broken  before  the  Lord,  and  before  His  host ;  and  they  carried  off  very  great 

13  spoil.     And  they  smote  all  the  cities  round  Gerar;  for  the  terror  of  the  Lord 

14  was  upon  them.  And  they  smote  also  the  tents  of  cattle,  and  took  sheep  in 
abundance,  and  camels,  and  returned  to  Jerusalem. 

y.   The  Prophetic  Warning  of  Azariah  Son  of  Oiled:  ch.  xv.  1-7. 

Ch.  XV.  1,  2.  And  the  Spirit  of  God  came  upon  Azariah  son  of  Oded.  And  he 
went  forth  before.  Asa,  and  said  unto  him,  Hear  ye  me,  Asa,  and  all  Judah 
and  Benjamin  ;  the  Lord  is  with  you,  while  ye  are  with  Him  ;  and  if  ye  seek 
Him,  He  will  be  found  of  you  ;  and  if  ye  forsake  Him,  He  will  forsake  you. 

3  And  many  days  will  be  to  Israel  without  the  true  God,  and  without  a  teach- 

4  ing  priest,  and  without  a  law.     And  he  shall  return  in  his  trouble  unto  the 

5  Lord  God  of  Israel,  and  seek  Him,  and  He  shall  be  found  of  him.  And  in 
those  times  is  no  peace  for  him  that  goeth  out  or  cometh  in,  but  great  ve.xa- 

6  tions  on  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  lands.     And  nation  shall  be  smitten'1  by 

7  nation,  and  city  by  city  ;  for  God  hath  vexed  them  with  all  trouble.  But  be 
ye  brave,  and  let  not  your  hands  be  slack;  for  there  is  a  reward  for  your 
labour. 

o.  Asa's  Reform  of  Worship,  and  Renewal  of  Covenant  with  the  Lord:  vers.  8  -19. 

8  And  when  Asa  heard  these  words,  and  the  prophecy  of  Oded5  the  prophet, 
he  took  courage,  and  put  away  the  abominations  out  of  all  the  land  of  Judah 
and  Benjamin,  and  out  of  the  cities  which  he  had  taken  from  Mount  Ephraim 
and  renewed  the  altar  of  the  Lord,  that  was  before  the  porch  of  the  Lord. 

9  And  he  gathered  all  Judah  and  Benjamin,  and  the  strangers  with  them,  out 
of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  and  out  of  Simeon  ;  for  they  fell  to  him  out  of 
Israel  in  abundance,  when  they  saw  that  the  Lord  his  God  was  with  him 

10  And  they  gathered  at  Jerusalem,  in  the  third  month  of  the  fifteenth  year  of 

11  the  reign  of  Asa.     And  they  sacrificed  to  the  Lord  in  that  day,  of  the  spoil 

12  they  had  brought,  seven  hundred  oxen  and  seven  thousand  sheep.  And  they 
entered  into  a  covenant  to  seek  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers  with  all  their 

13  heart,  and  with  all  their  soul.     And  whosoever  would  not  seek  the  LORD  God 


CHAP.   XIII.-XVI.  1W 


U  of  Israel  should  be  put  to  death,  small  or  great,  man  or  woman.  And  the) 
sware  unto  the  Lord  with  a  loud  voice,  and  with  clangour,  and  with  trumpets 

L^  and  cornets.  And  all  Judah  was  glad  at  the  oath  ;  far  they  had  sworn  with 
all  their  heart,  and  sought  Him  with  their  whole  desire,  and  He  was  found  of 

16  them:  and  the  Lord  gave  them  rest  round  about.  And  also  Maaehah,  the 
mother  of  Asa  the  king,  he  removed  from  being  queen,  because  she.  had  made 
an  idol  for  Asherah  :  and  Asa  cut  down   her  idol,  and  crushed  it,  and  burnt 

17  it  in  the  brook  Kidron.     But  the  high  places  were  not  taken  away  out  of 

18  Israel;  but  the  heart  of  Asa  was  perfect  all  his  days.  And  he  brought  the 
things  which  his  father  and  himself  had  consecrated  into  the  house  of  God, 

19  silver  and  gold,  and  vessels.  And  there  was  no  more  war  unto  the  thirty- 
fifth  year  of  the  reign  of  Asa. 

s.   The  War  with  Baasha  of  Israel:  eh.  xvi.  1-6. 

Uh  xvi.  1.  In  the  thirty-sixth  year8  of  the  reign   of  Asa,  Baasha  king  of  Israel 
came  up  against  Judah,  and  built  Ramah,  to  let  no  one  come  out  or  go  in  to 

2  Asa  king  of  Judah.  And  Asa  brought  out  silver  and  gold  out  of  the  treasures 
of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  of  the  king's  house,  and  sent  to  Benhadad  king 

3  of  Syria,  that  dwelt  at  Damascus/  saying  :  A  league  is  between  me  and  thee, 
and  between  my  father  and  thy  father:  behold,  I  have  sent  thee  silver  and 
gold  ;  go,  break  thy  league  with  Baasha  king  of  Israel,  that  he  may  depart 

4  from  me.  And  Benhadad  hearkened  unto  King  Asa,  and  sent  the  captains  of 
his  army  against  the  cities  of  Israel;  and  they  smote  Ijon,  and  Dan,  and  Abel- 

5  maim,  and  all  the  stores  of  the  cities  of  Naphtali.     And  when  Baasha  heard 

6  it,  he  left  off  building  of  Ramah,  and  let  his  work  cease.  And  Asa  the  king 
took  all  Judah,  and  carried  away  the  stones  of  Ramah,  and  its  timber,  with 
which  Baasha  had  built,  and  built  therewith  Geba  and  Mizpah. 

f.  HananVs  Prophetic  Warning:  Asa's  Transgression  and  End:  vers.  7-14. 

7  And  at  that  time  came  Hanani  the  seer  to  Asa  king  of  Judah,  and  said 
unto  him,  Because  thou  hast  relied  on  the  king  of  Syria,  and  hast  not  relied 
on  the  Lord  thy  God,  therefore  is  the  host  of  the  king  of  Syria  escaped  from 

8  thy  hand.  Were  not  the  Ethiopians  and  the  Lubites  a  huge  host,  in  chariots 
and  horsemen  very  many  1  and  when  thou  didst  rely  on  the  Lord,  He  gave 

9  them  into  thy  hand.  For  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  run  throughout  all  the  earth, 
to  prove  Himself  strong  for  those  whose  heart  relies  wholly  on  Him  :  thou 

10  hast  done  foolishly  in  this ;  for  henceforth  thou  shalt  have  wars.  And  Asa 
was  displeased  with  the  seer,  and  put  him  in  the  prison  ;  for  he  was  in  a  rage 
with  him  because  of  this.  And  Asa  oppressed  some  of  the  people  at  that 
time. 

11  And,  behold,  the  acts  of  Asa,  first  and  last,  behold,  they  are  written  in 

12  the  book  of  the  kings  of  Judah  and  Israel.  And  Asa,  in  the  thirty-ninth 
year  of  his  reign,  was  diseased  in  his  feet,  until  his  disease  was  very  great : 

13  and  in  his  disease  also  he  sought  not  the  Lord,  but  to  the  physicians.  And 
Asa  slept  with  his  fathers  ;  and  he  died  in  the  forty-first  year  of  his  reign. 

14  And  they  buried  him  in  his  own  tomb,  which  he  had  dug  for  himself  in  the 
city  of  David ;  and  they  laid  him  in  the  bed  which  was  filled  with  sweet 
odours  of  divers  kinds,  compounded  by  art ;  and  they  made  a  very  great 
burning  for  him. 

1  On  the  probable  error  of  the  pen  here   (}iT3'lD  for  t"Di'C).   see  Exeg.  Expl. 

*  For    HOC*1  the  Sept  has  '\uru\a.  (but  Josephus,  At/tiq.  viiL  11.  3.   *I<rav«f). 

*  For  the  Kethilt  p~l£J7.  supported  by  the  Sept.  ai.d  Vulg.,  the  fieri  is  |*"12V- 

*  For  Vin31    some  mss.  read   Vin31  :   but  the  Pual  is  reqiiir.  d  by  the  context. 

4  Sept.  cod.  Vat.:  *A3*3  ('H5»,3)  raw  ip°$Y,Tov\  on  the  contiary,  c.  Al ,  ed  Aid ,  etc. :  '\Z,a.p',vj  toZ  -rta^r^ev.    Vu'g..  .4f» 
rite  Jilti  Oded propfutx     Perhaps  the  woids  N*3jn   Try  should  be  cancelled  a*  an  old  gloss.     See  rhe  Fxei:   Eipl. 


20D 


II.  CHRONICLES 


*  So  all  the  mss.  and  versions  but  the  Sept.,  which  has  iv  tin  oyiou  xatt  Tp'*xo<rr£,  by  a  mistake  ot  *j  fur  s,  or  OD  the 
piound  of  some  peculiar  chronological  reckoning. 

T  Properly,  "  Daiiiiascns;  *'  see  1  Chron  xvi  i.  5,  6,  and  the  Cnt.  Note  rhcreon.     For  the  vies  tcu  ' Klip,  given  by  the 

Sept.  for  Tin   p,  comp.  the  Exeg.  ExpL 


EXEGETICAL. 

The  histories  of  both  reigns,  that  of  Abijah 
mid  that  of  Asa,  are  presented  here  in  a  very  ex- 
tended form,  when  compared  with  the  parallel 
accounts  in  1  Kings  xv.  1-8,  9-24  ;  and  in  par- 
ticular, there  are  several  discourses  of  a  prophetic 
nature  in  the  history  of  Abijah,  one  addressed  by 
this  king  himself  on  Mount  Zemaraim  to  Jero- 
boam and  the  army  of  Israel  (ch.  xiii.  4-12),  and 
in  that  of  Asa,  the  warnings  of  the  seers  Azariah 
son  of  Oded  and  Hanani  (eh.  xv.  2-7,  xvi.  7-101, 
by  the  insertion  of  which  the  Chronist  has  con- 
siderably enlarged  his  account.  But  with  respect 
to  the  history  of  war  and  worship,  his  repri  senta- 
tion  is  a  far  richer  gain  from  the  ancient  sources 
than  that  preserved  in  1  Kings  xv. 

I.  Abijah  :  ch.  xiii. ;  comp.  1  Kings  xv.  1-8. 
— In  the  eighteenth  year  of  King  Jeroboam.  This 
date  of  the  beginning  of  Abijah's  reign  is  also 
given  in  1  Kings,  and  also  the  three  years'  dura- 
tion of  his  reign  (he  is,  moreover,  always  called 
D'3S  ;  see  on  ch.  xi.  22). — And  his  mother's  name 

was  Michaiah,  daughter  of  Uriel  of  Gibeah.  As 
Abijah's  mother  is  called  Maachah,  not  merely 
ch.  xi.  20  if.,  but  also  1  Kings  xv.  2,  the  present 
name    ^IPP^D   must  be  regarded  as  a  mistake  for 

the  original  nDVO-     Her  father,  Uriel  of  Gibeah, 

is  to  be  regarded  as  the  husband  of  Tamar  the 
daughter  of  Absalom,  and  herself,  then-fore,  as 
the  grand-daughter  of  the  latter  ;  see  on  ch.  xi. 
20.  From  the  Maachah,  further  mentioned  ch. 
xv.  16  (and  1  Kings  xv.  13),  the  mother  of  Asa, 
whom  he  removed  from  the  dignity  of  a  gebirah 
(mistress,  Sultana  Walide,  queen-mother)  for  her 
idolatry,  she  is  scarcely  to  be  considered  different; 
rather  is  her  designation  there  as  mother  to  be 
supposed  =  grandmother,  and  her  continued  re- 
gtnev  under  her  grandson  Asa  is  to  be  explained 
simply  from  the  brief  duration  of  Abijah's  reign, 
and  the  probable  minority  of  Asa  at  his  death 
(comp.  Athaliah's  attempt  to  reign  instead  of  her 
grandson  Joash,  ch.  xxii.).  Against  the  assump- 
tion by  Thenius  and  Bertheau  of  the  diversity  of 
the  two  Maachahs  (of  whom  the  mother  of  Abijah 
was  the  daughter  of  Absalom,  but  the  mother  of 
Asa  i;i  reality  the  one  who  is  here  falsely  called 
"a  daughter  of  Uriel  of  Gibeah"),  see  Keil,  p. 
201.  Rem.— Ver.  3  ff.  Abijah's  War  with  Jero- 
boam.— And  Abijah  began  the  war  with  .  .  . 
400,000  cA.OSCT  men.  Neither  this  number  nor  the 
double  number  of  the  warriors  of  Jeroboam  should 
ie  taken  strictly,  as  is  abundantly  clear  from 
the  substantial  agreement  of  both  numbers  with 
ttie  results  of  Joab's  enumeration  under  David 
(800,000  men-at-arms  of  Israel  and  500,000  of 
Judah  ;  comp.  1  Chron.  xxi. ).  Less  probable  is 
the  assumption  of  an  error  in  transcription,  rest- 
ing on  a  change  of  the  numeral  letters,  as  the 
cause  of  these  almost  incredibly  high  numbers 
:  Kennicott,  Dissert.  Gen.  §  27  :  J.  I'ye-Smith, 
The  Scripture  Testimony  to  the  Messiah,  6th  edit, 
vol.  i.  p.  29)  ;  for  to  explain  the  fac*  in  this  way, 
\\<-  must  assume  several  such  mistakes  or  corrup- 
tions in   similar  circumstances,  which  would  be 


very  strange.  Comp.  also  en  ch.  xvii.,  and 
Evangelical  and  Ethical  Reflections,  No.  3. — ■ 
Ver.  4.  And  Abijah  arose  on  Mount  Zemaraim, 
obviously  a  steep  cliff  or  summit  lying  between 
the  contending  armies,  from  which  the  king 
addressed  the  foe  in  like  manner  as  Jotham  once 
addressed  the  Shechemites  from  Mount  Gi-izim, 
Judg.  ix.  7.  That  every  single  warrioi  X  the 
host  of  Israel,  numbering  several  hundred  thou- 
sands, could  have  heard  his  words  is  not  said, 
and  need  not  be  assumed.  The  situation  of 
Mount  Zemaraim  is  no  longer  to  be  ascertained. 
It  was  probably  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Bethel, 
near  which  is  a  town,  Josh,  .\viii.  22,  named 
D'HDV  (Zemaraim),  the  ruins  of  which  may  have 

been  found  in  el  Sumra,  between  Jerusalem  and 
Jericho,  near  the  valley  of  the  Jordan.  At  all 
events,  the  locality  should  be  sought  east  of 
Bethel  (Robinson,  Phys.  Geogr.  of  the  Holy 
Land,  p.  38),  and  this  el  Sumra  may  lie  too  far 
in  a  south-easterly  direction. — Ver.  5.  Do  you 
not  know,  literally,  "  Is  it  not  to  you,  concerns  it 
not  you,  to  know?"  comp.,  for  example,  1  Chron. 
xiii.  4.  —  That  the  Lord  .  .  .  gave  .  .  .  to  him  ami 
to  his  sons  by  a  covenant  of  salt,  by  an  irrevocable 
covenant ;  comp.   Lev.   ii.    13  ;   Num.   xviii.   19. 

n'TO  rT"3    belongs   to   the   whole    sentence,    a* 

accusative  of  restriction  (therefore:  "in  the 
manner  of  a  covenant  of  salt"). — Ver.  7.  And 
vain  nun,  of  no  account,  gathered  unto  him,  pro- 
perly, "sons  of  worthlessness,  children  of  Belial," 
a  phrase  occurring  not  elsewhere  in  Chronicles, 
but  again  in  1  Kings  xxi.  10,  13.     On  Q'pi  'j{. 

"loose,  fickle  men,"  comp.  Judg.  ix.  4,  xi.  3. — 
And  withstood  Rehoboam,    "showed  themselves 

strong  against  him"  pj)  pENOn)  ;  comp.   the 

('23?  pinn")  resistance  afterwards  shown  on  the 

part  of  Kehoboam  to  this  opposition. — Rehoboam 
was  young  ami.  weak  of  heart,  faint-hearted,  un- 
stable.    The  term  ij)j,  young,  used  of  Rehoboam 

when  already  king,  appears  not  specially  to  favour 
the  former  statement  (ch.  xii.  13)  that  he  was 
then  forty-one  years  old,  and  to  require  the 
change  of  this  age  into  twenty-one  years.  More- 
over, Abijah  relates  in  this  his  speech  the  events 
in  the  revolt  of  the  ten  tribes  from  Rehoboam  in 
a  very  inexact  way  (Rehoboam  did  not  show  him- 
self "weak  of  heart"  on  that  occasion,  but  rather 
hard  and  daring  of  heart,  etc. )  ;  for  he  clearly 
wishes  "  to  justify  his  father  as  far  as  possible, 
and  roll  all  the  blame  of  the  revolt  of  the  ten 
tribes  on  Jeroboam  and  his  worthless  followers  " 
(Keil). — Ver.  8.  The  kingdom  of  the  Lord  in  the 
hand  of  the  sons  of  David,  the  theocratic  king- 
dom founded  by  David,  and  hereditary  in  his 
house  (comp.  1  Chron.  xxix.  23  and  the  like). — 
Ver.  9.  Hare  ye  not  .  .  .  made  you  priests  like 
the  nations  of  the  lands,  not  divinely  called,  but 
only  humanly  chosen,  priests,  like  those  of 
heathendom  ;  comp.  1  Kings  xii.  31.  —  Whosoever 
mm'  /h  to  fill  his  hand,  that  is,  institute  and  con- 
secrate himself  priest  of  the  new  worship  ;  comp. 


CHAP.  XIII.  10-XIV.  7. 


201 


Ex.  xxviii.  41,  xxix.  9,  xxxii,  29  :  see  1  Kings 
xiii.  33.  Tin-  following  words:  "  with  a  young 
bteer  (literally,  with  a  Bteer  the  smi  of  the  herd; 
and  seven  rams,"  belong  not  so  much  to  '*  till  "  as 
to  " Cometh"  (2  S13,  as  Ps.  xl.  S).  As  accord- 
ing to  Ex.  xxix.  the  offerings  to  be  made  on  the 
consecration  of  a  priest  consisted  of  a  young 
steer  as  a  Bin-offering,  a  ram  as  a  burnt-offering, 
and  a  ram  of  consecration,  and  this  presented  on 
seven  days  in  succession  (thus  in  all  seven  Btei  is 
and  fourteen  rams),  the  offering  appears  here  to 
be  imperfectly  stated,  not  on  account  of  an 
inaccurate  report,  but  because  Abijah  might 
know  that  in  fact  there  had  been  a  considerable 
deviation  from  the  strict  requirements  of  the  law, 
in  order  the  more  speedily  to  obtain  a  new  priest- 
hood. Indeed,  it  was  a  priesthood  of  non-gods 
01  ungods  (comp.  Deut.  xxxii.  21)  which  was 
so  founded. — Ver.  10.    And  the  Levites  in  tlieir 

bttsiness  ("in  the  business,"  rDX7JD3)»  perform- 
ing their  office  in  the  legal  way  ;  comp.  1  Chron. 
xxiii.  28  ff. — Ver.  11.  Burn  unto  the  Lord  burnt- 
offerings,  "fumigate,   turn  into  smoke,"  "I'Dpi"!] 

which  is  then  zeugmatically  connected  with  the 
laying  of  the  shew-bread  and  the  lighting  of  the 
lamps,  which  are  also  parts  of  the  priestly  office. 
On  these  various  priestly  functions,  that  are 
then  combined  as  a  "  keeping  of  the  charge  of 
the  Lord  "  (Lev.  viii.  35 1.  .~--mp.  Ex.  xxix.  38  ff., 
xxv.  30  ff.,  xxvii.  20  ff.  ;  Lev.  xxiv.  7  ff.— Ver. 
12.  The  clanging  trumpets  to  sound  are  made 
prominent,  because  God  had  expressly  designated 
them  in  the  law  as  the  pledges  on  account  of 
which  He  would  remember  and  help  His  people 
in  war.  Num.  x.  9. — Ver.  13  ff.  Judah's  Victory 
over  the  Superior  Force  of  Israel.  —  To  conie  be- 
hind them  ;  comp.  Josh.  viii.  2;  Judg.  xx.  29  ff. 
—Ver.  15.  And  the  men  ofJudah  shouted.  Keil 
rightly   says  :    "  In   qynsi    and   j«-in3  the  loud 

1  iv  of  the  warriors  and  the  clanging  of  the  priests 
with  the  trumpets  are  combined,  and  J^in  is  to 

be  referred  neither  alone  to  the  war-cry  of  the  com- 
batants assailing  the  enemy,  nor,  with  Berth. 
(and  Kamph.),  to  the  blowing  of  the  clanging 
trumpets  ;  "  comp.  also  Judg.  vii.  19  ff. 
in  the  conflict  with  the  Midianites). — Ver.  17. 
Smote  tltriii  with  a  great  slaughter;  for  the 
phrase,  see  Num.   xi.  33  ;  Josh.  x.  30.     For  the 

number    500,000,    which   appears    ii neeivably 

great  as  the  number  of  those  who  fell  in  the  one 
field  at  Zemaraim,  comp.  Evangelical  and  Ethical 
Reflections,  No.  3. — Ver.  IS.  The  sons  of  Israel 
were  humbled  (comp.  yj23  in  ch.  xii.  6  f.),  or 

"weakened"  by  tlieir  enormous  loss  (comp. 
Judg.  Hi.  30,  viii.  28  :  1  Sam.  vii.  13).— Ver.  19. 
Bethel  and  her  daughters,  her  daughter  towns  : 
comp.  Neh.  xi.  25.  Besides  this  border  city  of 
s.riith  Israel,  well  known  from  Gen.  xii.  S,  xxviii. 
19,  xxxv.  15,  Josh.  vii.  12.,  etc.  (the  pi 
Beitin),  are  named  the  otherwise  unknown  Jes- 
hanah  (or  Jesyna  ;  comp.  Crit.  Note),  and  an 
Ephron,  as  cities  taken  by  Abijah  from  the  con- 
quered. The  last  has  scarcely  anything  but  the 
name  common  with  Mount  Ephron  on  the  south 
border  of  Benjamin  (Josh.  xv.  9),  but  should 
probably  be  identified  with  Ophrah  near  Bethel 
(Judg.  vi.  11),  or  the  town  Ephraim  situated 
there,   mentioned  Josh.  xi.  54  (comp.  Josephus, 


B.  J.  iv.  9.  9),  especially  if  we  are  to  read  J'"iEy, 

with  the  Masoiah  ;  see  Crit.  Note. — Ver.  20. 
And  Jeroboam  had  no  more  strength;  na  li'V- 

as  eh.  xx.  37;  1  Chron.  xxix.  14. — And  the  Lord 
smote  him,  and  he  died,  not  "snatched him  away 
by  a  sudden  death "  (of  which  nothing  is  known 
from  1  Kings),  but  "smote  him,  visited  him  with 
misfortune  (comp.  Ep:  in  ver.  15  and  ch.  xxi.  18) 

till  his  death,"  referring  probably  to  thai  which 

is  related  in  1  Kings  xiv.  1-18.  —  Ver.  21  ff. 
Family  History  of  Abijah  ;  his  End. — And  Alii 
jah  strengthened  himself  (pjnnn.  as  ch.  xii.  13) 
and  took  to  him  fourteen  wives.  Comp.  the  Evan- 
gelical and  Ethical  Reflections  in  the  previous 
section,  No.  3.  Abijah  must  have  had  most  of 
these  fourteen  wives  before  he  ascended  the 
throne,  or  at  least  before  his  war  with  Jeroboam. 
That  he  took  them  after  the  war  tollows  only 
apparently  from  the  position  in  the  narrative, 
which  has  no  chronologic  import. — Ver.  22.  Are 
written  in  the  commentary  of  the  prophet  Iddo. 
Comp.  on  this  source  of  our  author,  Introd.  §  5, 
II.  p.  17. — Ver.  23.  And  Asa  .  .  .  in  his  days 
the  land  was  quiet  ten  years,  in  consequence  ot 
the  great  victory  of  his  father  over  Jeroboam,  and 
the  weakening  of  the  northern  kingdom  thereby 
occasioned  ;  comp.  ch.  xiv.  4,  5,  xv.  19. 

II.  Asa  :  1.  His  Theocratic  Zeal  and  Care  for 
the  Defence  of  the  Kingdom  :  ch.  xiv.  1-7  ; 
comp.  1  Kings  xv.  9-12,  14,  15. — And  Asa  did 
that  which  was  good  and  right;  comp.  ch.  xxxi. 
20. — Ver.  2.  Took  away  lite  altars  of  the  strange 
gods,  consecrated  to  strange  gods,  of  the  idolatrous 
foreign  countries  ;  comp.  Gen.  xxxv.  2,  4.  That 
only  these,  and  not  also  "high  places,"  or  illegal 
places  of  sacrifice  consecrated  to  Jehovah,  were 
removed  by  him,  is  clear  from  ch.  xv.  17. — And 
brake  the  pillars,  the  memorial  stones  erected  to 
Baal  (niasp)  ;  comp.   Ex.  xxxiv.  13  ;  Judg.  iii. 

7;  2  Kings  iii.  2.  Likewise  the  "Asherim," 
wooden  posts  and  holy  trees  consecrated  to 
Astarte  ;  comp.  1  Kings  xiv.  23,  and  Bahr  on  the 
passage. — On  ver.  3,  comp.  ch.  xv.  12. — Ver.  4. 
And  he  took  away  .  .  .  the  high  plans  a7id  the 
sun-statues;  Q^on,  the  statues  before  the  altars 

of  Baal,  consecrated  to  him  as  the  sun-god  : 
comp.  ch.  xxxiv.  4  ;  Lev.  xxvi.  30  ;  Movers,  Die 
Phonizier,  i.  343  ff. — And  the  kingdom  was  quiet 
before  him,   that  is,   under  him,   under  his  eye 

(V3E?) ;    comp.    Num.    viii.    22  ;    Ps.    lxxii.    5  ; 

Prov.  iv.  3. — Ver.  5.  Built  fenced  cities  in  Judah 

.  .  .  in  those  days,  during  this  quiet  of  ten  years. 
Comp.  Rehoboam's  fortifications,  ch.  xi.  5  if. — 
vTer.  6.  Let  us  build  tliest  cities.  What  cities! 
It  is  not  said  ;  but  certainly  Geba  and  Mizpah. 
which  were  built  after  the  war  with  Baasha  (ch.  xvi. 
6).  Asa  assigns  as  the  motive  for  these  buildings: 
"the  land  is  yet  before  us,"  free,  open  to  us,  un- 
occupied by  the  foe  ;  comp.  Gen.  xiii.  9. — And 
they  built  and  prospered.  Vulg.  very  free,  yet  in 
substance  correct;  nullumque  in  exstruendo  Impedi- 
ihtiitum  fuit. — Ver.  7.  Bearing  shield  and  spear. 
The  great  or  long  shield  (njV)  is  here  meant,  in 

opposition  to  the  short   or   round   shield    (!JD) 

then  mentioned  ;  the  same  difference  as  in  ch. 
ix.  15,  16.  That  the  Jews  had  exclusively  only 
long  shields  and  spears,  and  the  Benjamites  only 


202 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


short  shields  and  bows,  as  armour,  need  not  be 
assumed ;  the  representation  is  only  relative, 
summary,  and  not  to  be  pressed,  as  also  the 
numbers  (3u0,000  of  the  Jews  and  2S0,00m  oi 
the  Beujamites)  are  obviously  only  round.  They 
are,  moreover,  so  far  as  the  whole  population  tit 
to  bear  arms  is  concerned,  by  no  means  incredible. 
With  respect  to  the  comparatively  high  number 
of  280,000  Beujamites,  we  are  to  consider  not 
only  their  lighter  armour  (which  might  be  borne 
by  younger  and  weaker  men),  but  also  that  Ben- 
jamin was  an  eminently  warlike  tribe,  "a  raven- 
ing wolf"  according  to  Jacob's  prophetic  word, 
Gen.  xlix.  27,  that  must  have  taken  the  field 
with  all  possible  force.  Comp.  also  on  1  Chron. 
vii.  6-11,  and  the  Evangelical  and  Ethical  Reflec- 
tions, No.  3. 

2.  Asa's  Victory  over  Zerah  the  Ethiopian  : 
vers.  8-14,  a  section  wanting  in  Kings.—  And 
Zerah  the  Ethiopian  came  out  against  him.  This 
Zerah  (Sept.  Zapi;  Vulg.  Zara)  counts  with  most 
recent  expositors,  on  account  of  the  similarity  of 
name,  as  the  same  with  the  Egyptian  King  Osor- 
chon  I.,  successor  of  Shishak-Sesonchis,  and  so 
the  second  king  of  the  twenty-second  or  Bubastite 
Dynasty  (comp.  Unger,  Manetho,  p.  233;  Thenius 
on  1  Kings  xv.  23) ;  whereas  Hitzig  rather  iden- 
tifies him  with  the  Sabakos  of  Herodotus  (Gesch. 
des  V.  Isr.  p.  165  f.  ;  comp.  Herod,  ii.  137  ff., 
152),  but  Brugsch  takes  him  for  an  Ethiopian, 
not  Egyptian,  ruler,  who,  under  the  reign  of 
Takelofh  I.  (about  944  B.C.)  invaded  the  south- 
west of  Asia  and  Egypt  as  a  conqueror.  The  last 
assumption  certainly  agrees  best,  as  well  with  the 
Biblical  chronology  as  with  the  designation  of 
Zerah  as  a  Kushfte.— With  a  host  of  1,000,000. 
On  this  number,  as  scarcely  to  be  pressed,  but 
rather  depending  on  a  rough  and  ideal  estimate,  see 
the  Evangelical  and  Ethical  Reflections,  No.  3. — 
And  he  came  to  Mareshah,  mentioned  in  ch.  xi.  9, 
between  Hebron  and  Ashdod. — Ver.  9.  And  Asa 
went  out  against  him,  literally,  "before  him"; 
comp.  xv.  2;  1  Chron.  xix.  14,  xiv.  8.—  In  the 
valley  of  Zephathah,  scarcely  =  Tell  es  Safieh 
(Robinson,  Pal.  ii.  625),  but  a  place  nearer  Mare- 
shah, perhaps  that  described  by  Robinson,  ii.  613. 
— Ver.  10.  Lord,  no  one  is  nigh  Thee  to  help,  no 
one  is  able  like  Thee  (literally,  "with  Thee"; 
comp.  ch.  xx.  6  ;  Ps.  lxxiii.  25)  to  help.—  With 
the  mighty,  or  with  no  might,  "  between  the 
mighty  and  the  impotent "  (|>3  with  ^  following, 

as  Gen.  i.  13,  etc.)  ;  the  help  of  God  is  conceived 
as  imparted  either  to  the  mighty  or  the  weak,  and 
therefore  as  bet«  een  both.  Some  conceive  the  pas- 
sage otherwise  ;  Vulg.,  Ramb.,  S.  Schmidt,  etc.  : 
Domine,  non  est  apud  te  ulla  dUtantia  utrum  in 
paucis  auxilieris  an  in  pluribus ;  Berth.,  Keil, 
etc.  :  "  No  other  than  Thou  can  help  in  an  un- 
equal combat,   that  is,   help  the  weaker  part;" 

Kamph.    \writing  conjecturally  t'vi'b  for  "|}JP): 

"  It  is  impossible  that  anything  could  prevail 
(n'3  ivy,  as  ch.  xiii.  20,  etc.),  whether  the 
mighty  or  the  weak."  Substantially  correct, 
thouuh  inexact,  Luther:  "It  is  no  difference 
with  Thee  to  help  among  many,  or  where  there 
is  no  power." — In  Thy  name  we  go  against  this 
multitude,  trusting  to  Thy  help. — No  man  may 
hold  out  against   Thee.     For  the  omission  of  r\3 

with  -fty>  comp.  ch.  xx.  37  (1  Chron.  xxix.  14  . 


2  Chron.  xiii.  25).  On  the  sentence,  comp. 
(partly  at  least)  Ps.  ix.  20a.— Ver.  12.  And  Asa 
.  .  .  pursued  them  unto  Gerar,  the  old  Philistine 
citv,  now  Khirbet  el  Gerar,  three  and  a  half  houi-s 
south-east  of  Gaza. — And  the  Ethiopians  fell,  so 
that  there  was  no  recovery,  not  "so  that  there 
was  none  left  living"  (Berth.,  Kamph.,  etc.),  but 
so  that  they  could  not  rally,  ut  eis  vivificatio,  ie. 
copias  restaurandi  ratio  non  esset  (J.  H.  Mich., 
Keil,    etc.).     pj^   stands   for   px    of   the   older 

style,  in  the  sense  of  "so  that  not"  (comp.  Ew. 
§  315,  c).     rvnO,  preservation  of  life,  revival,  as 

Gen.  xlv.  5  ;  Ezra  ix.  8,  9.—  For  they  were  broken 
("QD'J,  as  Ezek.  xxx.  8)  before  the  Lord,  and 

before  His  host ;  Asa's  army  is  here  so  called  as 
the  instrument  of  the  divine  justice  against  the 
haughty  foe.  To  think  of  a  host  of  angels  that 
had  contended  invisibly  on  the  side  of  the  Jews 
(Starke  and  other  older  writers,  with  allusion  to 
Gen.  xxxii.  2f.)  is  without  any  wan-ant,  as  the 
term  rOTO,  especially  in  the  singular,  stands  for 

a  single  earthly  army. — Ver.  13.  And  they  smote 
all  the  cities  around  Gerar,  probably  because, 
like  the  Philistines  generally,  they  had  made 
common  cause  with  the  Cushites,  and  joined 
them  against  the  Jews.—  For  the  terror  of  the 
Lord,  a  terror  occasioned  by  the  Lord,  and  there- 
fore the  more  powerful ;  comp.  xvii.  10,  xx.  29  ; 
1  Sam.  xi.  7. — Ver.  14.  And  they  smote  also  the 
tents  of  cattle,  the  herds  of  the  nomad  tribes  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Gerar  (in  the  northern  regions 
of  the  wilderness  of  Shur  and  Paran,  the  old 
country  of  the  Amalekites). 

3.  Prophetic  Warning  of  Azariah  Son  of  Oded 
to  Asa  returning  Home :  ch.  xv.  1-7  (likewise 
peculiar  to  Chronicles). — Upon  Azariah  son  of 
Oded.  The  names  of  both  father  and  son  occur 
only  here  :  the  identification  of  Oded  with  Iddo 
(ch.  ix.  29,  xii.  15)  is  an  idle  fancy  of  some 
ancients. — Ver.  2.  Before  Asa,  to  meet  him  ; 
comp.  on  ch.  xiv.  9. — The  Lord  is  with  you, 
while  you  are  with  Him.  Comp.  Jas.  iv.  8 ; 
and  with  respect  to  the  following  sentence,  1 
Chron.  xxviii.  9  ;  2  Chron.  xii.  5,  xxiv.  20  ;  Jer. 
xxix.  13. — Ver.  3.  And  many  days  will  be  to 
Israel  without  the  true  God.  The  Sept.  and 
Vulg.,  Luther,  Clericus,  and  most  moderns 
rightly  refer  these  words  to  the  future,  and  thus 
conceive  them  to  be  a  prediction  of  that  which 
was  to  happen  with  respect  to  the  relation  of 
God's  people  to  the  Lord, — a  prediction  of  like 
import  with  Hos.  iii.  4,  5.  For  this  view 
speaks,  on  the  one  hand,  the  generality  of  the 
term  "  Israel,"  which  appears  to  be  used  here  in 
the  same  ideal  sense  as  in  ch.  xi.  3,  xii.  1,  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  absence  of  any  more  pre- 
cise date  in  Q'zn   Q'EW,  ^y  which  that  which  is 

said  is  characterized  as  a  general  truth  holding 
for  all  times  ;  but  the  reference  to  any  definite 
earlier  time,  with  which,  besides,  the  closing 
monition  in  ver.  7  would  ill  agree,  is  absoluteiy 
excluded.  Neither  the  time  of  the  judges,  with 
its  illegal  conditions  and  its  closing  reformation 
by  Samuel,  is  described  by  the  prophet  (against 
Vitr.  and  Ramb.),  nor  the" last  decennium  of  the 
southern  kingdom  before  the  reforms  of  Asa  (as 
the  Svr.,  Arab.,  Raschi,  Berth.,  think),  nor, 
finally,  the  circumstances  of  the  northern  king 


OHM'.  XV.  .--10. 


21.3 


dom  since  Jeroboam  (Targ.,  Tremell.,  Grotius, 
etc.).  The  last  opinion  is  certainly  the  most 
arbitrary  of  all  ;  for  what  occasion  had  the  pro- 
yjhet  to  greet  the  king  of  the  southern  kingdom, 
returning  as  a  conqueror  after  deliverance  from  a 
great  danger,  with  a  reflection  on  the  errors  anil 
calamities  of  the  northern  kingdom  ?  Bat  if  we 
refer  the  words  as  a  prophecy  to  the  future,  no 
unsuitable  limitation  must  be  introduced  (as,  for 
example,  to  the  Babylonish  exile,  of  which 
Kimchi,  Mariana,  S.  Schmidt,  have  thought).  It 
is  the  whole  future  of  the  people  of  God,  of  which 
the  prophet  asserts  the  law:  "  If  ye  turn  away  from 
God,  He  will  turn  away  from  you."  Comp.  be- 
sides, Evangelical  and  Ethical  Reflections,  No.  1. 
On  the  "true  God,"  properly,  "God  of  truth," 

riDX  'rfSx.  comp.  Jer.  x.  10  and  Isa.  lxv.  16 
(JOK  '$>»)■  N  '^X  t$>,  properly,  "to  not  a 
god  of  truth";  N77,  n°t  essentially  different 
from  |'X7,  1  Chron.  xxii.  4,  2  Chron.  xx.  35,  is 
distinguished  from  {^3  only  as  ">  is  distin- 
guished from  3 :  the  latter  expresses  the  being 

in  a  state,  the  former  the  falling  into  it  (Keil). 
—  WUIioul  a  teaching  priest,  without  priests  to 
perform  the  function  of  teaching  (Lev.  x.  10; 
Deut.  xxxiii.  10) ;  the  special  reference  to  the 
high  priest  (Vitr.  and  others)  lias  no  ground  in 
the  context.  To  the  defect  in  teaching  priests 
corresponds  the  defect  in  a  law  ;  for  where  there 
is  no  mio,  there  is  no  min  !  — Ver.  5  f.    The 

prophetic  address  returns  after  a  passing  brief 
promise  of  salvation  (ver.  46)  to  the  description 
of  th  lamentable  effects  of  the  future  apostasy 
from  God. — N  peace  for  him  that  goeth  out  or 
cometh  in,  thus  no  free,  peaceful  intercourse  ;  on 
"going  out  and  in,"  comp.  ch.  xvi.  1  ;  Zeeh.  viii. 
10;  Josh.  vi.  1  ;  on  the  following  "great  vexa- 
tions" (nioino),   Deut.  xxviii.  20;  Amos  iii.  9. 

"All  the  inhabitants  of  the  lands  "are  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  provinces  of  Israel  (or  Judah)  ; 
3ee  ch.  xxxiv.  33.  The  view  of  the  speaker  here 
scarcely  extends  over  the  whole  inhabited  globe 
(Kaniph.),  although  in  the  following  verse  he 
transcends  the  boundaries  of  Judah,  and  depicts 
its  attraction  into  the  confusion  and  conflict  of 
the  neighbouring  nations. — And  nation  shall  be 
smitten  by  nation.  Kamphausen's  rendering: 
"they  are  pushed  nation  on  nation,"  is  too  far- 
fetched, and  by  no  means  required  by  the  mean- 
ing of  nrD'  The  Jews  had  a  striking  fulfilment 
of  this  gloomy  foreboding  of  a  helium  omnium 
contra  omnes  in  the  times  of  Nebuchadnezzar  ;  a 
second  in  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the 
Romans,  with  respect  to  which  Christ  also  makes 
use  of  similar  prophetic  expressions,  Luke  xxi. 
10,  26,  and  the  parallt-s. — For  Qod  hath  err,,/ 
them  with  all  trouble  ;  comp.  Judg.  iv  IS;  Zech. 
xiv.  13. — Ver.  7.  But  be  ye  brave,  and  let  not 
!/our  hands  be  slack;  comp.  Zeph.  iii.  16;  Neh. 
vi.  9 ;  and  *'  the  hands  becoming  slack  as  a 
figure  of  sinking  courage,  2  Sam.  iv.  1  ;  Isa. 
xxxv.  3  ;  Heb.  xii.  11.  On  the  closing  promise 
of  reward,  comp.  Jer.  xxxi.  16  ;  1  Cor.  iii.  S,  xv. 
58. 

4    Asa's   Reform  of  Worship  and  Renewal  of 


Covenant  with  the  Lord  :  vers.  8-19.  —  And  u'hn 
Asa  heard  .  .  .  this  prophecy  of  Oded  the  pro- 
phet.     The    Hebrew  text  has  not  riXOJHl,  hu' 

nX133ny    This  circumstance  points  to  a  corruption 

of  the  passage,  as  well  as  the  absence  of  p  ^rPffJ) 

before  Tlj),  wdiieh  was  to  be  expected  according 

to  ver.  1.  As  the  readings  of  the  Sept.  and 
Vulg.  (see  Crit.  Note)  may  be  only  later  attempts 
at  emendation,  and  as  the  assumption  of  a  double 
name  of  Azariah,  according  to  which  he  was  at 
times  called  by  the  name  of  his  father  (Starke 
and  other  ancients),  is  certainly  as  questionable 
as  the  transposition  of  the  corresponding  names 
in  ver.  1  into  "Oded  sen  of  Azariah"  (Mov.),  it 
appears  most  advisable  to  remove  the  words 
X*33n  Tlj)    from    the    text    as     an    old    gloss 

(Berth.),  or  (with  Keil)  to  assume  the  omission 
of  several   words   after  nNUSiTI    (say  -|;n  -|{;:K 

[3  irv-ltl').—  He  look  courage  (p^nnn),  accord- 
ing to  Azariah's  exhortation:  "be  ye  brave," 
Iptn. — Put    away    the    abominations,    properly, 

"make  to  pass  over  (T2Jjn,  as  1  Kings  xv.  12)  the 

abominations,"  the  idols  ;  comp.  2  Kings  xxiii. 
13,  24  ;  Ezek.  xxx.  7,  8  ;  Dan.  ix.  27. —  Which  he 

had  taken  from  Mount  Ephraim,  "\y},  as  ch.  xiii. 
1 9,  xvii.  2.  According  to  the  former  of  these 
passages,  it  appears  that  these  were  the  cities  that 
Abijah,  Asa's  father,  had  taken.  In  fact  this 
assumption  is  necessary,  because  no  war  of  Asa  with 
the  northern  kingdom  had  taken  place  at  this  time. 
A  co-operation  of  Asa  as  lieutenant  or  joint- 
commander  with  his  father  in  that  war  seems  a 
questionable  assumption,  on  account  of  his  then 
very  great  youth  (perhaps  his  minority  ;  comp.  on 
ch.  xiii.  1). — And  renewed  the  altar  of  the  Lord, 
that  was  before  the  porch  of  the  Lord,  the  altar  of 
burnt-offering,  that  might  have  been  in  need  of 
repair  sixty  years  after  its  erection  by  Salomon 
(ch.    viii.   12).     Yet  {J^n,  renovare  (comp.   ch. 

xxiv.  4),  might  possibly  also  be  taken  in  the  sense 
of  "consecrate  again,"  after  the  previous  defile- 
ment by  idolatry  (Vulg.  :  dedicavii  ;  Berth., 
Kamph.,  etc.). — Ver.  9  ff .  The  Great  Festival  on 
the  Renewal  of  the  Theocratic  Covenant. — And 
the  strangers  with  them,  out  of  Ephraim.  That 
by  these  strangers  are  meant  not  merely  the 
theocratieally  -  disposed  immigrants  into  Judah 
under  Rehoboam  (xi.  16),  but  also  a  newer  addi- 
tion to  them  that  had  come  under  Asa  himself,  is 
expressly  asserted  in  the  following  words  (comp. 
xxx.  11,  18).  The  mention  of  Simeon  with 
Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  and  therefore  as  a  dis- 
trict belonging  to  the  northern  kingdom,  is 
scarcely  to  be  explained  by  a  migration  of  many 
Simeoiiites  to  North  Palestine  (Berth.,  Kamph.  i, 

but   rather  by  th     fact  that  the  tribe  of  Sin n. 

though  in  a  geographical  situation  it  belonged  to 
the  kingdom  of  Judah,  yet  in  the  point  of  idolatry 
had  made  common  cause  with  the  northern  king- 
dom by  the  erection  of  that  impure  worship  id 
Jehovah  at  Beersheba,  of  which  Amos  iv.  4,  7. 
5,  viii.  14  speaks  along  with  Bethel  and  nilgai 
(correctly  Keil.  Net.,  etc.).— Ver.  10.  In  the  third 
month  of  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Asa,  in 


■Mi 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


the  spriug  of  the  year  940  B.C.;  comp.  Hitzig, 
Gesch.  p.  197. — Ver.  11.  And  they  sacrificed  .  .  . 
of  the  spoil  they  had  brought,  in  the  war  with  the 
Ethiopians  and  their  allies  ;  for  this  war,  though 
it  broke  out  in  the  eleventh  year  of  Asa  (ch.  xiii. 
23,  xiv.  8),  might  have  extended  even  to  the  pre- 
sent date,  and  therefore  lasted  for  four  years  ; 
the  statement  in  ch.  xiv.  8-14  admits  of  this  very 
well. — Ver.  12.  They  entered  into  a  covenant,  a 
new  covenant  of  peace  with  God ;  comp.  xia 
JTH33,  Jer-    xxxiv.   10;   Neh.   x.    30. — Ver.    13. 

And  whosoever  .  .  .  should  he  put  to  death,  ac- 
cording to  the  strict  letter  of  the  law,  Deut.  xvii. 
2-6  ;  comp.  ch.  xiii.  10,  17.  Observe  the  pre- 
sent trace  of  a  far  higher  age  of  the  book  of 
Deuteronomy  than  the  time  of  Josiah,  where 
modern  criticism  places  its  origin.  Comp. 
Schroder,  Deuteron.  Einl.  pp.  25,  32  ;  Kleinert, 
Das  Deuteron.  uwl  der  Deutoronomiker,  1872, 
especially  p.  136  ff.—  Ver.  14.  And  they  sware 
unto  the  Lord  with  a  loud  voice.  On  the 
musical  instruments  accompanying  this  act  of 
the  solemn  renewal  of  the  covenant,  comp. 
xxiii.  13  ;  Neh.  xii.  27  ff.— Vers.  16-18.  Comp. 
Bahr  on  the  almost  literally  coinciding  parallel 
1  Kings  xv.  13-15. — And  also  Maachali,  the 
mother  of  Asa  the  king,  he  removed.  In  1  Kings 
itands  simply  iJ3N,   "  his  mother,"  because  there 

Maachah  had  been  mentioned  just  before  (ver. 
10).  For  the  rest,  comp.  on  ch.  xiii.  1. — And 
Asa  cut  down  her  idol,  ami  crushed  it,  and  burnt  it. 
The  "  crushing  "  (comp.  Ex.  xxxii.  20;  2  Kings 
xxiii.  15)  is  mentioned  only  by  the  Chronist ;  in 
1  Kings  p-\i)  is  wanting.  —  Ver.  17.   Out  of  Israel 

Is  wanting  in  1  Kings.  It  naturally  means  the 
southern  kingdom  as  the  legitimate  and  normal 
people  of  Israel  ;  comp.  ver.  3.  —  But  the  lieart  of 
Asa  was  perfect,  entirely  devoted  to  the  Lord. 
The  niiT  DV  expressly  added   1   Kings  is  here 

omitted,   because  the  D?"',    as  predicate  to   2p, 

is  plain  enough  of  itself  (comp.  ch.  xvi.  9,  xix. 
9) ;  that  is,  Asa's  exclusive  interest  in  the  worship 
of  Jehovah  at  Jerusalem,  not  in  that  (still 
tolerated)  worship  on  the  high  places,  is  distinctly 
enough  expressed. — Ver.  19,  introducing  the  fol- 
lowing account  of  the  war. — Ami  there  was  no 
more  war  unto  the  thirty-fifth  year  of  the  reign  of 
Asa.  The  contradiction  to  1  Kings  xv.  16  : 
"And  there  was  war  between  Asa  and  Baasha 
king  of  Israel  all  their  days,"  is  in  so  far  only 

apparent,  as  norPD  there  denotes  only  a  state  of 

hostility,  here  a  formal  war  actually  carried  on  in 
open  field.  It  is  not  so  easy  to  explain  the  diffi- 
culty involved  in  the  date  :  "unto  the  thirty  - 
tifth  year  of  Asa's  reign  ; "  see  on  xvi.  1. 

5.  Asa's  War  with  Baasha  :  ch.  xvi.  1-6  ; 
comp.  1  Kings  xv.  17-23.  —  In  the  thirty-sixth 
year  of  the  reign  of  Asa.  As,  according  to  1 
Kings  xvi.  8,  10,  Baasha  died  in  the  twenty- 
si  xth  year  of  Asa's  reign,  and  his  successor  Elah 
was  killed  before  two  years  more  had  elapsed,  and 
therefore  in  the  twenty-seventh  or  twenty-eighth 
year  of  this  king,  the  misplacing  of  the  war  be- 
tween Asa  and  Baasha  in  the  thirty-sixth  year  of 
the  latter  involves  an  error,  and  a  very  old  one, 
already  noted  by  the  Sept.,  and  provided  with  an 
attempt  at  emendation  (see  Crit.  Note).     A  mis- 


take of  the  pen,  that,  as  ch.  xv.  19  shows, 
existed  perhaps  in  the  sources  of  the  Chronist,  is 
probably  the  ground  of  this  error  ;  and  30  ap- 
pears to  have  been  miswritten  for  16  (and  in 
accordance  with  this,  in  ch.  xv.  19,  35  for  15). 

From  the  similarity  of  the  numeral  p  (30)  to  ' 
(10)  in  the  old  Hebrew  character,  this  change  was 
very  possible  ;  and  the  circumstance  that  Asa's 
reform  of  worship,  ch.  xv.  10,  took  place  in  the 
third  month  of  his  fifteenth  year,  agrees  on  the 
whole  very  well  with  this  determination  of  time  ; 
there  results  an  interval  of  a  year  or  a  year  and  a 
half  between  the  reform  anil  the  new  war.  The 
solution  preferred  by  most  of  the  old  exp  isitors, 
that  the  thirty-sixth  year  of  the  kingdom  of  Asa, 
that  is,  the  thirty-sixth  year  from  the  founding 
of  the  kingdom  of  Judah  by  Rehoboam,  which 
coincides  with  the  sixteenth  year  of  the  reign  of 
Asa,  is  meant  (des  Vignoles,  Ramb. ,  Starke, 
Mich.,  and  Hengstenberg,  Oesch.  des  Belches 
Gottes,  iii.  169),  is  not  consistent  with  the  word 

m3PDPi  which  in  this  connection  always  signifies 

' '  reign,  sovereignty  "  The  attempts  made  by 
Movers  (Chron.  p.  255  ff. )  and  Thenius  (on 
1  Kings  xv.)  to  explain  this  surprising  mistake 
are  too  artificial,  and  arbitrary  (see,  on  the  contrary 
side,  Berth,  p.  325).  On  the  following  particulars, 
coinciding  almost  word  for  word  with  1  Kings 
xv.  17  if,  comp.  Bahr's  exposition. — Ver.  2. 
And  sent  to  Benhadad.  Instead  of  the  form 
"niV|3,  presented  here  and  generally  in  the  Old 

Testament,  the  Assyrian  monuments  constantly 
exhibit  this  name  in  the  form  Binhidri  (Sehrader, 
Die  Keilinschriften,  p.  101  f.),  thus  agreeing  with 
the  ulis  ri>u  "Altf  of  the  Sept.  (  =  ~nrr|3). — Ver. 

4.  And  they  smote  Abel-maim  =  Abel-beth- 
maachah  of  the  parallel  text  in  1  Kings,  as  is 
clear  from  2  Sam.  xx.  14  — And  all  the  stores  of 
the  cities  of  Naphtali.  For  this  1  Kings  has: 
"And  all  Cinneroth,  with  all  the  land  of  Naph- 
tali." That  the  one  of  the  two  readings  has 
arisen  from  the  other  by  misunderstanding  or 
miswriting   s-euis   certain  ;    perhaps   the    J"li"l33 

in    1   Kings   is  corrupted  from  fliOSDD  (Gesen.- 

Diebrich  im  Lex.),   though  our  ]"|i;3DO~?3  DX1 

'j  ,-)y  might  possibly  also   be  an  explanation  of 

the    'j  pX  by  JTh33-i>3  riNl,     I     Kings     xv., 

whereby  the  Chronist  might  have  characterized 
the  high  fertility  of  the  district  of  Cinneroth 
(or  Cinnereth,  Josh.  xix.  35)  by  the  symbolic 
expression:  "  stores  (corn-magazines)  of  the  cities 
of  Naphtali  "  (so  Ceil). — Ver.  ."».  A  ml  let  his  work 
cease.      Instead  of  this,    1    Kings  xv.   21  :   "  and 

dwelt   in  Tirzah."     In  our   toxfe'riS  n2t,"'sl, 

scarcely  anything  else  is  tc  be  seen  but  an  attempt 
at  interpretation,  where  the  words  nVTHS  3t;'sl 

had  Income  illegible  (Berth.,  Kamph. )  ;  for  after 
the  words:  "he  left  off  building  of  Ramah,"  a 
second  repetition  of  the  thought,  that  Baasha  gave 
up  his  undertaking  against  Judah,  was  obviously 
superfluous  (against  Keil). — Ver.  6.  And  built 
therewith  Geba  and  Mizpah,  the  former  (GeDn  ot 
Benjamin  in  1   Kings)  half  an   hour  north-oast. 


CHAP.  XVI.  7-14. 


2f.! 


the  latti.T  an  hour  south-west,  of  Jerusalem.  The 
historical  character  of  this  notice  is  confirmed  by 
Ji  -.  xli.  9,  where  a  pit  made  by  Asa  in  Mizpah  is 
mentioned. 

6.  Hanani's  Prophetic  Warning  :  Asa's  Trans- 
gression and  End:  vers.  7-14. — And  at  that  time 
ta'ne  Hanani.     This  prophet  (<J3n)  is  otherwise 

unknown,  though  lie  appears  to  be  identical  with 
the  lather  of  the  prophet  Jehu  ben  Hanani,  who 
about  this  time  announced  to  Baashathe  downfall 
of  his  house  (1  Kings  xvi.  1);  comp.  xix.  2.  That 
this  Hanani  was  the  author  of  the  prophetic  si  n- 
tenee   d'DC')   quoted  by  Hos.  vii.   12,  whereby 

Israel  is  warned  against  a  league  with  foreign 
powers,  or  more  definitely,  that  the  present  oracle 
of  Hanani,  without  naming  its  author,  is  quoted 
in  this  passage  of  Hosea,  is  the  quite  untenable 
conjecture  of  some  moderns,  for  example,  Filrst 
(Gesch.  der  bibl.  Lit.  ii.  206,  293). — Therefori 
is  the  host  of  the  king  of  Syria  escaped  from  thy 
hand,  the  occasion  has  escaped  thee  of  smiting 
both  at  once,  Baasha  of  Israel  and  his  presump- 
tive ally  the  Syrian  king.  Comp.  the  rebuke  by 
Elisba  of  Joash  of  Israel,  for  smiting  only  three 
times  with  the  arrows  instead  of  live  or  six  times 
(2  Kings  xiii.  15  If.). — Ver.  S.  Confirmatory  refer- 
ence to  the  victory  of  Asa  over  Zerab  (xiv.  8  ft". ). 
For  the  Lubites,  comp.  on  xii.  3  f. — Ver.  9.  For 
the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  etc.,  literally,  for  Jehovah, 
His  eyes.  On  "to  prove  himself  strong  for  any 
one,"  that  is,  help  him  mightily,  comp.  1  Chron. 
xi.  10.     On  "running"  about,  3  DOi;.",  comp. 

Jer.  v.  1 ;  Zech.  iv.  10.  Before  v^N  D^C'  D32^"aV 
the  relative  ~i[;;S4  's  omitted ;  comp.  1  Chron.  xv. 

12. — For  henceforth  thou  shall  hare  wars,  en- 
tanglements in  unhappy  worldly  transactions, 
in  the  dangerous  mazes  of  the  policy  of  the  great 
powers ;  a  prediction  of  misfortune  that  was 
abundantly  fulfilled,  if  not  in  Asa  himself,  yit 
in  his  successors  until  the  exile.- — Ver.  10.  Put 
him  in  tin'  prison,  properly,  "house  of  the  stocks"; 
rDE!T3,  "turning  round,"  is  the  well-known  in- 
strument of  torture  for  locking  round  the  culprit, 
in  which  Jeremiah  also  and  Paul  were  forced  to 
languish  (Jer.  xx.  2.  xxix.  26;  Acts  xvi.  21). 
Comp     he  equivalent  TO.  Job  xiii.  27,  xxxiii.  11. 

— And  As,,  rpprestedsomeqftht  peopleatthat  time, 
from  anger  at  the-  deserved  censure  of  the  prophet 
(on  the  suitableness  and  importance  of  this  ad- 
dress, see  the  Evangelical  and  Ethical  Reflections). 
J»V~I,  properly,  "shatter,"  in  Pi.:  "oppress,  mis- 
use," as  Job  xx.  19. — Vers.  11-14.  Asa's  End. 
On  ver.  11,  comp.  Introd.  §  5,  II. — Ver.  12.  And 
Asa.  .  .  was  diseased  in  his  feet,  probably  with 
gout;  the  following  also:  "bis  disease  was  very 
great"  (literally,   till  it  reached  a  great  height, 

TVVw  iy).   points   to   severe   suffering   of  this 

kind.—  And  '.n  his  disease  also  he  sought  not  the 
Lord,  but  to  the  physician*,     •j-n,  first  with  the 

accusative  of  the  object  iTiiWlX,  as  is  usual  else- 
where,  then   with    3.   by   which   preposition   is 

elsewhere  designated,  inquiring  or  seeking  help 
from  <!od  or  from  idols  (1  Chron.  x.  14;  1  Sam. 
ixviii.  7;  2  Kings  i.  2  ft".);  thus  here  expressing 


a  superstitious  trust  in  the  physicians,  and  ac- 
cordingly not  opposed  to  the  right  of  making  use 
of  medical  aid,  especially  in  cases  of  sickness  ;  sc 
far  from  this,  that  inversely  the  not  seeking  of 
the  Lord  may  be  regarded  as  a  not  seeking  of  his 
priests  wdio  were  in  Israel,  analogous  to  the 
Egyptian  priests,  the  legitimate  physicians  (as 
is  done  by  K.  Ad.  Menzel  in  his  posthumous 
work,  Religion  vrnd  Stadtsidee,  1872,  p.  29). — 
Ver.  14.  Asa's  solemn  burial  is  related  by  the 
Chronist  with  surprising  detail,  probably  oil 
account  of  the  heathenish  pomp  and  luxury 
which  it  displayed,  reminding  us  of  the  manner 
of  the  Egyptian  Pharaohs.  —  Ami  they  buried 
him  in  his  own  tomb,  literally,  "in  his  own 
sepulchres;"  comp.  2  Kings  xxii.  20;  Job  xxi.  32. 
This  preparation  of  a  burial-place  or  mausoleum, 
different  from  the  common  tombs  of  the  kings, 
reminds  us  of  the  customs  of  the  Egyptian  kings, 
or  at  all  events  (comp.  our  Remark  on  Job  iii. 
14)  indicates  a  haughty  inclination  to  self-apothe- 
osis incompatible  witli  a  genuine  theocratic  dis 
position  ;  comp.  Isa.  xxii.  16  ft". — Laid  him  in  the 
bed  which  was  filed  with  sweet  odours  of  divers 
kinds.     On  rj^j,  "kinds,"  comp.   l's.  cxliv.  13, 

Dan.  iii.  5;  the  term  may  well  serve  to  describe 
inoie    precisely  the    foregoing  D'CE'B,   "spices" 

(Song  iv.  10  ff. ). — Compounded  by  art,  properly, 
"compounded  by  compounding  of  work,"  by  the 
work  of  the  artificer  ;  comp.  Ex.  xxx.  25,  35, 
and  1  Chron.  ix.  30.  ni"J,'D  is  i"  this  connec- 
tion npiT  ilb'lJO;   the  assumption  that  the  latter 

word  is  omitted  is  unnecessary. — And  they  made 
a  very  great  burning  for  him,  namely,  of  the 
sweet-smelling  substances  of  the  kind  mentioned. 
Such  burnings  of  incense  were  always  made  at  the 
burial  of  the  kings  of  Judab,  as  appears  from 
Jer.  xxxiv.  5  But  what  the  Chronist  notices  as 
culpable  is  the  exaggerated  splendour  and  lavish 
excess  with  which  the  custom  was  observed  in 
the  burial  of  Asa,  as  if  it  were  the  burial  of  a 
Pharaoh  of  Egypt  (comp.  Wilkinson,  Manners 
and  Customs,  etc.,  ii.  385  f.  ;  Uhlemann,  Egypt. 
Alterthumsk.  ii  325)-  Against  the  assumption 
of  some,  as  Michaelis  (De  combustione  et  huma- 
tione  mortuorum  a  pud  Hebraos,  in  his  Syntagma 
dissertatt.  i.  225  sqq. ),  that  the  body  of  the  king 
was  burned  among  the  spices,  see  Geier,  De  luctu 
Hebraior.  c.  vi.,  who  rightly  maintains  that  such 
cases  as  the  burning  of  Saul  and  his  sons  were 
exceptions  to  the  general  custom  of  Hebrew 
antiquity. 

EVANGELICAL  AND  ETHICAL  REFLECTIONS  AND 
APOLOGETIC  REMARKS  ON  CH.  XIII. -XVI. 

1.  To  much  that  is  original,  and  in  a  tneo- 
logical  sense  important,  in  the  comparatively  full 
account  given  by  our  author  of  the  reigns  ol 
Abijah  and  Asa,  belong  especially  the  three 
speeches  which  it  contains,  of  which  the  old 
parallel  text  presents  neither  a  brief  resume'  noj 
even  a  passing  trace.  All  three  are  in  a  high 
degree  characteristic,  and  point  to  a  primitive 
tradition,  true  in  all  essentials  to  word  and  deed 
as  their  source.  The  address  of  Abijah  to  the 
Kphraimites  from  Mount  Zemaraim  is  strictly  an 
oratio  pro  domo,  a  defence  of  a  royal  representa- 
tive of  the  house  of  David  maintaining  the  good 
cause   of   his    theocratic    inheritance.      With    in 


20G 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


little  skill,  and  with  much  diplomatic  art  as  well 
as  downright  popular  rhetoric,  all  is  put  forward 
that  can  be  said  for  the  legitimate  kingdom  and 
worship,  and  agaii.st  the  usurpation  of  Jeroboam. 
There  is  reference,  on  the  one  hand,  to  the  un- 
ehangeableness  of  the  covenant  with  Jehovah 
(xiii.  5),  to  the  divine  origin  of  the  Davidic 
dynasty  (as  "a  kingdom  of  the  Lord  in  the  hand 
of  the  sons  of  David,"  ver.  8),  to  the  beauty  and 
established  order  of  the  service  of  God  in  the 
central  sanctuary  at  Jerusalem,  and  to  the  heredi- 
tary legal  chartered  dignity  of  the  theocratic 
priesthood  (vers.  10-12);  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
to  the  unworthy  aims  of  the  revolution  party  led 
by  Jeroboam  (the  men  of  Belial  who  took  advan- 
tage of  the  tender  youth,  inexperience,  and  weak- 
ness of  Eehoboam,  ver.  7),  to  the  folly  of  the 
worship  of  the  golden  calves,  the  illegal  and 
heathenish  character  of  its  priesthood,  the  hope- 
lessness of  a  contest  with  Jehovah,  the  God  of 
their  fathers  (vers.  8,  9,  12),  in  the  tone  now  of  tine 
irony,  now  of  bitter  scorn,  and  now  of  threaten- 
ing earnest.  The  whole,  inclusive  of  the  partisan, 
one-sided,  and  somewhat  distorted  reference  to 
the  procedure  in  the  separation  of  the  kingdom 
(ver.  7),  appears  a  masterpiece  of  political  elo- 
quence, the  present  form  of  which  (taken,  no  doubt, 
from  the  Midrasch  of  the  prophet  Iddo  quoted  in 
ver.  22)  may  be  ideally  conceived ;  but  the  chief 
context  and  process  of  thought  can  scarcely  be  a 
pure  invention.  No  less  original  and  character- 
istic are  the  two  prophetic  speeches  inserted  in 
the  history  of  Asa's  reign.  The  speech  of  Azariah 
son  of  Oded  (eh.  xv.  2-7)  unfolds  at  the  moment 
a  gloom}'  picture  of  the  future  godlessness  of  the 
people  forsaking  their  God  more  and  more,  and  of 
the  troubles  and  judgments  arising  from  their  un- 
faithfulness, where  the  tone  of  jubilant  gladness 
for  the  great  victory  secured,  and  the  announce- 
ment of  optimistic  expectations,  would  have 
seemed  most  natural.  Instead  of  a  panegyristie 
flatterer  courting  princely  favour,  a  deeply-earnest 
prophet  of  woe  greets  the  king  returning  in 
triumph,  who  has  certainly  words  of  acknow- 
ledgment for  that  which  has  been  performed  by 
the  conquerors,  but  clothes  his  praise  in  the 
form  of  an  exhibition  of  necessary  connection 
between  devotion  to  God  and  the  gracious  reward 
of  sucl  devotion,  and  dwells  with  visible  pre- 
dilectirui  on  the  times  of  apostasy,  with  its  tragic 
consequences,  that  were  coming  notwithstanding 
all  the  admonitions  of  the  prophets.  The  speech 
appears  badly  enough  to  suit  the  festive  moment 
that  forms  its  occasion  ;  but  it  testifies  to  the 
unusually  deep  glance  into  the  inmost  heart  of 
the  people  which  the  speaker  filled  with  the 
terrible  earnest  of  the  coming  destiny  has  long 
taken.  And  as  such  testimony,  it  fails  not  also  of 
its  effect,  but  rather  proves,  as  the  consequent 
energy  of  the  king  in  purifying  the  form  of 
worship  shows,  a  true  comfort  and  strengthening 
for  good  (vit,ixX>i<ns,  confortalio ;  comp.  p^nnn. 

Sept.  *aTiV^t.(r[»,  ver.  8),  an  impulse  at  least 
effectual  fur  a  time  to  return  to  the  path  of 
theocratic  truth  and  righteousness,  a  model 
t'Hos.  iii.  4  f.,  ix.  3,  4,  where  there  seems  to 
be  an  allusion  to  it)  and  primitive  form  held  in 
esteem  by  later  prophets  of  genuine  prediction, 
the  fundamental  thought  of  which,  as  it  recurs 
(mutatis  mulandia)in  the  woe-foreboding  addresses 
of  an  Isaiah  to  Hezekiah  (Isa.  xxxix. ;  2  Kings 


xx.),  and  a  Huldah  to  Josiah  '2  C'hron.  xxxiv 
22  if.),  stands  forth  not  essentially  dilferent  in 
the  pictures  of  the  future  presented  in  the  New 
Testament  (Matt.  xxiv.  5  ff.;  2  Thess.  ii.  3  if.; 
1  John  ii.  18  If.;  Luke  xviii.  8,  etc.).  In  severe 
rebuke  of  a  temporary  departure  of  the  king  from 
the  path  of  theological  strictness  and  conscien- 
tiousness marked  out  for  him  by  the  prophetic 
word  of  Azariah,  proceeds  the  second  of  the  two 
prophetic  speakers,  Hanani  (ch.  xvi.  7-9).  With 
a  sharp  lecture  he  treats  the  king,  looking  fer 
nothing  but  praise  for  his  victory  over  Baasha. 
That  he  made  not  Jehovah  but  the  Syrian 
heathens  his  stay,  he  pronounces  not  only  im- 
prudent but  directly  "foolish"  (ver.  9).  Hi; 
sagacity,  not  unexercised  in  political  matters, 
lets  him  know  immediately,  under  the  influence 
of  the  illuminating  Spirit  of  God,  that  the  calling 
in  the  help  of  the  Syrian  power  must  draw  to  it 
the  dependence,  not  merely  of  the  conquered 
Israelites,  but  also  of  the  Jews.  Wherefore  he 
not  only  blames  the  misled  prince's  weakness  of 
faith  and  fear  of  man,  and  emphatically  lays 
before  him,  that  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  are  only 
strong   for    those   who   serve    Him   with    entire 

devotion,   but   hurls   upon   him   a   hard  R73D3. 

stulte  egisti  (unduly  softened  by  the  Sept.  into  a 
weak  r.yvonxas  ia*J  rovTtv).  He  suffers  for  this 
boldness  the  same  punishment  which  Jeremiah 
brought  upon  himself,  when  he,  a  no  less  zealous 
preacher  of  the  truth  that  man  should  not  make 
flesh  his  arm  than  Hanani,  had  spoken  hard 
words  against  the  obstinacy  and  folly  of  his  con- 
temporaries (Jer.  xx.  2;  comp.  ch.  xvii.  5,  xix. 
15). — Here  again  is  nothing  that  is  not  in  the 
highest  degree  original  ami  powerful,  breathing 
the  stern  prophetic  spirit  of  Samuel  and  Nathan. 
Both  speeches  may  show  in  their  present  form  the 
elaborating  hand  of  the  (Ihronist,  but  in  matter 
they  appear  with  incontestable  evidence  as  docu- 
ments taken  from  the  prophetic  historical  sources 
of  the  writer,  of  a  time  bordering  upon  and 
cognate  with  the  spirit  of  Elijah  and  Elisha. 

2.  In  a  religious  and  moral  respect,  the  two 
kings  described  in  our  section  appear  again  some- 
what better  than  Kchoboam,  who  trod  in  the 
paths  of  the  degenerate  Solomon.  In  particular, 
Asa  receives  due  praise  for  his  theocratic  zeal,  as 
he  busied  himself  as  a  reformer  of  the  worship  of 
God,  that  had  been  in  several  ways  disfigured 
by  superstition.  The  Deuteronomic  law,  which 
threatens  every  partaker  in  such  idolatry  with 
death,  he  not  only  binds  upon  the  people  by  i.. 
oath  (xv.  13  f. ),  but  puts  in  practice  the  judicial 
rigour  of  this  statute  even  against  his  own  mother 
(grandmother),  as  he  removes  her  from  her  dignity 
:is  queen-mother  on  account  of  her  worship  of 
Astarte,  and  so  makes  judgment  begin  at  the 
royal  house  itself  (ver.  16).  Inasmuch  as  he 
certainly  does  not  set  aside  (ver.  17)  the  worship 
on  the  high  places,  he  does  not  rise  to  the  height 
of  theocratic  rigour  and  purity  which  was  at- 
tained in  the  subsequent  reforms  of  Hezekiah  and 
Josiah.  The  later  time  and  the  end  of  his  reign 
also  were  tarnished  by  bursts  of  passion  and  acts  of 
violence  towards  pious  men  of  God,  as  the  prophet 
Hanani  ;  and  a  severe  and  painful  disease  is  not 
able  to  bring  him  back  to  the  early  well-known 
simplicity  of  his  devotion  to  Jehovah  (ch.  xvi.  12; 
comp.  xv.  17).  He  seeks  not  the  Lord,  but  be- 
takes  himself   to   the   physicians  ;    the    impure 


chap,  xvn.-xx. 


•iu; 


juggling  method,  mingled  no  doubt  with  super- 
stition mid  idolatry,  pursued  by  the  mediuine 
men  or  goetse  of  his  time,  gave  him  more  conn- 
deuce  than  the  helping  hand  of  the  God  of  truth, 
with  whose  witnesses  he  had  also  quarrelled.  So 
it  fared  otherwise  with  him  than  with  the  pious 
Hezekiah,  who  without  medical  aid,  by  the  mira- 
culous help  of  God  obtained  through  the  prophet, 
was  delivered  from  a  dangerous  sickness,  anil  had 
fifteen  years  added  to  his  life  (2  Kings  xx  ; 
2  (Jhron.  xxxii.  '24).  The  word  of  the  wise 
Siraeh  was  verified  in  him:  "He  that  sinneth 
before  his  Maker  shall  fall  into  the  hand  of  the 
physician"  (.Sir.  xxxviii.  15).  Like  the  woman 
having  the  issue  of  blood,  he  must  become  tsXXx 

TaJajv  i/To  xoXXwv  larpuv,   Mark  V.    26.       Ill    Setting 

forth  the  impotence  of  these  human  helpers  ex- 
clusively sought  by  him  (romp.  Sir.  x.  11:  p««»o» 
txppurTnpa  K»T7ii  ,'arpov1),  there  is  no  absolute 
condemnation  of  medical  art  or  science,  but 
merely  a  gentle  hint  of  the  state  of  his  heart, 
enslaved  to  worldly  and  idolatrous  lusts,  God- 
estranged  and  unbelieving,  on  account  of  which 
might  justly  be  addressed  to  him  the  question  of 
the  prophet  Jeremiah:  "  Is  there  no  balm  in 
Gilead  ?  Is  there  no  physician  there?  Why, 
then,  is  not  the  health  of  the  daughter  of  my 
people  recovered  ?  "  Jer.  viii.  22  ;  or  also  that 
question  of  Elijah:  "Is  it  not  because  there  is 
not  a  God  in  Israel  that  ye  go  to  inquire  of 
Baalzebub  the  god  of  Ekron  ? "  2  Kings  i.  3. 
Comp.  also,  with  respect  to  Asa's  religious  and 
moral  character,  the  weighty  remark  of  Bengel 
(Beitrdije  mm  Schriftverstiindniss,  p.  17  f.)  : 
"  Asa  was  righteous  (xv.  17),  and  yet  he  behaved 
so  badly  at  the  last  (xvi.  10,  12).  How  can  this 
be?  Answer. —  He  has  not  turned  to  idols  all  his 
life  long  ;  he  has  constantly  held  the  Lord  to  be 
the  right,  true,  and  only  God.  But  it  was,  as  it 
were,  an  athehmm  practicus,  that  he  withdrew 
his  confidence  from  Him.  He  thought,  Shall  I 
have  been  pious  so  long,  and  yet  now  receive  a 
reprimand  '!  If  he  had  only  received  it  like 
David  :  I  have  sinned,  etc.,  all  would  have  been 
right,  etc." 

3.  In  an  apologetic  respect,  we  have  to  observe, 
in  conjunction  with  the  remarks  made  under 
No.  1,  that  weighty  credentials  of  an  internal 
kind  support  the  two  great  wars  as  the  Chronist 
relates  them  here,  in  completion  of  the  very  im- 
perfect account  in  the  books  of  Kings  of  these 
episodes  in  the  history  of  the  reigns  of  Abijah 
and  Asa.  That  Abijah's  conflict  with  Jeroboam, 
after  the  total  dissolution  of  the  army  of  the  latter, 
lid  to  the  annexation  of  the  three  towns  Bethel, 
Jeshanah,  and  Ephron  to  the  southern  kingdom 
(eh.  xiii.  19),  is  a  notice  so  definite  and  concrete, 
that  no  scepticism  of  de  Wette  and  Gramberg, 

1  'Itfrpo*.  ue  believe,  in  the  notorious  corruption  of  the 
n-xt  (sec  Fnizsche's  Lil>b.  aporr.  V.  T.  p.  409).  with  Hitzijt 
(Der  Proph.  IMtmei,  p.  142),  should  be  lead  here  Instead  uf 
ictrpif. 


with  its  assertion  of  tho  feigned  character  of  the 
narrative  in  question,  ran  lie  accepted,  as,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  attempt  of  Ewald,  while  admitting 
a  kernel  of  historical  fact,  to  stamp  at  least  the 
speech  of  Abijah  on  Mount  Zemaraim  as  a  free 
composition  of  the  I'lirunist,  is  wrecked  on  the 
highly  original  contents  of  this  speech  (see  No.  1, 
and  comp.  Keil,  Commenlar,  p.  264  f.,  Remarks) 
Tie  passage  1  Kings  xv.  15  also,  where  tht 
things  dedicated  by  Abijah  are  mentioned,  which 
his  son  Asa  afterwards  brought  into  the  house  of 
the  Lord  along  with  his  own  dedicated  gifts, 
affords  an  indirect  proof  that  both  ruins  had 
gained  great  victories  and  taken  much  spoil  from 
their  foes  (comp.  2  Chron.  xiv.  12  f.),  by  which 
must  be  meant  the  victory  of  the  former  over 
Jeroboam,  and  that  of  the  latter  over  Zerah  (comp. 
Thenius  on  this  passage,  and  Berth,  mi  Chron.  p. 
324).  The  credibility  of  the  account  of  this  lust 
great  battle  derives  support  also  from  what  is 
related  at  its  close  of  the  conquest  and  spoliation 
of  the  cities  around  Gerar,  and  the  rattle  tents  of 
the  nomad  tribes  dwelling  south  of  Palestine,  a 
detail,  again,  that  gives  the  lie  altogether  to  the 
suspicion  of  pure  fiction. — Only  the  very  high 
numbers  in  the  account  of  the  slaughter  should 
be  regarded  as  falling  beyond  the  range  of  the 
historically  exact.  They  "are  perhaps  not  to  be 
understood  according  to  the  nominal  value  of  the 
numbers  given,  but  only  an  expression  conceived 
in  figures  of  the  contemporaries  of  these  wars, 
which  imports  that  the  two  kings  (first  Abijah 
and  Jeroboam,  then  Asa  and  Zerah)  had  sum- 
moned to  the  field  the  whole  military  strength  of 
their  kingdoms  "  (Keil,  p.  265).  In  the  war  of 
Abijah  with  Jeroboam,  this  is  favoured  by  the  ap- 
proximative accordance  of  the  numbers  800,000 
and  400,000  with  results  of  the  census  by  David, 
as  well  as  the  round  ideal  sum  of  500,000  as  the 
number  of  those  who  fell  on  the  side  of  Israel,  a 
number  that  perhaps  only  indicates  that  Jeroboam 
had  lost  more  than  half  his  force.  In  the  war  with 
the  Ethiopian  king,  the  corresponding  assumption 
is  favoured  by  the  round  number  1,000,000,  as 
well  as  by  the  circumstance  that  exact  accounts, 
resting  on  actual  numbering,  and  not  on  a  mere 
estimate,  of  the  strength  of  the  enemy,  were  not 
at  the  command  of  the  observers  and  reporters  on 
the  Jewish  side  (comp.  above  on  the  passages  in 
question).  The  necessity  of  a  merely  ideal  and 
approximate  conception  of  these  numbers  is 
evident,  if  we  compare  the  statements,  resting 
on  actual  numbering,  of  the  strength  of  the  men- 
at-arms  in  the  several  tribes  in  the  genealogical 
summaries  (1  Chron.  v.-vii. ).  The  smallest  of 
the  numbers  there  named  (for  example,  44,760, 
87,000,  22,034,  20,200,  17,200,  26,000)  are  round. 
It  is  the  same  with  the  numbers  referring  to  the 
warriors  from  1  he  several  tribes  at  the  elevation 
of  David  to  the  throne  in  1  Chron.  xii. ;  comp. 
the  remarks  on  this  in  p.  120  f. 


d.  Jehoshaphat:  the  Prophets  Michah  Soy  of  Imlah  and  Jehu  Sox  of  Hanani.  — 

Ch.  xvii. -xx. 

cc.  Jehoshaphat's  Measures  fur  the  External  and  Interna!  Defence  of  his  Kingdom: 

ch.  xvii.  1-9. 

Ch.  xvn.  1.  And  Jehoshaphat  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead,  and  strengthened  himself 

2  against  Israel.     And  he  placed  forces  in  all  the  fenced  cities  of  Judah,  and 

placed  garrisons  in  the  land  of  Judah,  and  in  the  cities  of  Ephraim,  which 


208  II.  CHRONICLES. 


3  Asa  his  father  had  taken.     And  the  Lokd  was  with  Jehoshaphat ;  for  he 

walked  in  the  former  ways  of  his  father  David,  and  sought  not  unto  Baalim. 

4  But  sought  to  the  Lord  God  of  his  father,  and  walked  in  His  commandments, 
6  and  not  after  the  doing  of  Israel.     And  the  Lord  stablished  the  kingdom  in 

his  hand  ;  and  all  Judah  brought  presents  to  Jehoshaphat ;  and  he  had  riches 

6  and  honour  in  abundance.  And  his  heart  was  lifted  up  in  the  ways  of  the 
Lord  ;  and,  moreover,  he  took  away  the  high  places  and  Asherim  out  of 

7  Judah.  Ami  in  the  third  year  of  his  reign  he  sent  his  princes,  Benhail,1  and 
Obadiah,  and  Zechariah,  and  Nethaneel,  and  Michaiah,  to  teach  in  the  cities 

8  of  Judah.  And  with  them  the  Levites,  Shemaiah,  and  Nethaniah,  ami 
Zebadiah,  and  Asahel,  and  Shemiramoth,2  and  Jehonathan,  and  Adonijah, 
and   Tobijah,   and    Tob-ndonijah,   Levites  ;    and   with   them  Elishama   and 

9  Jehoram,  priests.  And  they  taught  in  Judah,  and  had  with  them  the  book 
of  the  law  of  the  Lord,  and  went  round  all  the  cities  of  Judah,  and  taught 
among  the  people. 

/&   The  Effects  of  these  ^feasnres:  JehoshaphaCa  increasing  Power:  vers.  10-19. 

10  And  the  fear  of  the  Lord  fell  upon  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  lands  that 

11  were  around  Judah,  and  they  warred  not  with  Jehoshaphat.  And  some  of 
the  Philistines  brought  Jehoshaphat  presents,  and  silver  in  abundance  ;  the 
Arabs  also  brought  him  flocks,  seven  thousand  and  seven  hundred  rams,  and 

12  seven  thousand  and  seven  hundred  he-goats.  And  Jehoshaphat  became  ever 
greater  to  the  highest  degree  ;  and  he  built  in  Judah  castles  and  cities  with 

13  stores.     And  he  had  much  store  in  the  cities  of  Judah  :  and  men  of  war, 

14  mighty  men  of  valour,  in  Jerusalem.  And  this  was  the  muster  of  tht-m  after 
their  fatherdiouses  :  of  Judah,  the  captains  of  thousands  :  Adnah  the  chief, 

15  and  with  him  mighty  men  of  valour  three  hundred  thousand.  And  at  his 
hand  Jehohanan  the  chief,  and  with  him  two  hundred  and  eighty  thousand. 

16  And  at  his  hand  Amasiah  son  of  Zichri.  who  willingly  offered  himself  unto 

17  the  Lord  ;  and  with  him  two  hundred  thousand  mighty  men  of  valour.  And 
of  Benjamin  :  Eliada,  a  mighty  man  of  valour,  and  with  him,  armed  with  bow 

18  and  shield,  two  hundred  thousand.     And  at  his  hand  Jehozabad,  and  with 

19  him  a  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  equipped  for  the  war.  These  were  they 
who  ministered  to  the  king,  besides  those  whom  the  king  had  placed  in  the 
fenced  cities  in  all  Judah. 

y.  Jehoshaphat' s  Affinity  with  Ahab,  and  the  War  against  Rumoth-gilead :  ch.  xviii. 

Ch    xviii.   1.  And  Jehoshaphat  had  riches  and  honour  in  abundance,  and  joined 

2  affinity  with  Ahab.  And  in  the  course  of  years  he  went  down  to  Ahab 
to  Samaria :  and  Ahab  killed  for  him,  and  the  people  that  were  with  him, 
sheep  and  oxen  in  abundance;  and  he  persuaded  him  to  go  up  with  him  to 

3  Ramoth-gilead.  And  Ahab  king  of  Israel  said  unto  Jehoshaphat  king  of 
Judah,  Wilt  thou  go  with  me  to  Ramoth-gilead?  And  he  said  to  him,  I 
am  as  thou,  and  my  people  as  thy  people  ;  and  we  will  be  with  thee  in  the 

■I  war.     And  Jehoshaphat  said  unto  the  king  of  Israel,  Ask  now  this  day  the 

5  word  of  the  Lord.  And  the  king  of  Israel  gathered  the  prophets,  four 
hundred  men,  and  said  unto  them,  Shall  we  go  to  Bamoth-gilead  to  battle,  or 
shall  I  forbear?     And  they  said,  Go  up;  and  God  will  give  it  into  the  hand 

T>  of  the  king.     And  Jehoshaphat  said,  Is  there  not  here  a  prophet  of  the  Lord 

7  besides,  that  we  may  ask  of  him?  And  the  king  of  Israel  said  unto 
Jehoshaphat,  There  is  yet  one  man,  by  whom  we  may  inquire  of  the  Lord  : 
but  I  hate  him,  because  he  never  prophesied  good  to  me,  but  always  evil  : 
that  is  Michal  son  of  Imlah  :  and  Jehoshaphat  said,  Let  not  the  king 
say  so. 

8  And  the  king  of  Israel  called  a  chamberlain,  and  said,  Fetch  quickly 

9  Michah3  son  of  Imlah.  And  the  king  of  Israel,  and  Jehoshaphat  king  of 
Judah,  sat  each  on  his  throne,  clothed  in  robes,  and  they  sat  in  a  floor  at  the 


CHAP    XVH.-XX.  20S- 


entrance  of  the  gate  of  Samaria  ;  and  all  the  prophets  prophesied  before  them. 

10  And   Zedekiah  son  of  Cheiiaanah   made  him  iron  horns,  anil   said.  Thug  saitli 

11  the  Lord,  With  these  thou  shalt  push  Syria,  until  they  are  consumed.  And 
all  the  prophets  prophesied  so,  and  said,  Go  up  to  Ramoth-gilead,  and  prosper ; 
and  the  Lord  shall  deliver  it  into  the  hand  of  the  king. 

12  And  the  messenger  that  went  to  call  Michah  spake  to  him,  saying,  Behold, 
the  words  of  the  prophets  are  with  one  mouth  good  for  the  king:   let  now  thy 

13  word  then  be  as  one  of  them,  and  speak  thou  good.     And  Michah  said,  As 

14  the  Lord  liveth,  what  my  God  saitli,  that  will  I  speak.  And  he  came  to  the 
king  ;  and  the  king  said  unto  him,  Michah,  Shall  we  go  to  Ramoth-gilead  to 
battle,  or  shall  I  forbear  >     And  he  said,  Go  ye  up,  and  prosper,  and  they 

15  shall  be  delivered  into  your  hand.  And  the  king  said  to  him,  How  many 
times  shall  1  adjure  thee,  that  thou  speak  nothing  to  me  but  truth  in  the 

16  name  of  the  Lord?  And  he  said,  I  saw  all  Israel  scattered  upon  the  moun 
tains,  as  sheep  that  have  no  shepherd  :  and  the  Lord  said,  These  have  no 

17  master  :  let  them  return  every  man  to  his  house  in  peace.  And  the  king  of 
Israel  said  to  Jehoshaphat,  Did  1  not  tell  thee  that  he  would  not  prophesy 
good  to  me,  but  evil  ? 

IS  And  he  said,  Therefore  hear  ye  the  word  of  the  Lord  ;  I  saw  the  Lord 
sitting  upon  His  throne,  and  all  the  host  of  heaven  standing  on  His  right 

19  hand  and  on  His  left.  And  the  Lord  said,  Who  shall  entice  Ahab  king  of 
Israel,  that  he  may  go  up  and  fall  at  Ramoth -gilead  1     And  one  said4  this, 

20  and  another  said  that.    And  the  spirit  came  forth,  and  stood  before  the  Lord, 

21  and  said,  I  will  entice  him  :  and  the  Lord  said  unto  him,  Wherewith  ?  And 
he  said,  I  will  go  forth,  and  be  a  lying  spirit  in  the  mouth  of  all  his  prophets: 
and  He  said,  Thou  shalt  entice,  and  shaft  also  prevail :  go  forth,  and  do  so. 

22  And  now,  behold,  the  Lord  hath  put  a  lying  spirit  in  the  mouth  of  these  thy 

23  prophets,  and  the  Lord  hath  spoken  evil  against  thee.  And  Zedekiah  son  of 
Chenaanah  drew  near,  and  smote  Michah  on  the  cheek,  and  said,  Which  way 

24  went  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  from  me  to  speak  with  thee  1  And  Michah  said, 
Behold,  thou  shalt  see  on  that  da}'  when  thou  goest  from  chamber  to  chamber 

25  to  hide  thyself.     And  the  king  of  Israel  said.  Take  ye  Michah,  and  carry  him 

26  back  to  Anion  the  governor  of  the  city,  and  to  Joash  the  king's  son.  And  say 
ye,  Thus  saith  the  king,  Put  him  in  the  prison,  and  let  him  eat  bread  of  trouble, 

27  and  water  of  trouble,  until  I  return  in  peace.  And  Michah  said,  If  thou 
return  at  all  in  peace,  the  Lord  hath  not  spoken  by  me  :  and  he  said,  Hear, 
all  ye  people. 

28  And  the  king  of  Israel,   and  Jehoshaphat  king  of  Judah,  went  up  to 

29  Ramoth-gilead.  And  the  king  of  Israel  said  to  Jehoshaphat,  Disguised  I  will 
go  into  the  battle  ;  but  thou  put  on  thy  robes  :  and  the  king  of  Israel  dis- 

30  guised  himself,  and  they  went  into  the  battle.  And  the  king  of  Syria  had 
commanded  the  captains  of  his  chariots,  saying,  Fight  ye  not  with   small  or 

31  great,  but  only  with  the  king  of  Israel.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the 
captains  of  the  chariots  saw  Jehoshaphat,  that  they  said,  This  is  the  king  ot 
Israel  :  and  they  compassed  about  him  to  fight  ;  and   Jehoshaphat  cried  out, 

32  and  the  Lord  helped  him.  and  God  turned  them  away  from  him.  And  it 
came  to  pass,  when  the  captains  of  the  chariots  saw  that  it  was  not  the  king 

33  of  Israel,  that  they  turned  from  after  him.  And  a  man  drew  a  bow  in  his 
simplicity,  and  smote  the  king  of  Israel  between  the  joints  of  the  harness  : 
and  he  said  to  the  charioteer,  Turn  thy  hand,'1  and  carry  me  out  of  the  host ; 

34  for  I  am  wounded.  And  the  battle  went  up  in  that  day,  and  the  king  of 
Israel  was  standing  in  the  chariot  against  Syria  until  the  evening ;  and  he 
died  at  the  time  of  the  sun  setting. 

i.  Judgment  of  Jehu  the  Prophet  on  the  Covenant  of  Jehoshaphat  with  Ahab:  ch.  xix.  1-S. 

Ch.  XIX.  1.  And  Jehoshaphat  king  of  Judah  returned  home  in  peace  to  Jerusalem. 

2  And  Jehu  son  of  Hanani  the  seer  went  out  to  meot  him,  and  said  to  king 

Jehoshaphat,  Must  we  help  the  wicked,  and  shouldst  thou  love  them  that 

j 


tlO  II.  CHRONICLES. 


3  h.-/e  the  Lord  ?  and  for  this  is  wrath  upon  thee  from  the  Lord.  Yet  good 
things  are  found  with  thee  ;  for  thou  hast  destroyed  the  Asherim  out  of  the 
land,  and  thou  hast  directed  thy  heart  to  seek  God. 

j.  Jehoshaphat,s  further  Reforms  of  Worship  and  Low:  vers.  4—11. 

4  And  Jehoshaphat  dwelt  at  Jerusalem  :  and  he  went  out  again  among  the 
people,  from   Beersheba  to  mount  Ephraim,  and   brought  them   back  to  the 

5  Lord  Jiod  of  their  fathers.     And  he  appointed  judges  in  the  land,  in  all  the 

6  fenced  cities  of  Judah,  city  by  city.  And  said  to  the  judges  :  See  what  ye 
do  ;  for  ye  judge  not  for  man,  but  for  the  Lord  ;  and  He  is  with  you  in  judg- 

7  ment.  And  now  let  the  fear  of  the  Lord  be  upon  you  ;  take  heed  and  do 
ye ;  for  with  the  Lord  our  God  is  neither  iniquity,  nor  respect  of  persons, 

8  nor  taking  of  gift. — And  also  in  Jerusalem  Jehoshaphat  appointed  of  the 
Levites  and  priests,  and  of  the  chief  of  the  fathers  of  Israel,  for  the  judgment 

9  of  the  Lord,  and  for  pleading  ;  and  they  returned  to  Jerusalem.  And  he 
commanded  them,  saying,   Thus  shall  ye  do  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  with 

10  truth  and  a  perfect  heart.  And  in6  every  plea  that  cometh  before  you  of 
your  brethren  that  dwell  in  their  cities,  between  blood  and  blood,  between 
law  and  commandment,  statutes  and  judgments,  ye  shall  advise  them,  that 
they  trespass  not  against  the  Lord,  so  that  wrath  come  upon  you  and  your 

11  brethren:  thus  shall  ye  do,  and  not  trespass.7  And,  behold,  Amariah  the 
chief  priest  is  over  you  for  every  matter  of  the  Lord  ;  and  Zebadiah  son  of 
Ishmael,  the  ruler  of  the  house  of  Judah,  for  every  matter  of  the  king ;  and 
the  Levites  are  officers  before  you  ■  take  courage,  and  do  ye,  and  the  Lord 
will  be  with  the  good. 

f  Jehisheiphat's  Victory  over  the  Moeihites,  Ammonites,  ana  othe'  Nitions  of  the  East: 

ch.  xx.  1-30. 

Ch.  XX.   1.  And  it  came  to  pass  after  this,  that  the  sons  of  Moab  and  the  sons  of 
Aruuion,  and  with  them  of  the  Meunites,8  came  against  Jehoshaphat  to  battle. 

2  And  they  came  and  told  Jehoshaphat,  saying,  There  cometh  against  thee  a 
great  multitude  from  beyond  the  sea,  from  Syria;  and,  behold,  they  are  at 

3  Hazezon-tamar,  that  is  Engedi.     And  Jehoshaphat  was  afraid.'-'  and  set  his 

4  face  to  seek  the  Lord,  and  proclaimed  a  fast  over  all  Judah.  And  the  Jews 
assembled  to  seek  the  Lord  :  even  from  all  the  cities  of  Judah  came  they  to  seek 

5  the  Lord.     And  Jehoshaphat  stood  in  the  congregation  of  Judah  and  Jeru- 

6  salem,  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  before  the  new  court.  And  said,  Lord  God 
of  our  fathers,  art  not  Thou  God  in  heaven,  and  ruler  over  all  the  kingdoms  of 
the  nations  t  and  in  thy  hand  are  strength  and  might,  and  none  is  with  Thee 

7  to  withstand  Thee.  Hast  not  Thou,  our  God,  driven  out  the  inhabitants  of 
this  land  before  Thy  people  Israel,  and  given  it  to  the  seed  of  Abraham  Thy 

8  friend  for  ever  1     And  they  dwelt  therein,  and  built  Thee  a  sanctuary  therein 

9  for  Thy  name,  saying :  If  evil  come  upon  us.  sword,  judgment,  or  pestilence 
or  famine,  we  shall  stand  before  this  house,  and  before  Thee — for  Thy  name  is 
in  this  house — and  shall  cry  unto  Thee  out  of  our  affliction  :  then  Thou  wilt 

10  hear  and  help.  And  now,  behold,  the  sons  of  Amnion,  and  Moab,  and  mount 
Seir,  whom  thou  wouldst  not  let  Israel  invade,  when  they  came  out  of  the 

1 1  land  of  Egypt,  but  they  departed  from  them,  and  destroyed  them  not.  And, 
behold,  they  requite  us  by  coming  to  cast  us  out  of  Thy  possession  which 

12  Thou  hast  given  us.  Our  God,  wilt  Thou  not  judge  them?  for  in  us  is  no 
might  against  this  great  multitude  that  cometh  against  us  ;  and  we  know  not 

13  what  we  shall  do  :  but  our  eyes  are  upon  Thee.  And  all  Judah  stood  before 
the  Lord,  and  their  little  ones,  their  wives,  and  their  sons. 

14  And  upon  Jahaziel  the  son  of  Zechariah,  the  son  of  Benaiah,  the  son  of 
Jeiel,  the  son  of  Mattaniah,  the  Levite  of  the  sons  of  Asaph,  came  the  Spirit 

15  of  the  Lord  in  the  midst  of  the  congregation.  And  he  said,  Attend  ye,  all 
Judah,  and  ye  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  and  thou  king  Jehoshaphat;  Thus 


CHAP.  XVII.-XX.  I'll 


saitli  the  Lord  unto  you,  Be  not  afraid  nor  dismayed  before  this  great  multi- 

16  tude  ;  for  the  battle  is  not  yours,  but  God's.  To-morrow  go  ye  down  against 
them  :  behold,  they  go  up  by  the  hill  of  Haziz  ;  and  ye  shall  find  them  at  the 

17  end  of  the  valley,  before  the  wilderness  of  Jeruel.  Ye  shall  not  have  to  fight 
here:  step  forth,  stand  ye,  and  see  the  help  of  the  LORD  who  is  with  you,  0 
Judah  and  Jerusalem:  fear  ye  not,  nor  be  dismayed;    to-morrow   go  out 

18  against  them,  and  the  Lord  will  be  with  you.  And  Jehoshaphat  bowed  his 
face  to  the  ground;  and  all  Judah  and   the   inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  fell 

19  before  the  Lord,  to  worship  the  Lord.  And  the  Levites  of  the  sons  of 
Kohath,  and  of  the  Korhites,  stood  up  to  praise  the  LORE  God  of  Israel  with 
an  exceeding  loud  voice. 

20  And  they  rose  early  in  the  morning,  and  went  forth  into  the  wilderness 
of  Tekoa;  and  as  they  went  forth,  Jehoshaphat  stood  up  and  said,  Hear  ye 
me,  Judah  and  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  :  Believe  in  the  Lord  your  God, 
and  ye  shall  be  established  ;  believe  in  His  prophets,  and  ye  shall  prosper. 

21  And  he  advised  the  people,  and  appointed  men  singing  unto  the  Lord,  and 
praising  in  holy  beauty,  when  they  go  out  before  the  armed  men,  and  saying, 

22  Give  thanks  to  the  Lord;  for  His  mercy  endureth  for  ever.  And  at  the  time 
when  they  began  with  song  and  praise,  the  Lord  set  an  ambush  against  the 
sons  of  Amnion,  Moab,  and  mount  »Seir,  which  were  come  against  Judah ;  and 

23  they  were  smitten.  And  the  sons  of  Ammon  and  Moab  stood  up  against  tin- 
inhabitants  of  mount  Seir,  to  cut  off  and  destroy  them;  and  when  they  had 
ended  with  the  inhabitants  of  Seir,  they  helped  to  destroy  one  another. 

24  And  Judah  came  to  the  watch-tower  in  the  wilderness,  and  looked  to  the 
multitude  ;  and,  behold,  they  lay  as  corpses  on  the  earth,  and  none  escaped. 

25  And  Jehoshaphat  and  his  people  came  to  take  their  spoil,  and  they  found  with 
them  in  abundance,  goods  and  corpses,10  and  costly  vessels  ;  and  they  stripped 
off  for  themselves  more  than  they  could  carry  ;  and  they  were  three  days 

26  taking  the  spoil,  for  it  was  great.  And  on  the  fourth  day  they  assembled  in 
the  valley  of  blessing ;  for  there  they  blessed   the    Lord  :  therefore  they 

27  called  the  name  of  the  place  the  valley  of  blessing  unto  this  day.  And  they 
returned,  every  man  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  and  Jehoshaphat  at  their  head, 
to  return  to  Jerusalem  with  gladness  ;  for  the  Lord  had  made  them  glad  over 

28  their  enemies.     And  they  came  to  Jerusalem  with  psalteries,  and  harps,  and 

29  trumpets,  unto  the  house  of  the  Lord.  And  the  fear  of  God  was  upon  all 
the  kingdoms  of  the  countries  when  they  heard  that  the  Lord  fought  against 

30  the  enemies  of  Israel.  And  the  realm  of  Jehoshaphat  was  quiet ;  for  his  God 
gave  him  rest  round  about. 

d.  End  nf  the  Reiyn  of  Jehoshaphat :  vers.  31-37. 

31  And  Jehoshaphat  reigned  over  Judah  :  he  was  thirty  and  five  years  old 
when  he  became  king,  and  he  reigned  twenty  and  five  years  in  Jerusalem 

32  and  his  mother's  name  was  Azubah,  daughter  of  Shilhi.  And  he  walked  in 
the  way  of  his  father  Asa,  and  departed  not  from  it,  so  that  he  did  that 

33  which  was  right  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord.  Only  the  high  places  were  not 
taken  away,  and  the  people  had  not  yet  directed  their  heart  to  the  God  of 
their  fathers. 

34  And  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Jehoshaphat,  first  and  last,  behold,  they  are 
written  in  the  words  of  Jehu  son  of  Hanani,  which  are  inserted  in  the  book 
of  the  kings  of  Israel. 

35  And  afterwards  Jehoshaphat  king  of  Judah  allied  himself  with  Ahaziah 

36  king  of  Israel :  he  was  wicked  in  his  doing.    And  he  allied  himself  with  him, 

37  to  make  ships  to  go  to  Tarshish  :  and  they  made  ships  in  Ezion-geber.  And 
Eliezer,  son  of  Dodavah  ll  of  Mareshah,  prophesied  against  Jehoshaphat, 
saying,  Because  thou  hast  allied  thyself  with  Ahaziah,  the  Lord  hath 
broken  thy  work  :  and  the  ships  were  wrecked,  and  were  not  able  to  go  to 
Tarshish. 


n-> 


II.  CHRONICLES 


1  For  ?*n"]3l  the  Sept.  (and  Syr.)  appears  to  have  read  p^n  *33  ;    for  they  translate  npnell.itively,  u'ltlt    t£* 
)nin*.    but  the  word  is  certainly  a  proper  name;  comp.  nDrT|3,  1  Kings  iv.  10,  and  similar  names. 
«  The  Ktthib  rfC'lOB'  is  a  mere  mistake  for  rtoYDt:'.  the  Keri. 
»  Kethib:  ir\yK).     Keri:  WyD- 

•  The  redundant  "IDS  after  nt  "IDN'i  is  perhaps  Inserted  by  a  mistake  of  the  transcriber,  and  therefore,  according 
u  1  Kings  xxii  20,  to  be  erased. 

'  Kethib:   ^T.     Keri:   ^V- 

'  1  before  3T73   is  wanting  in  the  Sept.  and  Vulg.,  but  if  taken  expllcatively  it  Involves  no  difficulty. 

»  Kethib:    IDB'Sri      Keri:  V3VKR- 

•  Instead  of  D'jiBVTO   is  undoubtedly  to  be  read  D'JIVOTO,  as  the  u  rS<  Wxtim  of  the  Sept.  -hows. 
»  K:thib:    RTV      Keri:    N"W 

10  Instead  of  DH3S,  four  Mss.  in  Kennic.  and  three  in  de  Rossi,  likewise  some  old  editions  (Complut..  Brix.,  Bom- 
berg,  a.  1618,  21,  Miinst.),  read  D'lJB  \  so  also  the  Vulg.  (vestes),  and  apparently  nlso  the  Sept.,  as  well  as  several 
recent  expositors,  Dathe.  Berth.,  and  Kamph. 

ii  For  Vinil  the  Sept.  has  A*5/a,  after  which  Berth.,  without  sufficient  reason,  would  write  ^n^lll-  Comp. 
rather  such  names  as  Hodaviah,  Joshaviah. 


EXEGETIOAL. 

Besides  the  report  in  ch.  xviii.  of  the  unsuc- 
cessful campaign  of  Jehoshaphat  and  Ahab 
against  Ramoth-gilead,  agreeing  almost  literally 
with  1  Kings  xxii.  2-35  and  the  closing  section 
ch.  xx.  30-37,  which  coincides  partly  in  matter 
and  partly  in  form  with  1  Kings  xxii.  41-51, 
the  Chronist  presents  in  this  enlarged  history  of 
the  reign  of  Jehoshaphat  only  original  matter, 
serving  to  supplement  the  books  of  Kings,  and 
that  on  the  basis  of  those  "words"  or  records  of 
Jehu  ben  Hanani,  which  he  himself  names  as 
his  source  in  ch.  xx.  34. 

1.  Jehoshaphat's  Measures  for  the  Internal  and 
External  Defence  of  the  Kingdom:  ch.  xvii.  1-9. — 
Strengthened  himself  against  Israel,  endeavoured 
to  defend  and  secure  himself  against  attack  on 
the  side  of  Israel  (comp.  i.  1).  This  was  ob- 
viously in  the  first  part  of  his  reign,  before  he 
formed  affinity  with  Ahab  (xviii.  1 ),  and  so  long 
as  the  recollection  of  Baasha's  attack  on  his  pre- 
decessor Asa  operated. — Ver.  2.  Placed  garrisons 
in  the  land  ;   D'H'SJ,  military  posts,  as  1  Chron. 

xi.  16.  On  b,  comp.  2  Chron.  xv.  8.— Ver.  3. 
For  he  walked  in  vie  former  ways  of  his  father 
David,  not  in  the  later  ways  of  David,  which 
were  characterized  by  his  crimes  regarding  Uriah 
and  Bathsheba,  by  the  foolish  step  of  numbering 
the  people,   etc. — Sought  not  unto   Baalim.      5 

here  and  in  the  following  verse  is  nota  aecusalmi, 
after  the  later  usage.  The  Baalim  (comp.  Judg. 
ii.  11)  comprise  all  kinds  of  idolatry,  even  that 
finer  kind,  consisting  in  the  worship  of  Jehovah 
under  certain  animal  forms,  which  is  designated 
in  the  following  verse  as  the  "  doing  of  Israel" 
that  was  avoided  by  Jehoshaphat. — Ver.  5.  And 
the  Lord  stablished  the  kingdom  in  his  hand; 
comp.  2  Kings  xiv.  5.     On  the  following  ni"0D, 

"gift"  (=  J"li3"l3,  Ps.  ex.  3),  comp.  ver.  11,  where 

the  term  denotes  the  tribute  of  a  subject  people. 
On  "riches  and  honour  in  abundance,"  see 
xviii.  1,  also  1  Chron.  xxix.  28;  2  Chron.  i.  12. 
— Ver.  6  if.   The   Internal  Defence  of  the  King- 


dom by  the  Extirpation  of  Idolatry  and  the  In- 
struction of  the  People  in  the  Law. — And  his 
heart  was  lifted  up  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord, 
showed  a  heightened   courage  to  proceed    in  a 

godly  walk  ;    37  H33    here,    otherwise   than   in 

-1 

xxvi.  16,  xxxii.  25,  etc.,  not  in  the  bad  sense  of 
an  ungodly  pride,  but  sensn  bono.  The  following 
"and  moreover"   (lijfi)  points  back  to  ver.   3. 

For  the  "high  places"  and  Asherim,  comp.  on 
xiv.  2. — Ver.  7.  And  in  the  third  year  of  his 
reign;  according  to  Hitzig's  not  improbable  con- 
jecture (Qeschichte,  pp.  9  tf.,  198  f.),  a  jubilee 
year,  and  indeed  the  year  912  B.C.  The  five 
princes,  nine  Levites,  and  two  priests  named  in 
the  following  verse  are  otherwise  unknown.— Ver. 
9.  And  they  taught  in  Judah,  on  the  basis  of  the 
presently  named  "  book  of  the  law  of  the  Lord," 
the  religious  and  civil  enactments  of  which,  on 
the  occasion  of  this  solemn  ecclesiastical  visita- 
tion of  Jehoshaphat  (Starke  and  other  ancients), 
were  brought  to  the  recollection  and  impressed 
anew  on  the  attention  of  the  Jews.  This  men- 
tion of  the  book  of  the  law  under  Jehoshaphat, 
almost  300  years  before  Josiah's  renewed  inculca- 
tion and  vindication  of  its  authority,  is  of  no 
small  apologetic  importance.  It  shows  that,  if 
not  the  whole  Pentateuch  in  its  present  form,  yet 
a  work  already  approaching  to  its  present  com- 
pass, was  already  extant  in  the  tenth  century  B.C. 
(comp.  also  on  xv.  13).  And  indeed  the  concrete, 
detailed,  and  definite  nature  of  the  present  notice 
leaves  no  doubt  of  this,  that  not  merely  the 
Chronist  living  after  the  exile,  but  his  much 
older  voucher,  contemporary  with  the  recorded 
fact  (probably  Jehu  ben  Hanani),  bears  this  testi- 
mony to  the  existence  of  the  Torah  at  so  early  a 
date. 

2.  The  Effects  of  these  Measures  :  Jehoshaphat's 
increasing  Power  :  vers.  10-19. — And  the  fear  of 
the  Lord  fell  upon  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  lands 
(almost  literally  so,  xx.  29;  comp.  also  xiv.  13, 
xii.  8,  etc.).  Rightly  Rambach  observes:  Erat 
hoc  prmmium  pielatis  Josaphati,  i/uod  vicini 
salisgue  potentes  hostes  non  anderent  admrsus 
ipsum  hiscere.     On  the  contrary,  Berth   perverts 


CHAP.  XVII.  11-XVIII.  30. 


•.'13 


the  theocratic  causal  nexus  set  forth  clearly 
enough  by  the  writer,  when  he  remarks  on  this 
passage  :  "Jehoshaphat  had  time  to  attend  to  the 
instruction  of  his  people,  because  the  neighbour- 
ing nations  did  not  then  venture  to  make  war  on 
Judah." — Ver.   11.    And  some  of  the  Philistines 

brought       D'n^vB'iD  's  subject  (with  partitive 

|0). — And  silver  in  abundance,   literally,   "and 

silver  a  load";  comp.  xx.  25.  Falsely  the 
Vulg.,  which  assigns  to  the  term  tt&o,   "load," 

the  meaning  "tribute"  (vectigal). —  The  Arabs  also 
tQ'NUlJ?  =  D'3iy;   sce  xx>-    16>   xxii-    !)>    the 

Beduin  tribes  of  north-western  Arabia,  perhaps 
those  whom  Asa  had  subdued  by  the  victory  over 
Zerah  (comp.  xiv.  14.). — Ver.  12.  And  Jehosha- 
phat   became    ever    greater.      The   construction 

according  to  Ew.  §  280,  6;  rb]xb~"1]l,  as  in 
xvi.  1 2.  — A  nd  he  built  in  Judah  catties.  ni*3T3 
plur.  of  n'3T3  ( =  !TV3),  a  Syrian  form  occur- 
ring only  here  and  xxvii.  4.  "  Cities  with  stores, " 
as  viii.  4. — Ver.  13.  A  nd  he  had  much  store.  So 
rightly  Luther,   Starke,   Keil,   Kamph.,  etc.     Of 

the  same  signification  is  nDX^O.  Ex.  xxii.  7-10. 

Otherwise  (Vulg.  opera  magna,  Clericus,  Berth., 
Neteler,  etc.):  "much  labour,  great  prepara- 
tions,'* to  which,  however,  b  does  not  suit  ; 
comp.  also  xi.  11. — Ver.  14.  Anil  this  was  the 
muster  of  them,  the  result  of  the  muster,  or  also 
their  "order";  comp.  1  Chron.  xxiv.  49. — Of 
Judah,  lite  captains  of  thousands,  leaders,  field- 
marshals.  The  following  statement  of  the  three 
J-nvish  divisions  of  the  army  under  Adnah, 
Jehohanan,  and  Amasiah,  and  of  the  two  divi- 
sions of  Benjamin  under  Eliada  and  Jehozabad 
(vers.  15-18),  is  certainly  historical,  if  we  only 
mark  the  concrete  form,  bearing  the  stamp  of 
direct  historical  truth,  of  the  notice  concerning 
Amasiah:  "who  willingly  offered  himself  unto 
the  Lord,"  and  also  the  circumstance  that  the 
kind  of  armour  wnrn  by  the  Benjamites  agrees 
with  earlier  statements  (comp.  1  Chron.  viii.  40  ; 
2  Chron.  xiv.  7).  But  the  exceedingly  high 
numbers,  which  give  for  Judah  alone  780,001), 
for  Benjamin  380,000,  and  thus  for  both  tribes 
together  the  total  of  1,160,000  warriors,  form  no 
inconsiderable  difficulty  ;  comp.  the  Evangelical 
and   Ethical    Reflections. — Ver.    19.    These   were 

they  who  ministered  to  the  king.       D^X,    "these," 

refers  to  the  five  generals  or  commanders,  not  to 
the  thousands  of  warriors.  Likewise  the  follow- 
ing clause  :  "whom  the  king  had  placed  in  the 
fenced  cities  in  all  Judah,"  relers  to  other  officers 
besides  those  five,  not  to  other  troops  besides 
those  already  enumerated. 

3.  Jehoshaphat's  Affinity  with  Ahah  :  the 
Campaign  against  Kamoth-gilead  :  ch.  xviii. 
Comp.  1  Kings  xxii.  2-35,  and  Bahr  on  this 
passage.  Here  are  only  the  statements  peculiar 
to  the  Chronist  to  be  expounded. — And  Jeho- 
shaphat .  .  .  joined  affinity  with  Ahah,  in  this 
way,  that  he  gave  his  son  Joram  in  marriage  to 
Athaliah,  daughter  of  Ahab  and  Jezebel ;  see  xxi. 


6.'  This  affinity,  which  occasioned  the  subse- 
quent visit  of  Jehoshaphat  to  Ahab,  and  the 
participation  in  his  unfortunate  campaign,  is  here 
clearly  mentioned  as  something  mischievous, 
attended  with  destnrctive  effects,  as  the  first  link 
of  a  chain  of  misfortunes  (comp.  xix.  2)  ;  the  ) 

before  )nnrV  has  accordingly,  as  it  were,  an  ad- 
versative force,  and  the  verse  expresses  this 
thought:  "Although  Jehoshaphat  had  riches 
and  honour  in  abundance,  yet  lie  was  so  foolish 
as  to  make  allinily  with  Ahab."  Comp.  S. 
Schmidt,  Josaphatus,  cetera  dive-i  el  glnriosus, 
infelicem  adfinitatem  cum  Achabo,  reye  Israeli- 
tarum,  contrahit,  etc.  See,  for  the  rest,  Evangeli- 
cal and  Ethical  Reflections. — Ver.  2.  And  in  the 
course  of  years,  nine  years,  as  the  comparison  of 
1  Kings-xxii.  2,  41  with  2  Kings  viii.  26  shows  ; 
the  affinity  of  Jehoshaphat  with  Ahab  by  the 
marriage  of  Joram  and  Athaliah  must,  according 
to  these  passages,  have  fallen  in  the  eighth,  and 
the  death  of  Ahab,  in  the  campaign  against 
Ramoth,  in  the  seventeenth,  year  of  Jehoshaphat's 
reign. — And  he  persuaded  him,  partly  by  the 
great  banquets  and  hospitalities  which  he  pre- 
pared   in    his   honour   (comp.    D'Dn,     "entice, 

tempt,"  in  such  places  as  Judg.  i.  14  ;  Job  ii.  3; 
Dent.  xi.  7,  etc.).  In  1  Kings  xxii.  3,  instead  of 
this  persuasive  influence  on  Jehoshaphat,  is  set 
furth  rather  the  political  motive  of  Aliab  to 
begin  the  war  against  the  Syrians  in  Kamoth- 
gilead  ;  our  author  is  silent  on  this,  because  on 
principle  lie  dues  not  wish  to  recount  anything  of 
the  deeds  or  enterprises  of  the  northern'  king. — 
Ver.  5.  Gathered  the  prophets,  four  hundred  men. 
1  Kings:  "about  400  men,"  which  is  the  more 
correct,  as  the  number  is  obviously  a  round  one. 
— Shall  we  go;  in  1  Kings:  "Shall  I  go,"  in 
harmony   with    the    following    ^inK  DK,     " or 

shall  I  forbear."  Inversely  in  1  Kings  (ver.  14) 
both  verbs  are  plural. — Ver.  7.  Prophesied  .  .  . 
always  evil,  literally,  all  his   days   (VD'-'i'a),  a 

phrase  emphasizing  the  opposition,  which  is 
wanting  in  1  Kings.— Ver.  9.  And  they  sat  in  a 
floor.  The  DUL'Tl.  superfluous  on  account  of 
the  preceding  D,3B'i\  is  wanting  in  1  Kings.— 

Ver.  14.  And  they  shall  be  delivered  into  your 
hand.  Instead  of  this  very  definite  prediction 
(which  is  certainly  ironical),  the  parallel  text  in 
1  Kings  has,  more  indefinitely:  "Ami  the  Lord 
shall  deliver  it  into  the  king's  hand." — Ver.  19. 
See  the  Crit.  Notes. — Ver.  23.  Which  way  went 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  from  me?  Instead  of  this 
circumstantial  ■q-pin   ilj  'X  (comp.  1  Kings  xiii. 

1  ;  2  Kings  iii.  8),  1  Kings  xxii.  24  has  the 
simpler  and  shorter  n|  'X- — Ver.   26.    Let   him 

eat  bread  of  trouble,  and  water  of  trouble.  Pos- 
sible is  also  the  translation  proposed  by  Kamph. 
with  reference  to  Ps.  lx.  5  :  "  Let  him  eat  as 
bread  of  trouble,"  etc  —Ver.  30.  And  the  king 
°f  Syria  had  commanded  the  captains  of  his 
chariots.  In  1  Kings  the  number  of  these 
captains  (thirty-two)  is  also  given,  by  reference 

1  Tliere  also  concern)  jj  Hlllig's  hvpotheria  (founded  on 
•-'  Kii  cs  viii.  26  am)  2  Clinin.  xxii.  2),  that  Athaliah  was  cot 
the  daughter,  but  the  sister,  of  Ahab. 


214 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


tci  the  earlier  war,  1  Kings  xx.  24. — Ver.  31. 
And  the  Lord  helped  him,  and  God  turned  them 
away  from  him.  This  religious  reflective  remark 
is  wanting  in  1  Kings  xxii.  32,  but  is  by  no 
means  a  hindrance  to  the  connection,  as  Berth. 
1  hinks,  but  rather  a  very  seasonable  enunciation 
uf  that  which,  to  the  writer,  necessarily  formed 
the  point  and  force  of  the  whole  narrative. — Ver. 
34.  And  the.  kimj  of  Israel  was  standing  in  the 
chariot.     Instead  of  the  partic.  Hiph.    Toyo, 

"holding  himself  upright,"  1  Kings  xxii.  35  has, 
less  distinctly,  the  Soph.  TOJJD,  "held  up- 
right." The  close  of  the  whole  narrative,  con- 
taining accounts  of  the  return  of  the  defeated 
armv,  and  the  more  particular  circumstances  of 
the  "death  of  Ahab  (1  Kings  xxii.  36-39),  is 
omitted  by  our  author,  because  it  belongs  pro- 
perly to  a  history  of  the  northern  kingdom. 

4.  The  Prophet  Jehu's  Judgment  on  the  Cove- 
nantwith  Ahab:  ch.  xix.  1-3. — And  Jehoshaphat 
.  .  .  returned  home  in  peace  to  Jerusalem,  so  that 
the  prophecy  of  Michah  (xviii.  16)  was  fulfilled 
in  him.  — Ver.  2.  And  Jehu  the  son  of  Hanani 
.  .  .  went  out  to  meet  him:  the  same  prophet  who, 

I  Kings  xvi.  1,  had  acted  under  Baasha  in  the 
northern  kingdom  ;  perhaps  a  son  of  that  Hanani 
whom  Asa  in  wrath  had  ordered  into  prison  (xvi. 
7  ff. ). — Must  ice  help  the  wicked,  and  shouldst 
thou  love  them  that  hate  the  Lord?  The  con- 
struction is  as  in  1  Chron.  v.  1,  ix.  25  (?  with 

the  infin.).  It  is  to  be  supposed  that  the  words 
are  spoken  in  earnest  indignation,  but  they  turn 
with  their  displeasure  rather  against  the  idolatrous 
tyrant  Ahab  than  against  Jehoshaphat,  who  only 
for  a  season  walked  by  his  side. — And  J'or  this  is 
wrath  upon  thee  from  the  Lord ;  comp.  1  Chron. 

xxvii.  24,  and  with  r\\r\i  'JS^o  ejsp  the  simpler 
rriiT  f^'p,   2  Chron.  xxxii.  26.     The  words  point 

prophetically  to  the  soon  after  occurring  danger- 
ous invasion  of  the  Ammonites,  Moabites,  and 
Melinites,  and  also  to  the  unfortunate  sea-voyage 
from  Ezion-geber,  ch.  xx. — Ver.  3.  Yet  ijood 
things  are  found  with  thee,  things  worthy  of 
praise;  comp.  xii.  12;  1  Kings  xiv.  13.  For  ft 
(where  the  fem.   ni'C'Xn  appears  instead  of  the 

usual  plur.  masc),  comp.  xvii.  4  f.,  xii.  14. 

5.  Jehoshaphat's  further  Reforms  of  Worship 
and  Law  :  vers.  4-11. — And  he  went  out  again 
among  the  people,  literally,  "and  he  turned  and 
went."  Reference  is  made  to  the  former  going 
out,  xvii.  7  ff.  The  following  statement  of  the 
south  and  north  boundary  of  the  kingdom  of 
Judah  :  "from  Beersheba  to  Mount  Ephraim," 
is  copied  after  the  similar  formula:  "from  Dan 
to  Beersheba,"  which  refers  to  the  whole  land  of 
Isiael ;  comp.  Judg.  xx.  1  ;  2  Sam.  iii.  10,  xvii. 

II  ;  1  Kings  v.  5. — And  brought  them  back  to  the 
Lord,  "made  them  return";  comp.  xxiv.  19.— 

Ver.  5.  City  by  city,  or  "in  every  city"    (TJJ? 

"VJfl ;  comp.  1  Chron.  xxvi.  29),  according  to  the 

legal  precept,  Deut.  xvi.  18. — Ver.  6.  Not  for 
man,  but  for  the  Lord,  in  God's  name,  and 
according  to  Hia  holy  will,  as  His*  2j«xo*a*,  Rom. 
xiii.  4  ;  comp.  also  Prov.  xvi.  11. — And  he  is 
vith  ynu  in  the  judgment,  in  the  judicial  decision, 


in  passing  sentence  ;  comp.  Deut.  xvii.  9,  aUo 
ch.  i.  17  ;  Ex.  xxi.  6,  xxii.  7,  etc.  The  supply- 
ing of  niiT  as  subject  to  D3BJfl  's  indispensable, 

as  the  failure  of  all  attempts  to  explain  it  without 
this  supplement,  for  example,  that  of  the  Vulg. 
(et  quodcunque  judicaveritU,  in  vos  redundabit), 
shows. — Ver.  7.  And  note  let  the  fear  of  the  Lord 
be  vpon  you  in  a  preserving  way,  that  ye  may 
beware  of  judging  unjustly.  For  the  phrase, 
comp.  xvii.  10. — Take  heed,  and  do  ye,  do  it  in 
a  heedful,  conscientious  way,  cum  dUigentia  cuncta 
facite  (Vulg.).  On  the  following  words,  comp 
Deut.  x.  17,  xvi.  19;  Ps.  lxxxix.  7;  Acts  x.  34. 
— Vers.  8-11.  The  Supreme  Tribunal  instituted 
by  Jehoshaphat  in  Jerusalem, — an  institution  rest- 
ing on  Ex.  xviii.  19,  26,  Deut.  xvii.  8-13;  comp. 
Keil,  Bibl.  Archaol.  ii.  250  ft'. — And  also  in 
Jerusa'em,  not  merely  in  the  various  fenced  cities 
(ver.  5),  where  judges  of  inferior  instance  were 
appointed.  That  besides  Levites  and  piiests, 
laymen,  "of  the  chiefs  of  the  fathers  of  Israel," 
tribe-chiefs  out  of  the  rest  of  the  people,  are 
named  as  appointed  by  Jehoshaphat  to  be 
judges,  involves  no  contradiction  of  1  Chron. 
xxiii.  4,  xxvi.  29,  according  to  which  David  had 
appointed  6000  Levites  as  "judges  and  officers" 
(D'lDC)  :  f°r  that  these  Levites  should  exclu- 
sively administer  the  law  was  not  there  asserted. 
— For  tht  judgment  of  the  Lord,  and  j'or  plead- 
ing. Synonymous  with  niiT  CBK'D?  stands, 
ver.  11,  niiT1  iyi  bbb,  "  f°r  every  matter  of 
the  Lord";  and  synonymous  with  y-Q  that 
passage  gives  T^Qn  131  72?,    "  for  every  matter 

of  the  king  or  the  state";  so  that  the  sense  of 
the  whole  is :  "for  all  matters  relating  to  religion 
or  polity."  As  examples  of  the  former,  Berth, 
well  adduces  disputes  concerning  the  release  of 
the  first-born,  dues  to  the  temple,  the  clean  and 
the  unclean,  etc. — And  they  returned  to  Jeru- 
salem ;  Jehoshaphat  and  the  commission  accom- 
panying him  returned  from  their  journey  through 
the  country  and  the  fenced  cities  of  Judah  to 
Jerusalem  ;  comp.  ver.  4.  As  this  statement 
would  have  been  more  suitable  before  ver.  8,  and 
as  any  reference  of  it  to  others  than  Jehoshaphat 
and  his  companions  (for  example,  to  the  Levites, 
priests,  and  chiefs  nominated  for  the  new  supreme 
court,  as  Rambach,  Starke,  and  others  think)  is 
inadmissible,  the  change  proposed  by  Kaniph.  of 
13L*'S1  into  OE'li  "and  they  dwelt  in  Jerusalem" 

(the  supreme  judges  just  nominated),  appears  not 
inappropriate. — Arer.  9.  Thus  shall  ye  do,  as  is 
fully  stated  in  ver.  10.  On  cb^  3^3,  "with 
undivided  heart,"  comp.  xv.  17,  xvi.  9;  1  Kings 
viii.  61. — Ver.  10  And  in  every  plea,  yvja 
stands  before  as  cos.  ahsol. ;  the  1  before  is  ex- 
plicative ;  comp.  Crit.  Note.  As  "brethren  who 
dwell  in  their  cities"  those  are  designated  who 
bring  appeals  from  the  country  or  the  smaller 
cities  of  Judah  and  Benjamin  before  the  supreme 
court  at  Jerusalem,  and  demand  its  higher  deri- 
sion ;  comp.  Deut.  xvii.  8.—  Between  blood  and 
blood,  in  criminal  cases  which  involve  murder 
and  homicide  (comp.   Ex.  xxi.  12  ff.).     The  fob 


CHAP.  XIX.  11-XX.  17. 


215 


lowing  phrase:  "between  law  and  commandment, 
statutes  and  judgments,"  applies  to  a  dispute 
concerning  the  import  or  application  of  certain 
laws,  or  a  doubt  according  to  what  legal  enact- 
ment the  casi  m  point  is  to  be  decided  (conip. 
Pent.  xvii.  8).  —  Te  shall  advise  than,  by  impart- 
ing instruction  concerning  the  decisions  of  the 
law,  admonish  n'Hjn.  as  in  Ex.  xviii.  20;  Eecles. 

xii.  12),  that  they  may  not  err  by  the  theoretical 
or  practical  abuse  of  the  law,  and  thereby  bring 
guilt  (□!."!<)  upon  the  whole  people. — Ver.   11. 

And,  behold,  Amariah  the  chief  priest,  scarcely 
different  from  the  fifth  high  priest  after  Zadok, 
mentioned   1    Chron.  v.  37   (see  on   the   pas-agei. 

The  "  ruler  of  the  house  of  Judah,"  Zebadiah  son 
ol    Islimael,    is  not  otherwise   known. — And  the 

Levites  an    officers  be/ore  you,    D'lDb',    as  '" 

1  Chron.  xxiii.  4,  xxvi.  29.  —  The  Lord  will  be 
viih  the  good;  »rvi  is  here  a  future,  scarcely  an 

optative:  "the  Lord  be  with  the  good."  Comp. 
beside-,  xx.  17.  The  good  are  the  judges  who 
discharge  their  office  fitly  and  well. 

6.  Jehoshaphat's  Victory  over  the  Moabites, 
Ammonites,  and  Melinites  :  ch.  xx.  1-30. — And  it 
cami  to  pass  after  this,  after  the  events  related 
in  xviii.  19,  which  fall  perhaps  six  or  seven  years 
before  the  death  of  Jehoshaphat,  and  of  which 
the  death  of  Allah  almost  certainly  falls  in  the 
year  897  B.C.  A  still  mire  exact  date  for  the 
present  wai  results  from  the  monument  of  victi  ry 
of  the  Moabitish  King  Mesha,  discovered  three 
years  ago,  which  must  have  been  erected  very 
soon  after  Ahab's  death,  and  shortly  before  the 
outbreak  of  the  present  war,  and  therefore  abi  ut 
896  B.c  See  Schlottmann,  "  Der  Moabiterkbnig 
Mesa,"  Stud.  u.  Krit.  1871,  p.  587  if.  especially 
p.  610  ff  ;  and  comp.  beneath,  Evangelical  and 
Ethical  Reflections,  No.  4. — And  with  them  of  the 
Melinites.   E"V3J.'riC  oan  scarcely  mean,  as  many 

of  the  ancients,  and  even  Hengst.  {Gescli.  J. 
R'iches  Gottes.  ii.  2,  211),  think,  nations  beyond 
the   Ammonites  ;  for   even   if   |o,    according   to 

1  Sam  xx.  22,  37,  could  have  the  sense  "beyond 
or  remote  from,"  yet  vers.  10  and  22  f.  point 
distinctly  to  a  people  inhabiting  mount  Seir. 
Accordingly  we  must  read,  as  \k  tZv  Mivxltvv  of 
the  Sept.  indicates  (comp.  1  Chron.  iv.  41), 
rather  □'Ji^'STC,    and    think   of    the    Melinites 

(Meinites,  1  Chron.  iv.  41,  Kethib)  inhabiting 
the  city  Maon  (jijJD)  near  Petra  as  their  capital. 

If  in  the  following  verse  (with  Calmet,  Keil,  and 
others)   q'IN'D  were   read   instead  of  the  difficult 

DINDi  every  scruple  against  this  assumption  (pro- 
posed by  Hiller,  Onomast,  p.  285,  and  supported 
by  nearly  all  the  moderns)  must  vanish.  But 
even  without  this  further  emendation,  it  possesses 
a  high  degree  of  probability  ;  for,  according  to 
Josephus,  Anti'i.  ix.  1.  2,  they  were  Arabs,  and 
probably  inhabitants  of  Arabia  Petraa,  who,  in 
alliance  with  the  Ammonites  and  Moabites, 
undertook  the  expedition  against  Jehoshaphat; 
and  in  xxvi.  7  Meunites  are  named  along  with 
Philistines  and  Arabs  as  a  southern  tribe  sub- 
dued in  war  by  Uzziah. — Ver.  2.  From  beyond 
the   sea,  from  Syria.      For   D1ND    must    appa- 


rently lie  read  D1NO,  "from  Edom  or  Idumsea"  : 

for  only  this  determination  of  the  starting-point 

agrees  with  d^>  "Ul'D-   "beyond  the  sea"  (the 

[lead  Seal  i  and  the  Syr.  seems  to  have  read 
D'lND.  while  the  remaining  old  versions  certainly 

confirm  the  Masoretic  text.  If  we  adhere  to  it, 
"Aram"  or  Syria  must  at  all  events  be  taken 
in  a  very  wide  sense  ( =  North  Arabia) ;  comp. 
Hengst.  as  quoted.— And,  behold,  they  are  ai 
Hazezon  tamar,  that  is  Engedi  (comp.  Gen.  xiv. 
7  ;  Josh.  xv.  62  ;  Song  i.  14  ;  Robinson,  Pol  ii. 
439  f.),  where  Ain  Jidy  now  lies,  at  the  middle 
of  the  w.st  shore  of  the  Dead  Sea,  about  fifteen 
hours  from  Jerusalem.  The  army  of  the  allied 
foes  had,  it  appears,  reached  this  place  through  a 
marsh  surrounding  the  south  end  of  the  Dead 
Sea,  or  by  crossing  the  south  ford  of  this  sea 
(between  the  eastern  peninsula  Lisan  and  the 
opposite  point  of  the  West  shore,  not  far  from  the 
valley  Engedi  ;  comp.  Hoffmann,  Blicke  in  du 
fruheste  Qesch.  desuelobten  Land.es,  ii.  26  f.). — 
"Wis.  3-13.  Jehoshaphat  and  the  People  seek  the 
Help  of  the  Lord.  -And  Jehoshaphat  .  .  .  set  his 
face,  D<33  |rO  =  D\JB  DIE' ;  comp.  Jer.   xlii.  15; 

Dan.  ix.  3.  On  the  "proclaiming  of  a  fast  over 
all  Judah,"  comp.  Judg.  xx.  26  ;  1  Sam.  vii.  (1 : 
Joel  ii.  15.  — Ver.  5.  Before  the  new  court,  tin- 
outer  or  great  court  (see  iv.  9),  that  might 
have  been  built  or  repaired  in  Asa's  or  Jehosha- 
phat's time,  and  therefore  is  here  called  new. 
The  place  before  this  court,  from  which  Jehosha- 
phat offered  his  prayer,  was  perhaps  at  the 
entrance  of  the  inner  or  priest's  court. — Ver.  6. 
Lord  God  of  our  fathers.  Jehoshaphat  thus 
addresses  God,  to  remind  him  of  his  former  bene- 
fits to  his  people,  to  which  is  then  annexed  a 
reference  to  his  absolute  omnipotence  ;  comp.  Ps. 
cxv.  3,  and  on  "  None  is  with  Thee,  to  withstand 
Thee,"  Ps.  xciv.  16;  1  Chron  xxix.  12  :  2  Chron. 
xiv.  10,  and  like  passages. — Ver.  7.  Comp.  Ex. 
xxiii.  20  ff. ;  Josh,  xxiii.  9,  xxiv.  12  ;  also  Gen. 
xiii.  15  f.,  xv.  18. — Ver.  9.  If  evilcomi  upon  us, 
sword,  judgment  (DiSE'  0Dh'  here  in  this  sense), 

or  pestilence,  etc.  The  cases  enumerated  in 
Solomon's  prayer  at  the  dedication  of  the  temple 
(ri.  22-39)  are  here  summarily  recapitulated. — 
Ver.  10.  The  sons  of  Amman  and  Hoab  . 
whom  Thou  wouldst  not  let  Israel  invade,  from 
whom  our  ancestors  in  the  time  of  Moses  and 
Joshua  peacefully  withdrew,  without  attacking 
them  ;  comp.  Num.  xx.  14  ff.;  Deut.  ii.  4,  9,  19, 
29;  Judg.  xi.  17  f.— Ver.  11.  And  behold  = 
"yea,  behold."  —  Possession  which  Thou  hast 
'linn  us,  "made  us  possess,"  E^lin,  as  in  Judg. 

xi.  24  ;  Ezra  ix.  12. — Ver.  12.  For  in  us  is  no 
might  against  this  grrat  multitude,  "before,  in 
the  face  of  this  great  multitude";  comp.  xiv.  9, 
etc.  For  the  following  expression  of  confidence  • 
"our  eyes  are  upon  Thee,"  comp.  Ps.  xiv.  15, 
exxiii.  2,  exli.  8.  On  ver.  13  ("and  their  little 
ones"),  comp.  Jon.  iii.  5. — Vers.  14-17.  God's 
Answer  by  the  Prophet  Jahaziel.  —  And  upon 
Jahaael  .  .  .  the  Levitt  of  the  sons  ../  Asaph. 
The  ancestor  in  the  filth  "degree  of  this  Jahaziel 
is  said  to  be  Mattaniah,  possibly  the  same  sou 
of  Asaph  who  is  called,  1  Chron.  xxv.  2,  12, 
Nethaniah  (us  o  and  3  in  the  formation  of  nom. 


ol6 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


uropr.  are  often  interchanged).  An  Identity 
with  Mattaniah  the  son  of  Heman,  1  Chron.  xxv. 
4,  16,  is  not  to  be  thought  of.— Ver.  15.  The 
battle,  is  not  yours,  but  God's  ;  comp.  1  Sam.  xvii. 
47;  Neh.  iv.  14;  also  Matt.  x.  20.  — Ver.  16. 
Behold,  they  go  up  by  the  hill  of  Hazk,  perhaps 
the  Wady  el  Hasasah  on  the  north  border  of  the 
wilderness  of  the  same  name,  which  stretches 
from  the  Dead  Sea  to  Tekoa,  and  no  doubt  corre- 
sponds to  the  here-named  "wilderness  of  Jeruel." 
With  this  reference  to  El  Hasasah  corresponds 
the  rendering  of  the  name  V'jfn  uv  'A««7s  in  the 

Sept.,  whereas  certainly  Josephus  renders  the 
name  by  &vu.fc*tri:  Xiy^fikvn  i&x,*s  (Antiq.  ix.  1.  2), 
and  thus  conceives  it  as  if  it  were  V"V   (il°x.<i) 

with  the  article  ;  were  this  view,  the  necessity  of 
which  is  by  no  means  established  (comp.  Ew. 
Gesch.  2d  edit.  iii.  p.  475),  confirmed,  the  hill  of 
Ziz  would  have  to  be  identified  with  the  steep 
pass  over  Ain  Jidy  (Robinson,  ii.  438,  44  i). — 
Ver.   17.    Ye  shall  not  have  to  fight  here.      J1NT3. 

in  this  conHict  with  so  great  a  multitude  of  foes  ; 
comp.  ver.  15. — Vers.  13,  19.  Thanksgiving  of 
Jehoshaphat  and  the  People  for  the  encouraging 
Promise  by  the  Prophet. — Ami  the  Lerites  of  the 
sons  of  Kohath  and  of  the  Korhites.     The  second 

1  before  D'mpn  %33"|D  may  he  only  explicative, 

as  the  Korhites  descended  from  Kohath,  1  Chron. 
vi.  18,  22. — Vers.  20-23.  The  divine  promise  is 
fulfilled  by  an  unexpected  self-destruction  of  the 
foemen. — And  as  they  went  forth,  JeluishapluU 
stood  up,  probably  in  the  gate  by  which  t  la- 
warriors  went  forth  (the  valley  or  dung-gate,  at 
all  events  one  of  those  facing  the  south).  On  the 
words',  "believe,  and  ye  shall  be  established," 
comp.  Isa.  vii.  9,  xxviii.  16  ;  Deut.  i.  32.  —  Ver. 
21.  And  he  advised  the  people,  busied  himself  as 
a  sound  adviser  (VJJV),  by  exhorting  to  confi- 
dence in  God  ;  in  a  similar  sense  stands  px  yyrf 
in  2  Kings  vi.  8. — And  appointed  men  singing 
unto  the  Lord  (^  in  nin^  as  nota  genitivi),  and 
praising  in  holy  beauty  :  'pTITin?,  as  otherwise 
'P'JVnna,  I  Chron.  xvi.  29  ;  Ps.  xxix.  2,  ex.  3. 
—Ver.  22.  And  at  the  time  .  .  .  the  Lord  set  an 
ambush.     D'aiNO  signifies  insidiatorts,    insidiue 

(Vulg.),  as  in  Judg.  ix.  25.  By  these  waylayers 
cannot  be  meant  angels  sent  by  God  (Piseat.  and 
other  ancients,  Ew.,  Kamph.,  Berth. —doubtful 
H.  Schultz,  Theol.  des  A.  T.  ii.  3221  ;  for  such 
an  interference  of  supernatural  powers,  good  or 
evil,   must   have   been   clearly   indicated  (as   in 

2  Kings  vi.  17,  xix.  35).  As  little  can  the 
£U"»KO  be  waylaying  Jews,  because  the  Jews, 
according  to  vera.  15,  17,  24,  were  merely  spec- 
tators of  the  bloody  encounter  between  their 
opponents.  The  waylaying  without  doubt  was 
done  by  a  part  of  the  confederates  themselves, 
probably  some  of  the  Meunites,  the  inhabitants 
of  mount  Seir,  who,  being  eager  for  booty,  had 
laid  the  crafty  ambush,  on  whose  sudden  assault 
the  Ammonites  and  Moabites  must  have  regarded 
'heir  Meunite  allies  as  traitors,  and  thereupon 
opened  the  wild  game  of  the  self-slaughter  of  their 
irmy.  Thus  in  the  main,  by  comparison  with  the 
partly  similar  event  in  Judg.  vii.  22  ff.,  J.  H.  Mich., 


Cler.,  Calm.,  etc.,  and  recently  Keil  and  Hengst. 
(Gesch.  des  R.  G.  ii.  2,  213  f.).  the  latter  of 
whom   appears   inclined   to   find  in  Q'ilKO  an 

allusion  to  the  name  Arabs  ("the  predatory 
swarms,"  he  thinks,  of  the  tribes  of  Arabia 
Petrsea  and  Deserta  might  have  joined  the 
Idunueans),  and  to  lay  down  a  hypothesis  similar 
to  that  of  K.  H.  Sack  (Theol.  Aufsdtze,  Gotha 
1871),  who  wishes  to  make  Arabs  (D'iljj)    also 

of  the  ravens  (D'31'y)  of  Elijah,  1   Kings  xvii 

6.  Comp.  also  Schlottmann,  p.  611,  who 
endeavours  to  make  out  the  fanaticism  of  the 
Ammonites  and  Moabites,  as  heathenish  poly- 
theistic opponents  of  the  monotheistic  Edomites, 
to  be  one  of  the  causes  of  the  massacre,  but  over 
looks  the  fact  that  the  Edomites  had  properly  no 
part  in  the  affair. — Ver.  23.  And  ivhen  they  laid 
ended  with  the  inhabitants  of  mount  Seir,  had 
completely  massacred  them  hi  the  affray  that 
arose  ;  comp.  Dan.  xi.  44.  On  the  words:  "they 
helped  to  destroy  one  another,"  comp.,  for  the 
substantive  JTnK'O,  xxih   4  ;  Ezek.   v.  16  ;  Dan. 

x.  8. — Vers.  24-30.  The  Impression  of  the  Event 
on  the  Jews  and  their  Neighbours. — And  Judali 
came  to  the  watch-tower  in  the  wilderness,  to  an 
elevated  point,  a  rising  ground  not  far  from 
Tekoa,  whence  the  wilderness  of  Jeruel  (ver.  16) 
might  be  surveyed. — And  none  escaped:  so  at 
least  it  appeared.  The  statement  is  to  be  under- 
stood as  ideal,  and  not  strictly  real. — Ver.  25. 
And  they  found  with  them  in  abundance,  goods 
and  corpses,    and  costly   vessels.      Intermediate 

between  WQ~\,  "goods, " and  nilDil  ^3,  "costly 

vessels"  (comp.  Dan.  xi.  38),  are  named  "corpses," 
obviously  very  surprising.     The  reading  QHJ3, 

garments,  should  therefore  at  once  receive  the  pre- 
ference ;  comp.  Judg.  viii.  25  f. — And  they  stripped 
off  for  themselves  more  than  they  could  carry, 
literally,  "to  nothing  of  carrying";  comp.  Num. 
iv.  24. — Ver.  26.  And  on  the  fourth  day  they 
assembled  in  the  valley  of  blessing.  This  "vale  of 
blessing"  (Emek-berachah)  must  be  sought  near 
the  field  of  battle.  It  is  evidently  the  present 
Wady  Bereikut,  west  of  Tekoa,  near  the  road 
leading  from  Jerusalem  to  Hebron,  in  which 
pretty  broad  and  open  valley  the  ruins  of  a  place 
of  the  name  of  Bereikut  are  still  preserved  (Robin- 
son, Phys.  Geogr.  p.  106)  ;  comp.  the  Caphar 
Baruka  of  Jerome  in  the  Vita  S.  Paula,  with  its 
outlook  on  the  Dead  Sea.  It  is  inadmissible, 
with  Thenius  and  Hitzig  (on  Joel  iv.  2,  12,  and 
Gesch.  p.  lyy),  to  make  this  valley  of  blessing  the 
same  with  the  Kidron  or  the  valley  of  Jehosha- 
phat. For  though  Joel  iv.  11  f.  names  the  site 
of  the  present  battle  "the  valley  of  Jehosha- 
phat," it  does  not  follow  from  this  poetico-pro- 
phetical  designation  that  he  had  in  view  the 
upper  valley  of  Kidron  afterwards  so  called, 
which  bears  this  name  first  in  Eusebius,  but 
nowhere  in  the  sacred  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testament  (see  Berth,  on  this  passage). — 
Ver.  27.  Por  the  Lord  had  made  them  glad  over 
their  enemies  ;  comp  Ezra  vi.  22  ;  Neh.  xii.  43. — 
Ver.  29.  And  the  fear  of  God  was  upon  all  the 
kingdoms  of  the  countries  bordering  on  Judah. 
On  the  "fear  of  God,"  comp.  xvii  10  ;  on  the 
last  words,  xv.  15,  xiv.  4. 


CHAP.  XX.  31-37. 


21i 


7.  End  of  the  Reign  of  Jehoshaphat  :  vers. 
31-37.  Comp.  1  Kings  xxii.  41-51,  a  section 
which  there  forms  the  whole  account  of  the  reign 
of  Jehoshaphat,  but  is  therefore  amplified  with 
some  notices  that  are  wanting  here — 1.  With  tin- 
statement  that  "Jehoshaphat  had  peace  with  the 
king  of  Israel,"  ver.  45  (which  appeared  superflu- 
ous here  on  account  of  x\-iii.  1  ff.);  2.  With  a 
passing  reference  to  Jehoshaplut's  might  and 
great  deeds,  ver.  46  (which  is  wanting  here  in  the 
corresponding  ver.  34,  because  the  most  import- 
ant of  these  great  deeds  have  been  here  recorded 
at  length  in  ch.  xvii.-xx. );  3.  With  a  remark  on 
the  removal  of  the  rest  of  the  Sodomites  out  of 
the  land,  ver.  47  (which  is  wanting  here,  because 
in  the  time  of  Asa,  xvi.,  no  notice  is  taken  of 
these  Sodomites  who  are  mentioned  in  1  Kings 
xv.  12) ;  4.  With  the  notice  that  Edom  had  no 
king,  but  only  a  deputy,  ver  48  (which  is  here 
omitted  as  unimportant).  To  these  enlargements, 
as  exhibited  in  the  account  in  1  Kings  compared 
with  our  own,  are  added  some  partly  formal, 
partly  material,  deviations,  which  are  set  forth  in 
the  sequel. — Ver.  33.  The  people  hail  not  yet 
directed  their  heart.  For  this  1  Kings  xxii.  44 
has:  "the  people  offered  and  burnt  incense  yet 
in  the  high  places"  (comp.  2  Kings  xii.  4,  xiv.  4, 
xv.  4,  etc.). — Ver.  34.  The  rest  of  the  acts  if 
Jehoshaphat  .  .  .  are  written  in  the.  words  of  Jehu 
eon  of  Hanani.  Comp.  on  this  citation,  for 
which  in  1  Kings  we  find  merely  "  the  book  of 
the  Chronicles  of  the  kings  of  .ludah,"  Introd.  §  5, 
No.  2. — Ver.  35.  And  afterwards  Jeltoshaphat 
allied  himself  with  Ahaziah :  he  (Ahaziah,  not 
Jehoshaphat,  as  Berth,  thinks)  was  wicked  in  his 
doing.  This  introduction,  containing  an  un- 
favourable judgment  on  the  covenant  with  Ahaziah 
(similar  to  that  pronounced  on  the  affinity  with 
Ahab,  xviii.  1),  to  the  narrative  of  the  unfortu- 
nate sea-voyage  from  Ezion-geber,  is  wanting  in 
1  Kings.     The  p"<inx  points  only  in  general  to 

the  time  after  the  victory  over  the  Ammonites, 
Moabites,  and  .Meunites.  The  date  of  the  present 
undertaking  follows  more  exactly  from  this,  that 
Ahaziah  came  to  the  throne  in  the  seventeenth 
year  of  Jehoshaphat,  897  or  896,  and  reigned  two 
years,  that  is,  till  about  894  B.C.— Ver.  36.  To 
make  ships  to  go  to  Tarshish.  On  the  contrary, 
1  Kings  xxii.  49  has  :  "Jehoshaphat  made  ships 
of  Tarshish  to  go  to  Ophir  for  gold."  The  easiest 
solution  of  this  difference  is  the  assumption  of  an 
error  on  the  part  of  the  Chronist,  who  made  out 
of  the  ships  of  Tarshish  ships  going  to  Tarshish  ; 
comp.  Introd.  §  6,  p.  25.  But  if  we  must  rather 
harmonize  the  two  accounts,  we  must  assume 
either — a.  a  Tarshish  in  the  direction  of  Ophir, 
and  thus  to  the  east  or  south-east,  different  from 
the  Spanish  Tarsis-Tartessus  (with  Seetzen  and 
others;  comp.  excursus  on  ch.  viii.,  No.  1),  or  b. 
that  the  confederates  had  designed  both  a  voyage 
to  Ophir  in  the  east  and  a  voyage  to  Tarsis  in  the 
west,  for  the  latter  of  which  either  a  circumnavi- 
gation of  Africa  round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  or 
a  crossing  of  Lower  Egypt  by  the  canal  of  Seti 
(between  the  Sin.  Heroopolitanus  and  the  Nile) 
must  have  been  contemplated. — Ver.  37.  And 
Eliezer  son  of  Dodaeah  of  Mareshah  jyrophesied, 
a  prophet  only  named  here  and  known  by  the 
present  utterance.  On  the  name  Dodavahu,  see 
Crit.  Note  ;  for  Mareshah,  on  1  Chron.  xi.  8.— 
Were  not  able,  to  go  to  Tarshish.    -|VJ?>  as  ™L  20> 


xiv.  10,  and  elsewhere.  On  the  repeated  invita- 
tion of  Ahaziah  to  Jehoshaphat  to  prosecute  the 
undertaking,  when  it  failed  at  first  through  this 
mishap  and  Jehoshaphat's  refusal,  our  author  says 
nothing  ;  otherwise  1  Kings  xxii.  50. 


EVANGELICAL  AND  ETHICAL  REFLECTIONS,  HOMI- 
LET1C  AND  APOLOGETIC  OBSEKVATIONS,  ON 
CH.   XVI  I. -XX. 

1.   The  history  of  Jehoshaphat,  as  our  ajthor 
relates  it,   ertainly  exceeds  that  winch  is  recorded 
of  him  in  the  book  of  Kings  in  the  richness  and 
multiplicity  of  its  details.     But  it  furnishes  no 
exhaustive   or   complete   picture   of  that   which 
Jehoshaphat   did    in    war   and   peace  during  the 
twenty-five  years  of  his  reign  (915-891),    as  is 
manifest   from   this,   that   the  campaign  against 
Mesha  of  Moab,  undertaken  in  conjunction  with 
Joram  of  Israel  (2  Kings  iii.),  that  fell  probably 
in  one  of  the  later  years  of  Ins  reign  (at  least  alter 
the    erection   of    the    monument    ot    Mesha,    as 
Sehlottmann  has  shown,  Stud.  it.  Krit.  1871,  p. 
614  fl'.),   is   altogether  omitted.       But  with   the 
completeness,  a  simple,  well-grounded  homogene- 
ous form  is  wanting  in  the  present  description. 
The  varied  sources  used  gleam  forth  throughout  ; 
the  accounts  of  war  and  peace  alternate  without 
internal   organic   connection  ;   the  whole   by   no 
means  bears  the  character  of  a  narrative  produced 
at  a  single  casting  (comp.  Berth,  p.  350).     Yet  a 
certain  plan  and  an  overruling  simple  principle 
cannot  be  unobserved  in  the  present  sketch.     It 
is  obviously  the  aim  of  the  author  to  draw  in  the 
reign  of  Jehoshaphat  the  picture  of  a  government 
richly  blessed  of  God,  and  internally,  as  well  as 
externally,  powerful  from  the  good  old  times  of 
the  yet  unimpaired  theocracy.     The  fundamental 
thought    which    seems    to    bind    the    narrative 
together  he  expresses  in  the  twice  repeated  sen- 
tence, that  "a  teiTor  of  God  came  over  all  the 
kingdoms  of  the  countries,"  with  which  he  accom- 
panies first  the  rule  of  Jehoshaphat  as  prince  of 
peace  (xvii.  10),  and  next  the  great  discomfiture 
of  the  confederate  nations,   Moab,   Ammon,   and 
Edom  (xx.  29).     It  is  the  possession  of  a  power 
far-ruling,  spreading  on  all  sides  great  fear  and 
awe,  solid,  and  resting  on  purely  theocratic  senti- 
ment   and    organic    development   of    the    inner 
powers   of    the   theocratic    constitution,    not   on 
tyranny  and  conquest,  which  our  author  finds  to 
admire  and  celebrate  in  Jehoshaphat.     Hence  he 
industriously  sets  forth,  along  with  his  orthodox 
reform  of  religion,  and  his  endeavours  to  raise  as 
high  as  possible  the  defensive  and  military  power 
of  the  Jewish  state  (ch.  xvii.  2,  14  If. ),  that  also 
which  was  undertaken  by  him  for  the  upholding 
of  the  administration  of  justice,  in  particular  the 
institution  of  a  supreme  court  of  judicature  at 
Jerusalem  (xix.   8-111.     He  therefore  relates  of 
his  military  undertakings  chiefly  those  which  were 
either  accompanied  with  decisive   consequences, 
or  in  which  at  least  God's  protective  power  and 
gracious  help  were  realized  to  him  on  account  of 
his  theocratic  inclination  ;  thua,  of  the  two  wars 
which,  according  to  1   Kings  xxii.  2tf.,  2  Kings 
iii.    Iff.,    he   undertook   as   confederate   of    the 
northern  kingdom,  the  former,  that  issued  more 
fortunately  for  him  (that  against  the  Syrians  in 
Kamoth-gilead,  xviii. ),  is  described  at  full  length, 
and  with  all  the  characteristic  traits  found  in  the 
source  common  to  him  and  the  author  of  the  book 


218 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


of  Kings  ;  whereas  he  makes  no  mention  of  the 
secomC  waged  along  with  Joram  against  Mcsha  of 
Moab,  probably  on  account  of  its  loss  favourable 
or  at  least  nearly  barren  issue.1  Finally,  on  ac- 
count of  the  wish  to  depict  in  Jehoshaphat  the 
representative  of  the  Jewish  state  developed  to  its 
full  power  before  the  captivity,  he  expressly  places 
him  on  a  par  with  David  his  -'father'  (forefather); 
he  makes  him  therefore  enjoy  the  favour  and  help 
of  Jehovah,  because  he  walked  in  "  the  former 
wavs  of  David,"  that  is,  he  worshipped  God  in 
the'  main  at  least,  and  irrespective  of  the  worship 
still  tolerated  here  and  there  on  the  high  places, 
in  a  theocratieally  pure  and  lawful  way  (xyn.  3). 
With  Solomon,  of  whom  Jehoshaphat  likewise 
reminds  us  as  a  prince  of  peace,  as  a  wise  and  cir- 
cumspect father  of  his  country,  and  as  an  upholder 
of  the  administration  of  jus-dee,  he  does  not  com- 
pare him,  probably  because,  first,  a  characteristic 
element  of  the  reign  of  Solomon,  its  great  pomp 
and  splendid  wealth,  appears  to  have  been  want- 
ing in  the  kingdom  of  Jehoshaphat,  and  .secondly, 
notwithstanding  his  endeavours  after  peace  his 
reign  had  taken  a  far  less  peaceful  course  than 
that  of  the  great  Shelomoh  (peaceful). 

2.  Jehoshaphat  is  the  glorious,  pious,  and 
mighty  David  of  the  southern  kingdom  :  to  this 
result  points  the  whole  narrative  of  our  author. 
From  this  point  of  view  also  will  the  prodigious 
numbers  be  estimated  which  he  gives  in  describ- 
ing the  disposable  forces  of  Judah  and  Benjamin 
under  his  reign.  The  there  mentioned  780,000 
Jews  and  3S0.000  Benjamites  can  scarcely  be 
accepted  as  literally  true.  Their  near  approach 
to  the  numbers  resulting  from  the  census  taken 
by  David  (1  Chron.  xxi.  5)  seems  intended  to 
convey  the  idea  that  the  kingdom  of  Judah  alone 
had  under  Jehoshaphat,  the  altar  David,  attained 
a  strength  which  almost  matched  the  power  of  the 
twelve  still  united  tribes  under  the  first  David 
(1,100,000  Israelites  and  470,000  Jews),  that 
Judah  by  itself  alone  had  now  developed  a  num- 
ber and  power  which  surpassed  that  ot  the 
northern  tribes  at  that  earlier  period.  If  this 
be  the  meaning  of  those  numbers,  the  less  ob- 
jection needs  be  made  to  their  surprising  magni- 
tude ;  their  ideal  character  is  also  plain  from  the 
whole  connection  ;  and  there  is  as  little  need  to 
have  recourse  to  the  assumption  of  some  error  in 
the  transcribing  of  the  numbers  or  numeral  letters, 
—  an  expedient,  besides,  which  seems  scarcely 
admissible,  on  account  of  the  proportionality  of 
the  numbers  in  the  several  divisions  of  the  troops, 
as  to  that  of  legendary  extravagance  or  arbitrary 
fiction,  whether  it  be  that  of  the  Chronwt  or  of 
his  older  voucher  (perhaps  the  prophet  Jehu, 
oh.  xx.  34).2 


3.   How  far,  therefore,  the  author  was  from  im 
parting  to  the  here  and  there  ideally  -coloured 
picture  which  he  drew  of  the  great  heroic  king 
the   form  of  a   panegyric   legend  or  a   fabulous 
eulogium;  how  true,  on  the  contrary,  he  remained 
to  his  oifice  as  a  historian,— is  shown  by  the  cir- 
cumstance that  here  also,  as  in  the  ease  of  David, 
Asa,  etc.,   he  adds  the  shade  to  the  light,   and 
by  no   means  passes  over  in   silence  a  series  of 
less   favourable   traits  of  the   administration   of 
Jehoshaphat.     Especially  his  affinity  with  Ahab, 
the  idolatrous  king  of  Israel,  is  duly  set  forth  as 
a  fatal  deviation  from  the  path  of  theocratic  purity 
and  strictness  (comp.  Ezra  ix.  I  ff'.,  x.  1  ff. ;  Neh. 
ix.  2,  xiii.  23  If. )  to  the  slippery  ground  of  inter- 
national  friendship   or   affinity   with    idolatrous 
neighbours  (comp.    Solomon's   Egyptian    spouse, 
vni.   11   f.).     On  account  of  this  step,  and  the 
consequent  often  going  hand  in  hand  with  Israel 
in   warlike  expeditions,  the  king  had  repeatedly 
to  undergo  censure  by  the  mouth  of  God-inspired 
prophets,  first  by  the  stout  Jehu  ben  Hanani,  who 
directly  charged  him  with  helping  the  wicked, 
and  loving   them  that  hate  the  Lord   (xix.   2), 
afterwards  by  Eliezer  ben  Dodavah,  who  places 
the  failure  of  the  voyage  from  Ezion-geber  under 
the  character  of  a  divine  correction  for  drawing 
in  one  yoke  with  the  unbelieving  (xx.  37).     On 
the  part  of  two  other  prophets,  indeed,  who  are 
introduced  in  our  section,  he  encounters  no  such 
rebuke:    Michah  son  of  Imlah  treats  him  when 
standing  out  beside  Ahab  in  the  favourable  light 
of  a  relatively  theocratic  prince,  with  mild  forbear- 
ance, and  favours  him  with  the  promise  of  a  "re- 
turn in  peace  "  from  the  defeat  and  dispersion  of 
the  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel  (xviii.  16):  and  so 
what  the  Levite  Jahaziel  says,  before  setting  out 
to  the  war  with   the   eastern   nations,   includes 
nothing   but   admonitions  to   take   courage,  and 
promises  of  deliverance  by  the  strong  hand  of  the 
Lord    (xx.    14-17).       But   certainly   the   critical 
situations  to  which  these  prophetic  words  refer 
are  in  and  of  themselves  sufficiently  serious  and 
menacing :  they  are  crises  introduced  by  the  fault 
of  the  king,  by  his  inconsiderate  entering  into 
ungodly  alliances  and  relations,  feeble  preludes  of 
that  which  the  unhappy  marriage  of  his  son  with 
the  daughter  of  Jezebel  should  afterwards  bring 
down   in    heavy    judgments   on   his    house   and 
people.     On  this  account,  in  the  dangerous  pos- 
ture of  affairs  introduced  in  this  way,  along  with 
solemn  rebuke,  comforting  encouragement  was  in 
place;    the   certainly   guilty   king,   deserving   of 
punishment,  but  not  in  the  same  degree  as  the 
sovereigns  of  Israel,  was  yet  one  with  whom,  as 
the  rough  Jehu  acknowledged,     "good    things 
were  found"  (xix.  3).     He  deserved  along  with 


»  The  passage  2  Kings  iii.  276  imports  in  any  ca  e  an 
■ssuenf  the  war  with  Moab  not  quite  favourable  to  Joram 
and  Jehoshaphat  even  though  we  understand  theexpression : 
"and  there  was  great  indignation  concerning  Israel,  only 
of  the  disple.sure  and  abh.nTe  ce  of  the  human  sacrifice 
offered  hy  the  king  of  Moab,  and  the  consequent  retreat  fi ntn 
the  country  of  the  enemy  (»»  also  Balir  on  the  passage). 
But  the  question  is.  whether  Schlottmann  (p.  018  f.)  is  not 
right  in  thinking  of  a  divinely  sent  calamity,  such  as  a 
plague,  bv  which  the  united  army  of  Israel  and  Judah  was 
forced  to  a  speedy  retreat  under  heavy  losses.  In  ill's  case 
the  Chronist  would  have  had  so  much  the  more  ground  for 
the  omission  of  this  record.  . 

2  Moreover,  that  which  Neteler  adduces  (p  813  I.)  In 
support  of  their  numbers  in  their  literal  sens-  descries 
attention.  1.  The  tribe  of  Simeon  at  this  time  belonged  to 
the  tnl,.-  of  Judah  (xix.  4?).  by  which  ill.-  mm, her  ol 
warriois  of  the  latter,  amounting  to  almost  800,000  men,  i» 


explained;  2.  The  Philistines  (?)  and  the  Edomites,  who 
were  tributary  to  Judah.  may  have  been  compelled  to  add 
their  contingent  to  his  force:  3.  If  we  reckon  the  auxiliary 
troops  of  Simeon,  Philistia,  and  Edom  at  200,000  men,  of 
the  remaning  HDD. 000  Jewish  troop*  on  an  average,  20,000 
men  were  due  to  each  of  the  120  cities  which  belonged  to 
the  tribe  (Josh,  xv.)  which  does  not  seem  unnaturally  high, 
as  numerous  villages  belonged  to  each  of  these  cities;  4. 
An  increase  of  130,000  men  fit  to  bear  arms  since  the 
census  of  David,  in  a  period  of  three  generations,  is  nothing 
wonderful,  especially  with  tile  accession  of  ninny  from  the 
Other  tribes  to  the  southern  kingdom,  if  we  consider  the 
extraordinary  fertility  of  the  land,  the  small  means  of  sub- 
sistence required  in  the  south  and  the  industrial  produc- 
tivity of  the  Jews  »t  that  time.  A  somewhat  satisfactory 
ac  ■o'unt  would  thus  he  furni  bed  with  regard  to  the  780,000 
Jewish  troops.  But  how  stands  it  with  the  380,000  warriors 
whom  the  small  rocky  and  mountainous  tePTto-y  of  Benja- 
min had  to  produce? 


CHAP.  XXI. 


219 


reproving  instruction  also  strengthening  encour- 
agement, that  lie  might  continue  to  walk  in  the 
ways  of  his  fathers  David  and  Asa  (xvii.  3,  xx. 

32i.  He  was  worthy  to  be  aroused  to  abide  in 
the  path  of  theo  :ratic  righteousness,  that  at  least 
under  li is  rule  the  inevitable  evil  elfects  of  that 
affinity  with  an  idolatrous  house  might  be  re- 
strained as  far  as  possible,  and  the  people  retained 
in  that  moderate  state  of  piety  and  morality 
which  is  indicated  (xx.  33)  by  the  sentence  :  "the 
people  had  not  yet  directed  their  heart  to  the 
God  of  their  fathers."  What  he  himself  says 
and  does,  also,  in  conformity  with  such  encourag- 
ing and  strengthening  words  of  the  prophets, 
bears  the  stamp  of  true  repentance,  humble 
acknowledgment  of  his  guilt,  and  firm  continuance 
in  the  path  of  righteousness.  As  the  reproof  of 
Jehu  appears  to  have  wrought  in  him  the  counter- 
part of  that  which  Asa  had  once  done  on  the 
occasion  of  a. similar  announcement  from  Hauani 
his  father  (conip.  xix.  4  ff.\,  so  his  address  in  the 
campaign  against  the  eastern  nations  to  the  people, 
or  lather  in  the  name  of  the  people  to  the  Lord 
(xx.  6-11),  vies  with  the  following  prophetic 
utterance  of  Jahaziel  in  realizing  firm  confidence 
in  God  and  triumphant  faith.  It  is,  however,  a 
confidence  in  God  resting  on  the  ground  of  peni- 
tent and  believing  confession  of  sin  which  he 
here  expresses  ;  it  is  a  truly  penitent  and  believ- 
ing resignation  to  the  divine  grace  working  all  in 
all,  an  essentially  evangelical  experience  ot  salva- 
tion, whence  his  subsequent  admonition  to  his 
warriors  :  "  Believe,  and  ye  shall  be  established  " 
(xx.  20),  springs,  a  monitory  and  prophetic  word, 
in  which  lie  himself  becomes  a  prophet,  a  pro- 
phetic type,  and  a  presumptive  prophetic  source, 
from  which  the  greatest  of  the  Old  Testament 
seers  for  a  century  and  a  half  afterwards,  in  all 
probability,  drew  their  almost  literally  coinciding 
words  (see  on  this  passage).  At  all  events,  the  as- 
sumption that  Isaiah,  the  seer  of  Davidic  princely 
blood,  consciously  rested  on  this  believing  word 
of  a  royal  ancestor,  that  might  have  been  early 
celebrated  on  account  of  the  divine  blessing 
attending  it,  is  a  good  deal  more  natural  than 
either  the  assertion  of  an  only  accidental  depend- 
ence of  the  similar  phrases,  or  than  the  easy 
expedient  of  a  thoughtless  hyper-criticism,  accord- 
ing to  which  the  Chronist  made  his  royal  hero 
speak  after  the  manner  of  Isaiah,  or  use  a  play  of 
words  borrowed  from  this  prophet. 

4.  It  is,  before  all,  the  antique,  thoroughly 
fresh,  and  concrete  characteristic,  foreign  like- 
wise to  the  tone  of  mythical  legend  or  arbitrary 
invention  in  the  sources,  as  they  lie  clearly  dis- 
cernible at  the  ground  of  our  author's  narrative', 
irhich  must  be  set  forth  in  an  apologetic  respect, 
and  maintained  with  all  emphasis  against  such 
doubts  as  that  above  indicated,  with  respect  to 
the  originality  of  Jehoshaphat's  iddress,  xx.  20  ; 
or  as  Gramberg's  and  Credner's  conje  tare  (ex- 
pressed on  Joei  iv.  11),  that  the  whole  narrative 
xx.  1-30  is  nothing  but  a  free,  half-poetical  re- 
modelling of  the  shirt  statement  in  2  Kings  iii. 
23  f.  With  regard  to  the  character  of  our  chap- 
ter as  supported  throughout  by  definite  histori- 


cal traditions  and  solid  sources,  Movers  and 
Bertheau  hive  already  made  striking  rt marks; 
comp.  the  latter,  p.  :5 4!t  if. :  "1.  In  tie-  accounts 
of  Jehoshaphat's  institutions,  which  were  de- 
signed to  spread  the  knowledge  of  the  law  ami 
secure  to  his  people  an  orderly  administration  o', 
justice,  the  many  details  and  names  (among 
others,  that  of  the  high  priest  Aini.iali,  xix.  11, 
who  was  also  in  other  accounts  a  contemporary 
of  Jehoshaphat)  are  a  sure  proof  of  this,  that  our 
historian  found  exact  statements  in  his  sources, 
if  he  also  elaborated  the  historical  material  in  his 
own  way.  2.  This  applies  also  to  the  reports  of 
the  defensive  preparations  and  the  division  of 
the  army,  xvii.  15-19.  3.  In  the  remarkable 
narrative  of  the  battle  in  which  the  Moabites, 
Ammonites,  and  Meunites  destroyed  one  another 
(xx.  1-30),  we  discern,  indeed,  throughout  the 
mode  of  thought  and  style  peculiar  to  our  author, 
but  we  discover  also  very  distinct  historical  re- 
collections :  the  localities  are  exactly  described, 
vers.  16-20;  the  designation  'new  court'  is 
found  only  in  ver.  5  (it  must  be  taken  from  a 
source  in  which  the  new  building  was  mentioned) - 
the  series  of  the  forefathers  of  Jahaziel,  ver.  14, 
is  a  proof  that  he  had  already  drawn  the  atten- 
tion of  the  older  writers  to  him.  who  were  in  a 
position  to  give  an  account  of  his  forefathers. 
This  battle  of  extermination  was  before  the  mind 
of  the  prophet  Joel  when  he  called  the  place  ot 
the  divine  decision  '  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat ' 
(comp.  on  xx.  26).  .  .  .  The  statement  in  2 
Kings  iii.  23  refers  to  a  quite  different  situation  ; 
and  as  it  might  have  presented  the  starting-point 
and  the  historical  ground  for  the  reports  in 
2  Chron.  xx.,  it  is  not  to  he  overlooked.  4. 
Finally,  our  author  must  have  found  reports  of  the 
action  of  the  prophets  Jehu  (xix  2  f. )  and  Eliezer 
(xx.  37),  since  he  tells  of  the  contents  of  their 
speeches  in  their  own  words.  The  brief  report 
also  in  1  Kings  xxii.  41-51  seems  to  point  to 
the  contents  of  several  narratives  of  Chronicles  : 
1  Kings  xxii  47  refers  to  the  extirpation  of 
idolatry  (2  Chron.  xvii.  3-6)  ;  1  Kings  xxii. 
46  speaks  of  the  military  force  of  Jehoshaphat, 
of  which  2  Chron.  xvii.  2,  10-19  treats  more 
fully,"  and  so  forth.  To  the  arguments  for  its 
authenticity  here  set  forth,  mostly  taken  from  the 
internal  value  of  the  sources  of  our  section,  with 
which  are  to  be  compared  the  apologetic  discus- 
sions of  Kleinert  (Das  Deuteronomium,  etc.,  p. 
141)  respecting  the  law  reform  of  Jehoshaphat 
in  its  relation  to  Deut.  xvii.,  is  to  be  added  a 
weighty,  if  only  indirect  and  extra-biblical,  testi- 
mony— the  recently  -  discovered  inscription  of 
Meslia  king  of  Moab,  a  highly-important  monu- 
mental document  for  the  history  of  one  of  the 
neighbouring  states  of  the  kingdom  of  Jehosha- 
phat, which  serves  to  confirm,  at  least  in  general, 
the  historical  relations  as  our  section  represents 
them,  and,  especially  in  a  chronological  respect, 
in  so  far  as  it  proceeds  most  probably  from  the 
time  between  the  campaign  described  in  eh.  xviii. 
and  that  in  ch.  xx.,  fits  well  into  the  series  of 
events  here  described  ;  comp.  Schlottmann,  as 
quoted,  especially  p.  621  11'. 


e.  Joram:  The  Letter  of  the  Prophet  Elijah. — Ch.  xxi. 

Ch.  xxi.  1.  And  Jehoshaphat  slept  with  his  fathers,  and  was  buried  w  th  his  fathers 
in  the  city  ol  David  ;  and  Joram  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 


220  II.  CHRONICLES. 


2  And  he  had  brethren,  sons  of  Jehos'iaphat,  Azariah  and  Jehiel,  and 
Zechariah  and  Azariah.  and  Michael  and  Sliephatiah :  all  these  were  sons  of 

3  Jehoshaphat  king  of  Judah.  And  their  father  gave  them  many  gifts  of 
silver  and  of  gold  and  of  precious  things,  with  fenced  cities  in  Judah  ;  but 

4  the  kingdom  gave  he  to  Joram,  because  he  was  the  first-oorn.  And  Joram 
went  up  to  the  kingdom  of  his  father,  and  strengthened  himseff,  and  slew  all 
his  brethren  with  the  sword,  and  also  some  of  the  princes  of  Israel. 

5  Joram  was  thirty  and  two  years  old  when  he  became  king,  and  he  reigned 

6  eight  years  in  Jerusalem.  And  he  walked  in  the  way  of  the  kings  of  Israel, 
as  the  house  of  Ahab  did ;  for  he  had  a  daughter  of  Ahab  to  wife  :  and  he 

7  did  that  which  was  evil  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord.  And  the  Lord  would  not 
destroy  the  house  of  David,  because  of  the  covenant  that  He  had  made  with 
David,  and  as  He  had  promised  to  give  a  light  to  him  and  his  sons  for  ever. — 

8  In  his  days  Edom  revolted  from  under  the  hand  of  Judah,  and  made  theni- 

9  selves  a  king.  And  Joram  went  over  with  his  princes,  and  all  the  chariots 
with  him ;  and  he  rose  up  by  night,  and  smote  Edom,  who  compassed  him, 

10  and  the  captains  of  the  chariots.  And  Edom  revolted  from  under  the  hand 
of  Judah  unto  this  day.     Then  Libnah  revolted  at  that  time  from  under  his 

11  hand,  because  he  had  forsaken  the  Lord  God  of  his  fathers.  He  also  made 
high  places  in  the  mountains '  of  Judah,  and  he  debauched  the  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem,  and  perverted  Judah. 

12  And  there  came  to  him  a  writing  from  Elijah  the  prophet,  saying,  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  God  of  David  thy  father,  Because  thou  hast  not  walked  in 
the  ways  of  Jehoshaphat  thy  father,  nor  in  the  ways  of  Asa  king  of  Judah. 

13  And  didst  walk  in  the  way  of  the  kings  of  Israel,  and  didst  debauch  Judah 
and  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  after  the  whoredom  of  the  house  of  Ahab  ; 
and  hast  also  slain  thy  brethren,  the  house  of  thy  father,  who  were  better 

14  than  thou.     Behold,  the  Lord  will  bring  a  great  plague  on  thy  people,  and 

15  thy  sons,  and  thy  wives,  and  all  thy  goods.  And  thou  shalt  be  in  great  sick- 
ness by  disease  of  thy  bowels,  until  thy  bowels  fall  out  from  the  sickness  in  a 
year  and  a  day. 

16  And  the  Lord  stirred  up  against  Joram  the  spirit  of  the  Philistines  and 

17  the  Arabs,  that  were  near  the  Ethiopians.  And  they  came  up  into  Judah. 
and  brake  into  it,  and  took  away  all  the  substance  that  was  found  in  the 
king's  house,  and  his  sons,  and  his  wives ;  and  not  a  son  was  left  him  but 

18  Jehoahaz,  the  youngest  of  his  sons.     And  after  all  this  the  Lord  smote  him 

19  in  his  bowels  with  an  incurable  disease.  And  it  came  to  pass  after  many 
days,  namely,  about  the  time  of  the  end  of  two  years,  his  bowels  fell  out 
with  his  sickness,  and   he  died  with  sore  pains  ;  and  his  people  made  no 

20  burning  for  him,  like  the  burning  of  his  fathers.  Thirty  and  two  years  old 
was  he  when  he  became  king,  and  he  reigned  eight  years  in  Jerusalem  ;  and 
he  departed  without  regret  ;2  and  they  buried  him  in  the  city  of  David,  but 
not  in  the  sepulchres  of  the  kings. 

/.  Ahaziah. — Ch.  xxii.  1-9. 
Cil.  xxii.  1.  And  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  made  Ahaziah,   his  youngest  son, 
king  in  his  stead  ;  for  the  troop  that  came  with  the  Arabs  to  the  camp  had 
slain  all  the  eldest :  and  Ahaziah  son  of  Joram  king  of  Judah  became  king. 

2  Forty  and  two  years  old  was  Ahaziah  when  he  became  king  ; 3  and  he  reigned 
one  year  in  Jerusalem :  and  his  mother's  name  was  Athaliah,  daughter  of 

3  Omri.     He  also  walked  in  the  ways  of  the  house  of  Ahab ;  for  his  mother 

4  was  his  counsellor  to  do  wickedly.  And  he  did  evil  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord, 
like  the  house  of  Ahab ;  for  they  were  his  counsellors  after  the  death  of  his 

5  father,  to  his  destruction.  He  also  walked  in  their  counsel,  and  went  with 
Joram  son  of  Ahab  king  of  Israel  to  war  against  Hazael  king  of  Syria  at 

6  Ramoth-gilead  :  and  the  Syrians  smote  Joram.  And  he  returned  to  be  healed 
in  Jezreel  of  the  wounds*  which  they  had  given  him  at  Ramah,  when  he 
fought  with  Haxael  king  of  Syria:  and  Ahaziah6  son  of  Joram  king  of  Judah 


CHAP.  XXII.  10-XXIII.  2i 

7  went  down  to  see  Joram  son  of  Ahab  at  Jezreel;  for  he  was  sick.  And  the 
downfall  of  Ahaziah  was  from  God,  in  coining  to  Joram  ;  and  when  he  came, 
he  went  out  with  Joram  against  Jehu  son  of  Nimslii,  whom  the  Loud  had 

8  anointed  to  cut  off  the  house  of  Ahab.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Jehu 
executed  judgment  upon  the  house  of  Ahab,  he  found  also  the  princes  of 
Judah,  and  the  sons  of  the  brethren  •  of  Ahaziah,  that  ministered  to  Ahaziah, 

9  and  slew  them.  And  he  sought  Ahaziah  ;  and  they  caught  him  when  he  was 
hiding  in  Samaria,  and  brought  him  to  Jehu,  and  slew  him,  and  buried  him  ; 
for  they  said,  He  is  the  son  of  Jehoshaphat,  who  sought  the  Lord  with  all 
his  heart  :  and  the  house  of  Ahaziah  had  none  to  retain  strength  for  the 
kingdom. 

<j.  Atiialiah's  Rkign  and  Fall.— Ch.  xxii.  10-xxiii. 

10  And  Athaliah  the  mother  of  Ahaziah  saw  that  her  son  was  dead,  and  she 

11  arose  and  destroyed  r  all  the  seed  of  the  kingdom  of  the  house  of  Judah.  And 
Jehoshabath  daughter  of  the  king  took  Joash  the  son  of  Ahaziah,  and  stole 
him  from  among  the  king's  sons  that  were  slain,  and  put  him  and  his  nurse 
in  a  bed  -  chamber  :  and  Jehoshabath,  daughter  of  King  Joram,  wife  of 
Jehoiada  the  priest, — for  she  was  Ahaziah's  sister, — hid  him  from  the  sight  of 

12  Athaliah  :  and  she  slew  him  not.  And  he  was  with  them  in  the  house  of 
God  hidden  six  years ;  and  Athaliah  reigned  over  the  land. 

Ch.  XXIH.  1.  And  in  the  seventh  year  Jehoiada  was  encouraged,  and  took  the 
captains  of  hundreds,  Azariah  son  of  Jeroham,  and  Ishmael  son  of  Johanan, 
and  Azariah  son  of  Oded,  and  Maaseiah  son  of  Adaiah,  and  Elishaphat  son  of 

2  Zichri,  into  covenant  with  him.  And  they  went  about  in  Judah,  and  gathered 
the  Levites  out  of  all  the  cities  of  Judah,  and  the  chiefs  of  the  fathers  of 

3  Israel,  and  they  came  to  Jerusalem.  And  all  the  congregation  made  a  cove- 
nant in  the  house  of  God  with  the  king  ;  and  he  said  unto  them,  Behold,  the 

4  king's  son  shall  reign,  as  the  Lord  hath  spoken  of  the  sons  of  David.  This 
is  the  thing  that  ye  shall  do  :  a  third  of  you,  who  enter  on  the  sabbath,  of 

5  the  priests  and  of  the  Levites,  shall  be  porters  at  the  thresholds.  And  a 
third  shall  be  at  the  king's  house  ;  and  a  third  at  the  gate  Jesod ;  and  all  the 

6  people  shall  be  in  the  courts  of  the  house  of  the  Lord.  And  none  shall  enter 
the  house  of  the  Lord,  but  the  priests,  and  they  that  minister  of  the  Levites  ; 
they  may  go  in,  for  they  are  holy  ;  and  all  the  people  shall  keep  the  ward  of 

7  the  Lord.  And  the  Levites  shall  surround  the  king,  every  man  with  his 
weapons  in  his  hand  :  and  whosoever  goeth  into  the  house  shall  be  put  to 
death  ;  and  ye  shall  be  with  the  king,  when  he  goeth  in  and  when  he  cometh 

8  out.  And  the  Levites  and  all  Judah  did  according  to  all  that  Jehoiada  the 
priest  commanded,  and  took  every  one  his  men  that  went  in  on  the  sabbath 
with  those  that  came  out  on  the  sabbath  :  for  Jehoiada  the  priest  had  not  dis- 

9  missed  the  courses.  And  Jehoiada  the  priest  gave  to  the  captains  of  hundreds 
spears  and  shields  and  arms,  that  had  been  King  David's,  which  were  in  the 

10  house  of  God.  And  he  set  all  the  people,  every  man  with  his  weapon  in  his 
hand,  from  the  right  to  the  left  side  of  the  house,  by  the  altar  and  by  the 

1 1  house,  round  about  the  king.  And  they  brought  out  the  king's  son,  and  gave 
unto  him  the  crown  and  the  testimony,  and  made  him  king :  and  Jehoiada 
and  his  sons  anointed  him,  and  said,  Long  live  the  king. 

1 2  And  Athaliah   heard  the  cry  of  the  people  running  and  praising  the 

13  king,  and  she  came  to  the  people  to  the  house  of  the  Lord.  And  she 
looked,  and,  behold,  the  king  stood  at  his  place  in  the  entrance,  and  the 
princes  and  the  trumpets  by  the  king  ;  and  all  the  people  of  the  land  were 
glad,  ami  blew  on  the  trumpets;  and  the  singers  with  instruments  of  song, 
and  the  leaders  of  praise:  and  Athaliah  rent  her  clothes,  and  said.  Conspiracy, 

14  conspiracy!  And  Jehoiada  the  priest  brought  out8  the  captains  of  hundreds, 
the  officers  of  the  host,  and  said  unto  them,  Bring  her  out  from  within  the 
ranges,  and  whoso  followeth  her  shall  be  slain  with  the  sword  :  for  the  priest 

15  had  said.  Slay  her  not  in  the  house  of  the  Lord.     And  they  gave  her  space, 


222 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


and  she  went  to  the  entrance  of  the  horse  gate0  by  the  king's  house,  and  they 
slew  her  there. 

16  And  Jehoiada  made  a  covenant  between   himself,  and  between  all  the 

17  people,  and  between  the  king,  that  they  should  be  the  Lord's  people.  Ami 
all  the  people  went  to  the  house  of  Baal,  and  pulled  it  clown,  and  brake  its 
altars  and  its  images;  and  Matthan  the  priest  of  Baal  they  slew  before  the 

18  altars.  And  Jehoiada  appointed  the  offices  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  by  the 
hand  of  the  priests,  the  Levites,  whom  David  had  distributed  in  the  house  of 
the  Lord,  to  offer  the  burnt  offerings  of  the  Lord,  as  it  is  written  in  the  law 

19  of  Moses,  with  gladness  and  with  song,  in  the  manner  of  David.  And  he  set 
the  porters  at  the  gates  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  that  the  unclean  might  not 

20  enter.  And  he  took  the  captains  of  hundreds,  and  the  nobles,  and  the  rulers 
of  the  people,  and  all  people  of  the  land,  and  brought  down  the  king  from 
the  house  of  the  Lord  :  and  they  went  through  the  high  gate  into  the  king's 

21  house,  and  set  the  king  on  the  royal  throne.  And  all  the  people  of  the  laud 
were  glad ;  and  the  city  was  quiet,  and  they  had  put  Athaliah  to  death  by 
the  sword. 


'  For  '"1D3,  "on  the  mountains,"  the  Sept.  and  Vulg.  read  ^VSi  "in  the  cities." 

*  rnon   N?3  the  Sept.  translates  olx.  U  %*aut*\  but  the  Vulg.:  non  recte  {ambidavitque  rton  recte).    So  Luther. 

and  walked  as  was  not  right." 

*  Instead  of  forty-two,  not  only  the  parallel  2  Kings  viii.  26.  but  also  the  Syr.  and  Arab  versions  (a?  well  as  some 
later  mss.  and  the  Aid.  edit,  of  the  Sept.),  give  "  twenty-two  years  " ;  but  the  Vulg.,  as  the  Masoretic  text  and  Sept.  ( AL 
2nd  Vat.) :  t'tKoirt*  trwr. 

4  For  Ds3T2n  s3  is  to  be  read,  with  various  belter  mss.,  also  with  the  Sept.  and  2  Kings  viii.  29:  D*312n  jD* 
Peculiar  is  the  decision  of  Neteler  (p   325):  *3  is  to  be  retained  and   rendered   by  "puncture"  (puncture  ot  the 

wounds). 

5  This  is  certainly  to  be  read  instead  of  ^iV"!^  V  which  seems  to  be  simply  an  error  of  the  pen. 

«  Instead  of  "fons  of  the  brethren,"  TIN  '33,  the  Sept.,  in  accordance  with  2  Kings  i.  12:  UiHpeis.  But  see  the 
Exeg.  Exp]. 

1  ^3lnl  is  without  doubt,  according  to  2  Kings  xi.  1,  to  be  changed  into  13NriV  (Sept.:  kt«)(«,;  Vulg.*  in- 
ter/ecit. ) 

8   NVW  is  possibly  a  mistake  for  "IVM   (2  King*  xi.  15),  which  latter  the  Syr.  and  Arab,  also  read  in  our  psssage. 


•   ~iyt?,   besides  being  superfluous  after  fe03ft,   is  wanting  as  well  in  2  King 
passage,  and  should  be  erased. 


xi.  16  as  in  all  old  versions  of  our 


EXEGETICAL. 

Irrespective  of  the  letter  of  the  prophet  Elijah 
(and  its  accompanying  notices  concerning  the 
punishment  of  Joram  therein  predicted,  xxi. 
12-19),  we  are  here  presented  with  parallel  texts 
to  the  accounts  of  the  book  of  Kings,  but  cer- 
tainly parallels  to  which  the  special  Levitical 
standpoint  of  the  narrator  has  often,  especially 
in  the  description  of  the  fall  of  Athaliah  by  the 
conspiracy  conducted  by  the  high  priest  Jehoiada, 
imparted  a  characteristic  colouring,  involving 
many  deviations  from  the  older  text. 

1.  Joram  :  a.  His  Beginnings,  and  his  Mis- 
government:  ch.  xxi.  1-11. — And  Jehoshaphat 
slept  with  his  fathers.  This  report  of  Jehoshu- 
phat's  death  and  burial  is  carried,  according  to 
the  usual  division  of  chapters,  to  the  history  of 
Joram,  because  the  first  deed  of  Joram,  the 
general  murder  of  his  kindred,  is  closely  con- 
nected with  the  decease  of  his  father,  and  serves 
to  soil  with  blood  the  solemn  rites  of  his  funeral 
(his  being  "buried  with  his  fathers"),  a  mode  of 
division  corresponding  well  with  the  pragmatical 
turn  of  the  Chronist. — Vers.  2-4.  Joram's  Sixfold 
Fratricide, — Azariah  and  J< /del, etc.  It  is  against 
the  identity,    asserted   by  Jewish   expositors,   of 


Jehiel  with  the  Hiel  mentioned  in  1  Kings  xvi. 
34,  that  the  latter,  who  is  called  a  Bethelite  (an 
inhabitant  of  Bethel),  was  neither  a  king's  son 
nor  a  member  of  the  southern  kingdom. — Alt 
these  were  sons  of  Jehoshaphat,  la/ng  of  Israel. 
On  the  designation  of  the  southern  kingdom  by 
the  name  of  Israel,  comp  xii.  1,  6,  also  ver.  4, 
xxviii.  19,  27,  etc. — Vei.  3.  And  their  fa'her 
gave  them  many  gifts.  Conip.  what  Eehoboam 
did  to  his  sons,  xi.  22  f.  —  Ver.  4.  And  Joram 
went  up;  comp.  Ex.  i.  8,  and  on  the  following 
phrase,  "strengthened  himself,"  eh.  i.  1.  That 
the  chief  motive  for  the  minder  of  his  brothers 
was  their  non-concurrence  with  Joram's  and  his 
mother's  idolatry,  is  clear  from  ver.  13,  where 
they  are  said  to  be  better  than  he  :  this  must 
have  applied  also  to  the  "princes  of  Israel "  who 
fell  with  them  as  victims  in  the  massacre.  More- 
over, oriental  rulers  are  wont  still  in  modern 
times  to  inaugurate  the  beginning  of  their  reign 
with  such  general  murder  of  their  kindred  ;  and 
Abimelech  had  already  acted  the  tyrant  by  the 
practice  of  a  similar  but  still  more  wicked 
slaughter,  Judg.  ix.  o.  —  Vers.  5-11  agree  in  all 
essentials  with  2  Kings  viii.  17-22. — Ver.  6.  Fur 
he  had  a  dam/liter  of  Ahab  to  wife.  This  quite 
definite    statement    excludes    the    hypothesis    of 


CHAP.  XXI 


-17. 


2J2S 


Hitzig,  based  upon  2  Kings  viii.  26  and  -  Chron. 
xxii.  2,  that  Athaliah  was  rather  the  sister  ol 
Ahab.  She  is  there  called  Omi  i's  daughter, 
because  the  spirit  of  Onri,  the  founder  of  the 
dynasty,  displayed  itself  ;.iost  characteristically 
and  powerfully  in  this  his  grand  -  daughter. 
Grandsons  and  grand-daughters  are  not  seldom 
called  children  of  their  grandfather,  especially  if 
lie  was  celebrated  and  influential ;  comp.  for 
example,  xi.  20,  Maachah  the  daughter  (grand- 
daughter) of  Absalom. — Ver.  7.  And  the  Lord 
would  not  destroy  the  house  of  David.  Some- 
what different,  but  coinciding  in  sense  with  the 
present  passage,  is  2  Kings  viii.  19  (see  Bahr). 
In  particular,  "  To  give  him  a  light  for  his  sons  " 
(or  "in  his  sous";  stands  there,  for  which  here  : 
"to  give  a  light  to  him  and  his  sons."  The  ) 
of   our  author,   inserted   before    VJ3^,  appears, 

moreover,  to  be  neither  superfluous  nor  unsuit- 
able, if  it  be  taken  explicatively= "  and  cer- 
tainly" (so  correctly  Keil,  against  Berth.).  —  Ver. 
8.  In  his  days  Edam  revulled  from  under  the 
hand  of  Jiiiiah,  changed  the  condition  of  vassal- 
age to  Judah,  in  which  it  was  held  from  David  to 
Jehoshaphat  (comp.  1  Kings  xxii.  48  and  above 
on  ch.  xx.  35),  into  that  of  a  fully  independent 
state. — Ver.  9.  And  Joram  went  over  with  his 
princes.      V"C'  QJ7    is   possibly   corrupted   from 

!TVJ7B>,   "to  Seir"  (as  should  be  read   2   Kings 

viii.  21,  instead  of  m'yx)-     At  the  end  of  the 

verse  are  wanting  the  words  there  forming  the 
close:  "and  the  people  fled  to  their  tents,"  from 
which  it  is  evident  that  the  battle  was  not  par- 
ticularly fortunate  for  the  Jewish  king,  but  simply 
consisted  in  cutting  his  way  through  the  sur- 
rounding force. — Ver.  10.  Unto  tli is  day,  that  is, 
merely  unto  the  time  of  the  older  narrator,  used  as 
a  source  by  the  Ohronist  (comp.  lutrod.  §  5,  II. 

E.  19).  But  this  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  writer 
elonging  to  the  period  immediately  before  the 
captivity ;  and  therefore  it  is  to  be  presumed 
that  the  re-conquest  of  the  Edomites  by  Amaziah, 
xxv.  14  f.,  was  only  transient.  —  Then  Libnah 
revolted  at  that  time,  probably  the  present  Tell  es 
Safieh  (not  far  from  Eleutheropolis,  Robinson, 
Pal.  ii.  6221.  The  neighbouring  Philistines  took 
an  essential  part  in  rending  it  from  Joram,  in 
which  they  were  aided  also  by  the  Phoenicians 
(according  to  Hitzig,  Geseh.  p.  201);  comp.  Joel 
iv.  4  f. ;  Amos  i.  9. — Because  he  had  forsaken  the 
Lord  God  of  his  fathers, — a  pragmatic  reflection 
of  the  Chronist,  which  is  wanting  in  2  Kings. — 
Ver.  11.  He  also  made  high  places,  which  Asa 
and  Jehoshaphat  had  removed,  xiv.  2  If.,  xvii.  6. 
The  following  phrase:  "debauched,"  is  to  be 
understood  of  the  spiritual  whoredom  of  the  wor- 
ship of  Baal;    comp.    ver.    13.      On  rpl'l,   "and 

perverted,"  comp.  Deut.  xiii.  6,  11,  14,  and  Prov. 
vii.  21. 

2.  6.  The  Letter  of  the  Prophet  Elijah,  and  the 
Fulfilment  of  its  Evil  Forebodings  :  vers.  12-19. — 
And  there  came  to  him  a  writing  from  Elijah  the 
prophet,  saying(or  "containing,"  ibN?)-     2P130 

is  not  properly  a  letter,  but  a  writing,  a  threaten- 
ing prophecy  in  a  written  form  ;  whether  written 
or  at  least  dictated  by  Elijah  is,  from  the  indefinite- 
ness   of  the   phrase   }HvXD,  doubtful ;  a  merely 


indirect  origin  from  Elijah  is  obviously  reconcil- 
able with  this  phrase  ;  and  as,  according  to  2  Kings 
ii.  1  tf.,  iii.  11,  Elijah  appears  to  have  been  no 
longer  in  the  land  of  the  living  in  the  reign  of 
Joram  (for  the  inquiry  of  Jehoshaphat  after  a 
prophet  during  the  campaign  against  Mesha, 
2  Kings  iii.  11,  is  answered  by  pointing,  not  to 
Elijah,  but  only  to  Elisha,  who  poured  water  on 
tlie  hands  of  Elijah),  it  is  most  natural  to  suppose 
the  oracle  to  have  been  spoken  by  Elijah  against 
Joram,  or  rather  against  Athaliah  and  her  idola- 
trous house,  but  first  noted  down  and  reduced  tc 
its  present  form  by  a  scholar  of  Elijah.  Comp 
Evangelical  and  Ethical  Reflections,  No.  2. — Ver, 
13.  After  the  whoredom  of  the  house  of  Ahab  J 
comp.  on  ver.  11. — And  hast  also  slain  thy 
brethren;  comp.  on  ver.  4.  Even  this  reference 
to  the  murderous  deed  practised  on  his  not 
idolatrously  disposed  brothers,  may  Elijah  have 
uttered  by  virtue  of  his  divinely-illuminated  pro- 
phetic sagacity,  at  a  time  when  Joram  was  not 
yet  king,  in  connection  with  the  other  thoughts 
of  the' present  prediction. — Ver.  14.  Behold,  the 
Lord  will  bring  a  great  plague,  the  devastating 
invasion  of  the  Philistines  ami  the  Arabs,  ver.  16  f. 
— Ver.  15.  Until  thy  bowels  fill  nut  from  the 
sickness  in  a  year  and  a  day,  literally,  "days 
upon  days,"  that  is,   during  many  days;  comp. 

nj!J>  by  fUB>,  Isa,  xxix.  1  and  Ps.  lxi.  7;  Judg. 

xvii.  10.  The  present  determination  of  time  is 
popular  and  proverbial,  but  indefinite.  The  dura- 
tion of  the  malady  is  given  more  exactly,  ver.  19, 
in  the  account  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  oracle. — 
Ver.  16.  Ami  the  Lord  stirred  up,  in  conformity 
with  the  prediction  communicated.  On  Tjjn 
nil  JIN,  comp.  1  Chron.  v.  26.  The  Arabs  that 
were  near  the  Ethiopians  are  naturally  tribes  of 
Southern  Arabia  (as  the  Sabaeans,  Job  i.  15  ;  see 
on  this  passage).  We  know  nothing  of  the 
causes  which  lay  at  the  ground  of  the  combina- 
tion of  these  tribes  with  the  Philistines  to  lay 
waste  Judea.  Moreover,  the  Arabs  mentioned 
xxii.  1  are  the  same  as  those  here  designated. — 
Ver.  17.  And  brake  into  if,  literally,  "cleft  it," 
"forced  their  way  into  it";  comp.  xxxii.  1; 
2  Sam.  xxiii.  16;  2  Kings  xxv.  4. — And  took 
away  all  the  substance  that  was  found  in  the 
king's  house.  According  to  this,  Jerusalem  must 
have  been  conquered  by  these  plundering  hordes ; 

yet  7pj3n"T2^  may  also  be  rendered  "belong- 
ing to  the  king's  house "  (royal  domains),  an 
i>  XVID3  certainly  signifies  something  else  than 
2  NVCO,  namely,   "  possessed  by "  (comp.  Deut. 

xxi.  17;  Josh.  xvii.  16),  and,  besides,  the  absence 
:f  any  mention  of  plundering  the  temple  or  its 
treasures  must  seem  trange,  if  Jerusalem  had 
been  actually  taken.  We  learn,  moreover,  from 
the  later  reference  to  the  occurrence  here  men- 
tioned, xxii.  1,  that  only  the  royal  camp  was 
surprised  and  plundered,  not  the  royal  palace 
in  Jerusalem.  Comp.  Kuhlmey,  Alttestamentl. 
Studien(Zeitschriftfiirluth.  Theolorjie  und  Kirche, 
1814,  iii.  S2  11".),  as  well  as  Keil  on  this  passage. 
— And  not  a  son  was  left  him  but  Jehoahaz.  Not 
merely  capture,  but  also  slaughter,  of  all  the  older 
sons  is  recorded  xxii.  1.  The  only  remaining 
one  is  here  called  Jehoahaz,  but  there  Ahaziah,  a 
name  perhaps  assumed  on  ascending  the  throne  ; 


■m 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


see  om  this  passage. — Ver.   18.  Smote  him   (1333, 

corresponding  to  the  HD30  P|33.   ver.   14)  in  his 

boicels  with  an  incurable  disease,  literally,  a 
disease  with  no  healing;  comp.  xx.  21,  25, 
xxxvi.  16. — Ver.  19.  And  it  came  to  pass  alter 
many  Jay.':,  literally,  "to  days  from  days,"  for 
which  is  usual  the  briefer  "  from  days"  (Q'co), 

Jndg.  xi.  4,  xiv.  8.  The  next  words  :  "namely, 
about  the  time  of  the  end  of  two  years,"  fix  more 
exactly   this   somewhat    indefinite   ilate.       rj»o< 

stands  here,  as  in  ver.  15,  in  the  st use  of  "year"; 
the  indefinite  phrase,  denoting  properly,  "times, 
periods,"  receives  through  the  context  the  same 
meaning    as    the    Chald.     py.  f'POJ,    often    in 

Daniel;  for  example,  Dan.  iv.  13,  20,  22,  vii.  25  ; 
comp.  also  Vulg.  and  Syr.,  which  render  it 
directly  :  "years."  Unnecessary  and  yielding  too 
harsh  a  sense  is  Keil's  proposal,  to  take  the  words 
"pn  nRV  by  themselves,  and   render:    "about 

the  time  of  the  end  (of  his  life),  about  two  days 
(before  death)." — Hi*  bowels  fell  out  -with  his  sick- 
ness,     fjj;,    during  his   painful   malady   (see  the 

close:  "and  he  died  with  sore  pains").  The 
disease  consisted  probably  in  a  very  violent 
dysentery  or  chronic  diarrhoea,  whereby  the 
nerve -cuticle  of  the  whole  great  gut  was  in- 
flamed, and  parts  of  the  mucous  tunicle 
occasionally  came  off  in  the  form  of  gut  or  pipe 
(resembling  a  falling  out  of  the  bowels)  ;  comp. 
Trusen,  Sitten,  Gehiiiuche  mid  Krankheiten  dec 
alien  Hebrae.r,  p.  212,  and  Friedreich,  Zur  Bibel, 
p.  270  (where  also  other  literature). — And  his 
people  viade  no  burningfoT  him,  gave  him  not 
the  honour  of  a  magnificent  funeral  ;  comp.  xvi. 
14.  The  same  is  indicated  by  that  which  is 
related  in  the  following  verse,  that  "he  departed 

without   regret,"    rnon  N^B  (*•"«  tlesiderio.    a 

nemine  desideratus),  and  that  he  was  not  buried  in 
the  sepulchres  of  the  kings  ;  comp.  xxiv.  25,  xxvi. 
23.      On  Luther's  and  the  Vulgate's  conception  of 

man  ihl  Sjiw,  see  Crit  Note. 

3.  Ahaziah's  Reign  :  ch.  xxii.  1-9 ;  comp. 
2  Kings  viii.  26-29,  and  with  regard  to  the 
downfall  of  Ahaziah,  ix.,  x. ,  a  copious  narrative 
of  the  revolution  effected  by  Jehu,  of  which  only 
a  brief  abstract  (vers.  6-9)  is  given  here,  omit- 
ting all  that  refers  to  the  extirpation  of  the 
Israelitish  branch  of  the  house  of  Ahab. — And 
the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  made  Ahaziah  his 
youngest  son  king,  the  same  who  was  called,  xxi, 
17,  Jehoahaz  (in  the  Sept.  cod.  Al.  even  as  here  : 
'<>£«J«t;).  That  he  was  made  king  by  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Jerusalem,  indicates  that  the  succession 
to  the  throne  was  disputed,  and  therefore  that  a 
party  'the  Levites  and  priests  under  Jehoiada) 
was  opposed  to  him.  but  without  prevailing  at 
first  against  the  adl  erents  of  Athaliah. — Had 
s'ain  all  the  eldest.  Comp.  the  remarks  on  xxi. 
17  ;  for  this  refers  to  no  other  fact  than  that  there 
described. — Ver.  2.  Forty  and  ttco  years  old 
teas  Ahaziah  ;  obviously  an  erroneous  statement, 
apparently  arising  from  the  exchange  of  the 
numeral  letters  3  and  o  ;  twenty-two  must  cer- 
tainly be  read  for  forty-two,  for  Jorum  was  thirty- 
t\v«  years  old  when   he  ascended  the  throne,  and 


reigned  in  all  only  eight  years :  he  could  not  have  n 
son  forty-twoyears  old :  indeed,  as  the  youngest  son 
of  Jorain,  Ahaziah  could  not  well  be  over  twenty- 
two  years  of  age,  as  his  father  must  have  begotten 
him  in  his  eighteenth  year,  and  his  elder  brothers 
at  a  still  earlier  age,  against  which  assumption 
no  serious  objection  arises,  as  it  was  the  well- 
known  custom  of  the  East  to  marry  in  early 
youth,  and  as  a  king's  son,  he  will  have  had  no 
small  number  of  concubines.  Only  we  need  not 
fix  the  number  of  his  elder  brothers  at  forty-two, 
to  which  2  Kings  x.  13  rightly  understood  does 
not  bind  us  ;  see  on  ver.  8.  For  the  last  words  : 
"Athaliah  daughter  of  Omri,"  comp.  on  xxi.  6. 
— Ver.  3.  For  his  mother  icas  his  counsellor  to  do 
wickedly,  in  her  devotion  to  the  idolatry  of  the 
house  of  Ahab;  comp.  xx.  35,  xxi.  6  ff. — Ver.  4. 
Like  the  house  of  A hab  ;  for  they,  the  members 
of  this  house.  At  the  close:  "to  his  destruc- 
tion," as  in  xx.  23. — Ver.  5.  Walked  in  their 
counsel,  ind  went  with  Joram,  Ps.  i.  1  ;  these 
words  are  wanting  in  2  Kings  viii.  28.  On 
Hazae!,  Benhadad's  former  general,  and  then 
successor,  see  Bahr  on  2  Kings  viii.  8  ff. — And 
the  Syrians  smote  Joram  ;  □''Sin,  contracted  for 

D'SISn,  2  Kings  viii.  28  (as  Q'licn,  Eccles.  iv. 
14,  from  E'TiDXfl  ;  comp.  also  Ezek.  xx.  30). — 

Ver.  6.  And  he  returned  to  be  healed  .  .  .  of  the 
wounds.  So  it  is  to  be  read  instead  of :  "for  the 
wounds,"  which  is  unmeaning,  and  only  to  be 
cured  by  explanatory  additions  ;  see  Crit.  Note. 
— And  Ahaziah  .  .  .  (see  Crit.  Note)  went  down 
to  see  Joram  .  .  .  in  Jezreel.  This  going  down 
was  probably  from  Ramoth,  not  from  Jerusalem  ■ 
comp.  2  Kings  ix.  14  f.  (from  which,  however, 
nothing  very  certain  on  this  point  is  to  be  in- 
ferred*.— Ver.  7.  And  the  downfall  of  Ahaziah 
was  from  God;    "the  down-treading"  (HD'Ofi, 

occurring  only   here;    comp.   nD13C   Is i.   xxii. 

5).       Instead   of   "against  Jehu,"   the  text  has 

properly  :  "to  Jehu"  (?}<),  2  Kings  ix.  21,  more 

definitely   "to   meet   Jehu"   (jlKIpp)  ;    and  for 

"son  of  Nimshi,"  Jehu  is  there  ( 2  Kings  ix.  2 1  more 
precisely  called  "son  of  Jehoshaphat,  son  of  Nim- 
shi. "  With  the  history  of  Jehu's  call  and  anoint- 
ment by  Elijah  and  Elisha  (1  Kings  xix.  16  ;  2 
Kings  ix.  2  ff. )  our  author  here  proves  himself  to 
be  acquainted,  but  does  not  enter  into  particulars, 
because  the  fate  of  the  Jewish  royal  house  was  his 
immediate  concern. — Ver.  8.  117;'/)  Jehuexecu&ed 
judgment :  QSt;'3,  execute  judgment,  — other- 
wise with  nx  (Ezek.  xvii.  20,  xxxviii.  22)  or  with 
■>  (Jer.  xxv.  31),  here  with  Qj;  ;  comp.  Joel  iv.  2. 

— Sons  of  the  br'tnren  of  Ahaziah.  As  the  brethren 
of  Ahaziah  named  in  2  Kings  x.  12  If.  from  their 
great  number  (42)  could  only  be  his  brethren  in 
the  wider  sense  (kinsmen,  cousins),  so  the  Sept. 
is  wrong  in  making  "  brethren "  out  of  these 
brethren's  sons  :  and  it  is  not  less  wrong  in 
Bertheau  to  affirm  two  different  traditions  con- 
cerning the  fact,  according  to  one  of  which  the 
Jewish  princes  put  to  death  between  Jezreel  and 
Samaria,  at  Jehu's  command,  were  brothers  ; 
according  to  the  oilier,  brothers'  sons  of  Ahaziah  : 
see,  on  the  contrary,  Mov.  p.  258,  Ew.  in  Der  Isr 
Gesch. ;  also   Bahr,  ami  especially  Iviil,    who  -its 


CHAP.  XXII.  C-XXIII.  4. 


no  difficulty  in  the  partly  very  youthful  age 
[between  five  and  eight  or  niiiL-  years)  of  these 
princes.  —  That  ministered  to  Ahaziah,  were 
invested  with  offices  in  his  court,  the  youngest 
as  pages,  as,  for  example,  Daniel  and  liis  friends 
in  the  court  "I  the  Babylonish  king,  Dan.  i.  1  11'. 
— Ver.  6.  Ami  he  sought  Ahaziah.  The  fuller 
accounts  of  the  death  of  Ahaziah  in  2  Kings  ix. 
27,  2S  deviate  in  several  respects,  in  which 
Ahaziah  is  mortally  wounded,  not  in  Samaria, 
but  in  fleeing  from  Jezreel  to  Megiddo,  and  dies 
at  Megiddo.  See  Bahr  on  the  passage,  who 
lightly  rejects  Keil's  attempt  to  make  up  the 
inference  of  the  two  accounts  as  too  artificial. — 
And  the  house  of  Ahaziah  had   none  to   retain 

strength  for  the  kingdom,  nb  "ISV?-  as  in  xiii.  20: 

"to  be  fit  for   the    kingdom."     On    the   whole 

sentence,  comp.  Dan.  ix.  26  (Jp  pxi)- 

4.  Athaliah's  Reign  of  Six  Years;  Deliverance 
of  Joash  :  vers.  10-12 ;  comp.  2  Kings  xi.  1-3. — 
And  Athaliah  .  .  .  destroyed  all  the  seed.  On 
the  emendation  necessary  here,  according  to  2 
Kings,  see  Crit.  Note.  The  "  seed  of  the  king- 
dom of  the  house  of  Judah  "  (the  royal  seed) 
embraces  naturally  the  cousins  and  other  remote 
kinsmen  of  Ahaziah,  the  male  descendants  of 
.lehoshaphat  yet  surviving  after  the  catastrophes 
already  mentioned  (xxi.  17,  xxii.  8). — Ver.  11, 
Jehoshabath  daughter  of  the  king:  in  2  Kings  with 
name  slightly  changed :  Jehosheba  ;  according  to 
the  close  of  our  verse,  a  sister  of  Ahaziah,  a  daughter 
of  Joram,  perhaps,  by  another  wife  than  Athaliah. 
That  Jehoiada  the  husband  of  Jehoshabath  was 
perhaps  only  a  priest,  not  the  high  priest,  see  on 
xxiii.  8.  —  That  were  slain,  or  that  should  have 
been  slain    (QTieisn).  —  Ver.    12.   And  he  was 

with  them  in  the  home  of  God  hidden.  Thither 
was  he  brought  from  his  first  hiding-place,  the 
bed-chamber  of  the  royal  palace,  as  soon  as  the 
hrst  favourable  opportunity  presented  itself. 
"With  them,"  with  Jehoshabath,  her  priestly 
spouse   and   his   nurse  (ver.   11).      For    QflX  is, 

moreover,   in  2   Kings  xi.    3,   the  simpler  nnX- 

"with  her."  Comp.  for  the  rest,  Bahr  on  the 
parallel  passage. 

5.  Athaliah's  Fall  through  the  Revolution 
effected  by  Jehoiada:  eh.  xxiii. — According  to 
the  parallel  in  2  Kings  xi.  4-20,  Jehoiada  em- 
ployed in  his  enterprise  the  royal  "runners"  or 
guards,  according  to  our  passage,  the  Levites  and 
priests,  without,  however,  excluding  the  former 
(for  in  ver.  1,  live  captains  of  hundreds,  that  is, 
of  the  life-guards,  are  expressly  named),  or  be- 
traying any  design  to  transform  the  narrative  of 
the  author  of  Kings  into  his  Levitical  sense  in  an 
unhistorical  way.  He  stands  much  more  (as  is 
immediately  evident  from  ver.  1)  on  independent 
older  reports,  which  he  takes  in  the  main  from 
the  same  sources  from  which  2  Kings  xi.  4-20  is 
derived ;  only  that  he  finds  these  sources  richer, 
and  by  the  addition  of  still  other  reports,  pro- 
duces a  more  complete  account  of  the  fact,  tilling 
up  the  parallel  in  various  ways,  and  even  deviat- 
ing from  it  in  some  respects.  Here  and  there  his 
statements  are  less  clear  than  those  of  the  older 
texts,  and  show  plainly  enough  the  peculiar 
colouring  of  his  Levitical  standpoint,  but  with- 
out warranting  the  charge  of  biassed  invention, 


which  de  Wette,  Thenius,  Bertheau,  Hitzig  \p. 
204  II.  i,  and  nearly  Movers  (p.  807  if.  I,  here  bring 
against  the  Chronist.     romp.  Bahr  on  Kings,  p. 

343,  and  Keil,  pp.  305-S10;  also  Neteler,  p.  236  ft" 
—  In  the  see' nth  year  Jehoiada  .  .  .  took  the 
captains  of  hundreds,  the  centur  ons  of  the  royal 
life-guards,  as  appears  from  2  Kings  xi.  iff. 
Five  of  these  captains  are  then  mmed,  a  guarantee 
of  the  well  grounded  accuracy  of  the  present 
narrative.  Before  the  first  three  of  these  names 
stands  the  introductory  p  (as  xvii.  7;  1  Chron. 

v.  26),  and  before  the  last  two  j-|Nl- — Ver.  2.  And 
they  ir  nt  nt«, at  in  Judah,  }3D51.  as  xvii.  9;  comp. 
Song  iii.  3  ;  on  the  following  ni3X  'C'X"I>  "  trihe- 
chiefs,"  "  heads  of  families,"  for  'x  jvq  'i, 
comp.  1  Chron.  viii.  6. — Ver.  3.  And  all  the 
congregation  made  a  covenant,     pnprrbs  means, 

not  the  whole  Israelitisb  community  (Berth.), 
but  according  to  the  context,  the  congregation 
of  Levites  and  heads  of  families  appointed  by 
Jehoiada  at  Jerusalem  in  the  temple.  What  is 
related  of  "the  covenant  made  with  the  king," 
the  young  Joash,  is  merely  completive  of  the 
report  in  2  Kings  xi.  4,  not  contradictory  (against 
Berth.,  etc.,  comp.  Bahr  on  this  passage). — A* 
the  Lord  hath  spoken  of  the  sons  of  David,  in  the 
oracle  of  Nathan,  2  Sam.  vii.  (comp.  xxi.  7). — 
Ver.  4.  A  third  of  you  (properly,  "the  third  part 
of  you,"  2  Chron.  xxvii.  1)  who  enter  on  the 
Sabbath,  of  the  priests  and  of  the  Levites. 
According  to  this,  the  first  of  the  three  posts  is 
to  l>e  occupied  by  persons  "who  enter  on  the 
Sabbath"  (rSBfrl  'X3),   who   are   expressly  de- 

scrihed  as  belonging  to  the  priests  and  Levites. 
In  '-  Kings  xi.  5  also  the  first  third  is  so  desig- 
nated, which  seems  to  indicate  that  there  also 
priests  and  Levites  are  regarded  as  standing  under 
the  command  of  the  five  captains  of  hundreds  ; 
comp.  moreover,  the  corresponding  "coming  out 
on  the  Sabbath,"  vers.  7,  9.  Keil  justly  observes 
(Apol.  Vers.  p.  362  ff.,  and  Comm.  p.  309  f.), 
"that  the  priests  and  Levites  in  courses  per- 
formed the  temple  service  from  one  Sabbath  to 
another"  is  known  from  Luke  i.  5;  comp.  with 
1  Chron.  xxiv. ;  whereas  nothing  is  said  of  such 
an  arrangement  on  the  part  of  the  praetorians,  so 
that  by  the  phrases :  entering  on  the  Sabbath 
(resuming  service),  and  coming  out  on  the  Sab- 
bath (retiring  from  it),  we  must  understand  the 
Levites.  If  the  praetorians  (life-guards)  were  thus 
intended  in  2  Kings  xi.,  this  should  have  been 
clearly  affirmed.  From  the  words  spoken  of  the 
centurions  of  the  life-guards:  "the  third  part  "( 
you,"  this  no  more  follows  than  from  the  fact 
that  in  2  Kings  xi.  11  the  appointed  posts  are 
called    C'Vin.    "the   runners,    guards."      If  we 

assume  that  for  this  extraordinary  occasion  the 
Levitical  attendants  were  placed  under  the  com- 
mand of  some  centurions  of  the  royal  guards  who 
were  in  concert  with  the  high  priest,  the  designa- 
tion of  the  men  whom  they  commanded  as  Q"yi, 

guards,  is  fully  explained,  after  these  men  (on 
account  of  the  priestly  and  Levitical  elements 
assigned  to  them)  were  described  as  those  "enter- 
ing and  coming  out  on  the  Sabbath."  Accord- 
ingly, if  2   Kings  and  Chronicles  agree  in  thia, 


820 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


that  they  presuppose  the  troops  employed  by 
Jehoiada  to  be  composed  of  Levites,  life-guards, 

and  other  Jews,  they  do  not  essentially  differ  with 
regard  to  the  localities  which  the  three  divisions 
of  the  troops  had  to  occupy  For,  according  to 
2  Kings  xi.  5,  6,  the  first  third  was  to  take  "the 
watch  of  the  king's  house,"  the  second  that  at 
"the  gate  of  Sur,"  the  third  that  at  "the  gate 
behind  the  runners  ;"  besides,  those  coming  out 
on  the  Sabbath  were  to  occupy  the  temple  in  two 
divisions,  and  so  protect  the  young  king  (vers.  7, 
8).  According  to  our  verses,  on  the  contrary,  the 
first  third  was  to  be  porters  at  the  thresholds, 
and  so  (1  Chron.  ix.  19,  22)  guard  the  entrance 
to  the  temple,  the  second  was  to  stand  (ver.  5)  in 
the  house  of  the  king,  the  third  at  the  gate  Jesod, 
while  "all  the  people"  were  to  fill  the  court  of 
the  .house  of  God.  Two  of  these  statements 
appear  quite  reconcilable  ;  for  the  occupying  of 
the  king's  house  is  by  both  texts  assigned  to  a 
third,  and  the  gate  Jesod  (foundation-gate)  should 
be  the  same  as  the  gate  "WD  (the  latter  is  probably 
miswritten  for  the  former,  or  it  denotes  "agate 
of  retreat,"  a  side  gate  [?] ;  comp.  Bahr).  But 
with  regard  to  the  third,  an  incurable  contra- 
diction appears  to  exist  between  the  two  texts  ; 
the  "gate  behind  the  runners"  must  apparently, 
according  to  2  Kings  xi.  19,  be  sought  not  in  the 
temple  but  in  the  royal  palace,  whereas  our  author 
assigns  to  the  corresponding  division  its  post,  not 
here,  at  one  of  the  palace  gates,  but  at  the  thres- 
holds of  the  temple  gate.  The  only  possible 
arrangement  would  be  that  proposed  as  a  hint  by 
Keil,  that  the  runners'  gate  was  placed  where 
the  passage,  mentioned  1  Kings  x.  5,  2  Kings  xvi. 
18,  from  the  palace  to  the  temple  was  situated, 
and  therefore  the  division  in  question  was  con- 

I'ived  to  be  guarding  at  the  same  time  the  palace 
md  the  temple.  It  is  easier  to  reconcile  that 
which  is  said  in  both  passages  concerning  the 
employment  of  the  rest  of  the  armed  men  (in  our 
text,  ver.  5:  "all  the  people")  to  occupy  the 
temple  (or  in  particular  its  court).  Yet  here  also 
in  the  two  reporters  somewhat  diverse  conceptions 

.1  tin-  event  seem  to  have  existed,  and  in  such  a 
v/ay  that  the  author  of  2  Kings  conceived  and 
represented  the  whole  as  a  military,  the  Chronist 
as  a  Levitical,  measure.  Coinp.  especially  in  this 
respect,  vers.  6-8. — Ver.  6.  And  all  the  people 
shall  keep  the  ward  of  the  Lord,  behave  in  a  legal 
manner,  and  beware  of  entering  the  inner  temple 
chambers,  the  proper  sanctuary.  For  the  phrasf , 
comp.  xiii.  11. — Ver.  7.  And  the  Levites  shall 
surround  the  king,  not  form  a  dense  and  close 
circle  around  him,  but  occupy  all  the  entrances 
to  the  temple  around  the  chamber  of  the  king. — 
Ver.  8.  And  the  Lerites  and  nil  Judah.  For  this 
2  Kings  has:  "and  the  captains  of  hundreds." 
But  this  is  not  a  real  contradiction  ;  in  2  Kings 
the  commanders  are  named,  in  our  passage  the 
commanded,  as  the  executors  of  Jehoiada's  direc- 
tions.— All  that  Jehoiada  the  priest  commanded. 
Neither  here  nor  xxii.  11,  nor  generally  in  the 
accounts  of  the  Chronist,  does  Jehoiada  bear  the 
title  of  high  pnest ;  but  even  in  the  book  of 
Kings  he  is  not  so  called,  but  either  simply 
.tehoiada,  without  addition,  or  "Jehoiada  the 
priest"  (2  Kings  xi.  15,  xii.  3,  8,  10);  that  he  is 

identical  with   the   ^njn  pbH    named  2   Kings 

xii.  11  is  as  improbable  as  that  in  the  parallel 
2  Chron.   xxiv.    6,   11   (see   on   the   passage)  the 


designation    {J'SOn  in  3    refers   to   him   as   high 

priest.  Contrary,  therefore,  to  the  usual  view, 
which  makes  Jehoiada  high  priest,  Neteler  appears 
justly  to  assume  that  he  was  the  leading  chief  of 
the  priesthood  (tyxin),  but  not  the  high  priest 

proper,  tut  that  one  of  his  sons  was  invested  with 
this  dignity;  with  which  assumption  the  absence 
of  Jehoiada's  name  in  the  list  of  the  high  priests, 
1  Chron.  v.  30  tt.,  admirably  agrees.  That  the 
Azariah  named  1  Chron.  v.  36,  the  son  of 
Johanan,  who  ministered  as  priest  in  the  house 
built  by  Solomon,  was  the  son  of  our  lehoiada, 
and  thus  the  high  priest  acting  in  his  time  and 
under  his  paternal  guidance  (2  Kings  xii.  11),  is 
a  wholly  arbitrary  conjecture  of  this  learned  man, 
which  fails  on  this  account,  that,  1  Chron.  v.  37, 
an  Aniariah  is  named  as  son  of  this  Azariah,  who 
can  scarce!}'  be  different  from  the  high  priest 
Amariah  named,  ch.  xix.  11,  as  the  contemporary 
of  Jehoshaphat. — For  Jehoiada  the. priest  had  not 

dismissed  the  courses.      JlipVnsn,    the    priestly 

divisions  for  performing  the  temple  service  accord- 
ing to  the  order  made  by  David,  1  Chron.  xxiv.- 
xxvi.  The  dismissal  OOS)  of  these  divisions  as 
well  as  their  summoning  was  the  business  of  the 
high  priest,  1  Chron.  xxiv.  6,  19;  but  Jehoiada 
may  have  acted  for  his  son  (possibly  a  minor), 
just  as  if  he  had  been  high  priest  himself ;  comp. 
as  a  New  Testament  parallel,  the  relation  of 
Annas  to  his  son-in-law  Caiaphas,  Luke  iii.  2; 
John  xviii.  12  ff. — Ver.  9.  And  Jehoiada  the 
priest  gave  .  .  .  spears,  and  shields,  and  arms. 

Q»U^,  here  probably  in  the  more  general  sense 

of  weapons,  arms,  as  in  Song  iv.  4,  where,  like- 
wise, ]j»3  precedes  ;   yet   it    might    also   signify 

targets  (along  with  shields  of  another  kind) ; 
comp.  2  Kings  xi.  10  and  2  Sam.  viiL  7;  Ezek. 
xxvii.  11.  On  the  captured  arms  deposited  by 
David  as  a  dedicated  gift  in  the  house  of  God, 
comp.  1  Chron.  xviii.  7  ff.  and  2  Chron.  ix.  21, 
xii.  10. — Ver.  10.   Every  man  with,  his  weapon  in 

his  hand.     irPL';.    properly,   his  missile;  comp. 

xxxii.  5;  Job  xxxiii.  18.  The  "setting  round 
about  the  king"  is  to  be  understood  as  the  sur- 
rounding (ver.  7). — Ver.  11.  And  they  brought 
out  the  kitig's  son.  This  account  of  the  crowning 
of  Joash  agrees  in  substance  with  2  Kings  xi.  12, 
only  that  the  clapping  of  the  hands  as  the  out- 
ward expression  of  the  people's  joy  is  here  omitted 
as  unessential. — Ver.  12  ff.  Athaliah's  Execution, 
the  Renewal  of  the  Covenant,  and  the  Solemn  Pro- 
cession of  the  King  to  his  Palace. — all  this  related 
essentially  as  in  2  Kings  xi.  13-20. — Ver.  13. 
And  the  singers  with  mstrumentt  ff  song.  This 
more  copious  description,  corresponding  with  the 
favourite  manner  of  the  Chronist,  of  the  musical 
demonstrations  of  the  joyful  multitude  (comp. 
1  Chron.  xv.  16,  xvi.  42)  is  wanting  in  2  Kings. 
—  Ver.  14.  Brought  out;  comp.  the  Crit.  Note. 
—Ver.  1"'.  And  she  went  to  the  entrance  of  the 
horse  gate.  For  this  is  in  2  Kings:  "And  she 
went  the  way  in  which  the  horses  entered  the 
king's  house."  The  redundant  -|yj'  of  our  pas- 
sage, beside  Ni3D,  which  the  old  versions  do  not 
express,  came  into  the  text  perhaps  by  an  unpuit 


CHAP.  XXIII.  16-21. 


227 


able  reference  to  Neli.  iii.  28.  The  horse  gate 
there  mentioned,  which  was  a  city  gate,  is  not  to 
he  thought  of  here,  although  Josephus  here  con- 
fuses  them. — Ver.  16.  Ami  Jehoiada  made  a  cove- 
nant between  himself  and  between  all  the  people. 
Instead  of  "between  himself"  (ij'3)  stands  in 

2  Kings:  "between  Jehovah,"  an  unimportant 
difference,  for  the  pries'  causing  the  covenant  to 
be  made  represented  Jenovah.  That  he  was  the 
high  priest  in  particular  follows  no  more  from  this 
than  from  ver.  8;  comp.  on  xxiv.  11. — Ver.  17. 
A  ml  nil  the  people  went  to  the  house  of  Baal.     On 

tin njectural  site  of  this  temple  of  Baal,  comp. 

Bahr  on  2  Kings  xi.  18. — Vers.  18,  19  form  an 
enlargement  peculiar  to  our  author  of  the  brief 
statement  in  2  Kings  :  "And  the  priest  appointed 
officers (offices)  over  the  house  of  the  Lord,"  where- 
in, again,  the  singers  and  the  porters  are  specially 
mentioned. —  Whom  David  had  distributed,  had 
determined  to  minister  before  God  in  certain 
regularly  succeeding  divisions  ;  comp.  1  Chron. 
xxiii.  6,  and  for  the  following,  Ezra  iii.  2,  10. 
— Ami  he  net  the  porters  at  the  tjates,  properly, 
"over  the  gates";  comp.  1  Chron.  ix.  23.  —  That 
the  unclean  might  not  enter,  literally,  "one  un- 
clean in  respect  of  anything";  comp.  Lev.  v.  2,  3; 
Isa.  xxxv.  8. — Ver.  20.  And  he  took  the  captains 
of  hundreds,  and  the  nobles  (CT^Ni!,  Jer.  xiv.  3, 

Ps.  xvi.  3),  and  the  rulers  of  the  people,  (literally, 
"those  ruling  among  the  people";  comp.  Isa. 
xxviii.  14).  Instead  of  this,  in  2  Kings:  "the 
captains  of  hundreds,  and  the  life-guards,  and  the 
runners."  In  the  following  part  also,  our  author 
with  singular  constancy  avoids  the  mention  of 
the  runners;  for  instead  of:  "and  came  by  the 
way  of  the  gate  of  the  runners  to  the  king's 
house"  (2  Kings  xi.  19),  he  puts:  "and  went 
through  the  high  gate,"  etc.  This  high  gate 
appears  from  xxvii.  3  (comp.  also  2  Kings  xv. 
35)  to  have  been  a  gate  in  the  temple,  not,  as 
probably  the  runners'  gate,  in  the  king's  house  ; 
but  as  it  might  have  been  situated  over  against 
the  royal  palace  (perhaps  over  the  bridge  leading 
from  Moriah  to  Zion),  its  name  involves  neither  a 
topographical  impossibility  nor  a  contradiction  of 
2  Kings  (comp.  Keil  on  2  Kings,  p.  271). 

EVANGELICAL    AND     ETHICAL    REFLECTIONS     AND 
APOLUOETIC  REMARKS,  ON  CH.  XXI. -XXIII. 

1.  The  bad  seed  sown  by  Jehoshaphat  through 
the  unfortunate  affinity  with  the  house  of  Ahab 
springs  up  only  too  soon,  and  bears  corrupt  fruit 
to  the  royal  house  and  people  of  Judah.  With 
the  malignity  of  a  fury  or  a  demon,  Athaliah 
the  daughter  of  Jezebel  proceeds,  during  the  two 
reigns  of  her  husband  Joram  and  her  son  Ahaziah 
that  were  guided  by  her,  and  during  the  six  years 
of  her  sole  sovereignty,  to  gloat  over  the  blood  of 
every,  member  of  the  unfortunate  house  of  David 
from  which  the  least  resistance  to  her  idolatrous 
course  might  be  apprehended.  The  all  too  close 
connection,  no  longer,  as  with  Solomon  and 
Hiram,  amounting  to  mere  friendship,  with  the 
Tyrian  princely  family,  into  which  Judah,  also 
following  the  bad  example  of  the  house  of  Omri, 
had  thoughtlessly  entered,  fearfully  avenges  itself. 
The  worst  Sultanism  is  transplanted  thence  into 
the  royal  castle  on    Zion.1     And   as   the   severe 

1  Compare  the  remark  of  .T.  H.  Ulchaelis:  "Tyrian. 
Uraelitish,  Jewish  history  here  coincide.     Tyre  brought 


punishment  inflicted  by  Jehu  on  the  house  of 
I  Imri  look  place  in  Jezrecl,  and  swept  away  at  the 
same  time  the  Jewish  king  Ahaziah  and  his  male 
kinsmen  in  the  northern  kingdom  (884  according 
to  the  usual  reckoning,  ssn  according  to  Hitzig  : 
according  to  Schrader  and  Netelei ,  certainly  after 
850,  as  follows  from  the  synchronism  of  the 
Assyrian  history  ;  see  uimer),  the  cruel  scourge  is 
not  yet  taken  from  Judah's  back,  but  continues 
to  lacerate  it  full  six  years  more.  And  to  all  this 
is  added  for  this  kingdom  the  humiliating  and 
disgraceful  circumstance  that  it  is  a  woman,  and 
even  a  foreign  woman,  who  usurps  the  sole  sove- 
reignty, and  maintains  it  for  those  years  by  the 
forcible  setting  aside  of  the  male  heir  of  the  house 
of  David.  So  much  the  more  beneficent  appears 
the  manner  in  which  the  reform,  rendered  neces- 
sary by  this  temporary  degeneracy  of  the  Jewish 
royal  house  and  state,  was  finally  executed.  No 
blood-dripping  Jehu,  spreading  terror  and  amaze- 
ment around,  no  tempestuous  desolating  form  of 
the  fanatical  zealots  in  Roman  or  Herodian  times, 
proves  necessary  to  eti'ect  the  return  from  the 
worship  of  Basil  to  that  of  Jehovah,  and  the  re- 
storation of  the  theocratic  character  of  the  com- 
munity. The  mild,  not  terrible,  lint  venerable 
form  of  a  pious  priest,  closely  related  by  family 
ties  to  the  royal  house  of  David,  accomplishes 
almost  without  blood  the  necessary  revolution. 
The  single  sacrifice  that  is  needed  for  this  cud 
is  the  tyrannical  and  idolatrous  stranger  who  has 
been  the  origin  of  the  evil  that  has  broken  over 
the  land  for  the  last  twenty  years.  With  the 
slaying,  or  rather  execution,  for  nothing  is  said  of 
wild  revenge  or  tumultuary  massacre,  of  her  and 
her  Baal-priest  Matthan,  the  judgment  on  the 
disturbers  of  the  theocratic  order  seems  to  be 
executed,  and  peace  restored.  That  our  author, 
by  bis  peculiar  mode  of  elevating  the  Levitical 
and  priestly  element  into  the  factors  of  the  revolu- 
tion, places  in  a  peculiarly  clear  light  this  emi- 
nently peaceful  course  of  the  same;  that  he,  in  har- 
mony, again,  with  his  often  otherwise  manifested 
historical  tendency,  represents  the  whole  in  some 
measure  as  a  revolution  carried  on  with  music  and 
song,  as  a  transference,  accomplished  with  ringing 
notes  and  flying  banners,  of  the  whole  people  into 
the  camp  of  the  legitimate  party  (comp.  eh.  xxiii. 
13,  18), — this  lends  to  his  representation  a  peculiar 
charm,  in  contrast  with  the  more  concise  and 
jejune  description,  only  relating  that  which  is  of 
political  or  military  importance,  in  the  hook  ol 
Kings.  In  this  narrative,  also,  the  circumstance 
that  the  whole  people  of  Judah  an.!  Benjamin 
rises  up  as  one  man  to  shake  off  the  long  enough 
borne  and  already  sufficiently  hated  foreign  yoke 
by  one  powerful  movement  of  its  neck,  stand- 
forth  conspicuous  in  the  light  of  day.  It  is  shown 
more  clearly  than  in  the  parallel  account  of  the 
older  history,  how  slightly  the  foreign  and  idola- 
trous lust  had  struck  its  roots  into  the  conscious- 
ness and  life  of  the  people,  and  with  what  com- 
parative rapidity  and  ease  it  could  be  set  aside 
again.     A   conjecture,   to   which    we   must   have 

by  niaiTMte  tier  then  prevalent  spirit  and  misfortune  inro 
ttie  Israelitish  hhitory.  Ooniemporaty  with  Joram  is 
Pygmalion  king  of  Tyre,  who  murdered  the  husband  of  his 
sister  1 1 ni n  merely  to  possess  himself  of  his  treasure.  Joram 
likewise  alter  Jehaahaphat's  deaih  12  Chron.  xxi  )  murdered 
all  his  brothers,  as  it  appears,  for  no  other  cusp  (?)  bur  to 
possess  himsell  of  the  treasures  which  their  father  had  be- 
queathed to  them  (?)."  etc.  This  latter  assumption,  though 
one-sided  and  exegetioally  unfounded  iconip.  on  xxi.  41  U 
yet  on  the  whole  very  striking. 


228 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


come  on  receiving  exclusively  the  narrative  of  the 
book  of  Kings,  that  a  prominent  part  in  the  revo- 
lution effected  by  Jehoiada  must  have  been  due 
to  the  numerically  strong  Levitical  element  in 
the  population  of  the  Jewish  state, — this  conjecture 
is  strikingly  confirmed  by  the  Chronist's  narrative, 
with  its  emphatic  marking  of  the  priestly  and 
Levitical  character  of  the  catastrophe,  and  its 
almost  unseemly  depreciation  of  the  share  of  the 
runners  in  it  (comp.  especially  on  ch.  xxiii.  '20  f. ), 
without  being  under  the  necessity  of  charging  the 
narrator  with  any  bias  in  moulding  the  narrative 
after  his  Levitical  standpoint.  For  it  would  be 
strange  if  an  event  such  as  this  shrewd  and  bold 
political  stroke  of  the  priest  Jehoiada  were  con- 
ducted in  so  exclusively  political  and  military  a 
way,  and  with  so  little  participation  of  the  clergy, 
as  appears  in  2  Kings. 

2.  In  an  apologetic  respect,  with  regard  to  the 
account  of  the  fall  of  Athaliah  by  means  of 
Jehoiada,  we  have  to  refer  partly  to  what  has  been 
just  observed,  and  partly  to  the  detail  of  the 
exposition.  On  the  contrary,  the  ill-foreboding 
writing  of  Elijah  to  Joram  (ch.  xxi.  12-15)  needs 
a  more  special  elucidation  in  the  evangelical  and 
apologetic  interest.  This  remarkable  document, 
the  only  definite  proof  of  the  acquaintance  of  our 
author  with  the  existence  of  the  greatest  and 
most  powerful  prophet  of  the  time  of  the  divided 
kingdom,  presents  to  the  expositor  the  not  unim- 
portant chronological  difficulty,  that,  if  actually 
composed  by  Elijah,  and  addressed  to  Joram  as 
already  reigning  king  of  Judah,  it  necessitates 
the  assumption  of  an  extension  of  the  activity  of 
Elijah  far  into  the  twelve  years  of  the  reign  of  the 
Israelitish  Joram  (896-884  in  the  usual  reckoning, 
857-846  in  that  of  Sehrader  and  Neteler),  whereas, 
according  to  2  Kings  ii. ,  the  taking  up  of  the 
prophet  into  heaven  seems  to  have  occurred  at  the 
latest  in  the  beginning  of  this  reign,  thus  all 
events  under  Jehoshaphat  (+  890  or  889  in  the 
usual  ahronology,  850  or  849  in  the  modern 
Assyriologic  chronology).  Various  ways  have 
been  taken  of  removing  this  difficulty.  Older 
Jewish  and  Roman  Catholic  expositors  (of  the 
latter,  for  example,  Estius,  Malvenda,  Tirinus, 
Calmet),  and  some  evangelical  moderns  (especially 
Menken,  and  Diichsel  in  his  Bibelw. ),  make  Elijah 
write  after  his  ascent  into  paradise,  and  send  it 
by  an  angel  to  Elisha,  or  a  still  surviving  disciple 
of  the  prophet,  to  forward  to  Joram.  This  over- 
strained supra-naturalistic  solution  of  the  problem 
is  equally  void  of  exegetical  warrant1  with  the 
superficial  purely  natural  assumption,  that  the 
writer  of  the  letter  was  not  Elijah  the  Tishbite, 
but  another  prophet  of  the  same  name  (Lightfoot, 
[{or.  Hebr.  on  Luke  i.  17),  or  with  the  no  less 
arbitrary  and  text-defying  attempt  to  change  the 
name  Elijah  (ch.  xxi.  12)  into  that  of  Elisha 
(Olerii.,  Saurin,  Dir  :  torn.  ii.  p.  344).  But  even 
the  chronological  proof  of  the  possibility,  that 
Elijah  may  have  survived  the  death  of  Jehosha- 
phat and  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  the  Jewish 

1  Anil  theological  warrant;  for  a*  A.  C  lov.  aptly  says: 
No''  tritanphnntium  in  ccehs  est  e  udire  aut  ad  pccniientiam 
revncare  mat  tales  in  t€'ra.  Unbent  Mowi  el  prophetan;  si 
illn*  non  aiu/iant.  nequ*  si  qui*  ex  mortuis  resurierertt,  nedum 
h  qu*s  ex  coehs  litems  perta ipserit.  credent  (Luke  xvi.  :ll) 
Likewise  J  J.  Rmnbieh  on  out  passage,  who  declares  it 
inconceivable :  Ifeum  in  arafiam  impii  regis  ejwanndt  quid 
ftcisse.  cuius  riu'tuin  alni'l  exettiplnfn  erlat  iinmn  quod  nee 
MCeuariuvt  erat.  q'tuin  plures  atim  essent  ratiiiiie*,  9U1DIM 
bits  roluntutem  nuatn  ei  m<mifestare  pmerat  (Luke  xvl.  27, 
29).  Comp.  hlso  the  remarks  of  Keil,  p.  298,  against  M  nken. 


Joram  (890  or  889-884),  that  he  might  thus  have 
directed  the  writing  shortly  before  his  departure 
to  the  latter  king  as  his  contemporary  (Seb. 
Schtnid,  Lightf.  Op.  t.  i.  p.  85;  Usher,  Mai, 
Surmann,  etc.,  and  recently  Keil,  p.  298,  at  least 
tentatively),  could  only  be  maintained  with  diffi- 
culty, and  only  by  the  assumption  of  an  inaccurate 
statement  on  the  part  of  the  author  of  the  book 
of  Kings,  as  the  position  of  that  which  is  related, 
2  Kings  ii.  1  IT,  of  the  ascension  of  Elijah  is  such 
that  it  appears  to  have  happened  either  under  the 
reign  of  Ahaziah  of  Israel,  the  predecessor  of 
Joram,  or  immediately  after  his  death  (896,  or 
eventually  857).  There  remains  after  all  this  only 
the  twofold  possibility,  that  either — 1.  Elijah 
wrote  the  letter  some  time  before  his  ascension, 
and  left  it  behind  him  to  one  of  his  disciples,  with 
the  charge  to  hand  it  to  the  later  King  Joram  of 
Judah  (Starke,  Buddeus,  Rambach,  etc.,  and  re- 
cently Keil,  as  well  as  Hengstenberg,  Gesch.  ii.  2, 
243),  or  that,  2.  Elijah  merely  made  over  by  word 
of  mouth  the  contents  of  the  letter  some  time 
before  his  ascension  to  one  of  his  disciples,  per- 
haps to  Elisha,  with  the  charge  to  make  it  known 
to  Joram  by  a  writing  composed  in  his  name 
(Witsius,  Giirtler,  Hackspan,  Not.  philol.  on  2 
Chron.  xxi. ;  S.  Sehmid,  De  Uteris  Elia  ad 
Joramum,  Argentor.  1717;  Wilisch,  etc.).  The 
latter  assumption,  or  that  of  an  only  ideal 
authorship  of  Elijah  in  relation  to  the  writing, 
a  composition  of  it  lv  Tvtvfian  xtt  Itvapiu 
' H> icu  ( Luke  i.  17),  but  certainly  on  th6  ground 
of  an  actual  prediction  of  Elijah,  has  most  in  its 
favour.  It  avoids  the  inherently  improbable  sup- 
position, that  Elijah  wrote  with  his  own  hand  a 
letter,  which  he  knew  could  only  be  delivered  in 
the  course  of  at  least  five  or  six  years  after  his 
ascension  to  God  (for  the  writing  appears  directed 
to  the  king,  not  to  the  crown  prince).  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  reconcilable  with  the  indefinite 
designation  of  the  writing  as  coming  from  Elijah 
(see  on  ch.  xxi.  12),  and  excludes  the  suspicion  of 
pseudepigraphic  fiction  after  the  manner  of  so 
many  apocryphal  writings  of  later  times,  bearing 
the  names  of  celebrated  sages  or  men  of  God.1  It 
recognises  the  genuine  prophetic  content  and 
character  of  the  writing ;  for  it  discerns  actual 
prediction,  true  action  of  prophetic  foresight  in  it, 
without  overlooking  the  difference  between  the 
author  of  this  prophetic  kernel,  and  the  later 
composer  or  redactor.  Comp.  on  the  possibility 
or  even  probability  of  a  divine  disclosure  being 
made  to  Elijah  of  the  future  destiny  of  Joram,  the 
husband  of  the  daughter  of  Jezebel,  as  well  as  of 
a  charge  to  Elisha  to  announce  afterwards  the 
contents  of  such  a  revelation  to  Joram,  on  the  one 
hand,  Hengstenberg  as  quoted  :  "  Elijah  had 
(1  Kings  xix. )  foreseen  the  elevation  of  Jehu  to 
the  throne  of  Israel,  and  the  extirpation  of  the 
family  of  Ahab  by  him  ;    also  the  accession   of 

1  The  Apocrypha  of  Jewish-Hellenistic  literature  bearing 
the  name  of  Elijah  belong;  to  a  pretty  late  period,  as  the 
Ap  'cnlypsis  Ehx,  from  which,  according  to  Origen  and  the 
Church-fathers,  the  quotation  in  1  C>>r  ii.  9  is  to  be  taken; 
comp.  Fabr  rod  psewlepigr.  V  T.  vol.  i.  p.  1072.  Concern- 
ing the  Elias  of  the  Jewish  -  Christian  fables  or  legends, 
comp  the  reports  of  Kptphaniua.  Dorntheus  of  Tyre,  Isidore 
of  Seville,  and  in  the  Talmud.  There  are  still  Mahommedan 
01  Chiis;ian  (at  leas'  half-Christian)  nations  in  rite  East,  fur 
example  in  the  Caucasus,  who  worship  in  Elins  (00  account 
of  1  Kings  xvii.  1  f )  a  kind  of  ron-god  or  Jupiter  planus 
(-ee  Ausland,  187.',  No.  '.'9.  p.  679).  What  a  contrast  be- 
tween this  Elijah  of  the  fable  and  th  >t  of  Old  Testament 
history,  as  i' ell,  according  to  1  aid  2  Kings,  as  our  docu- 
ments preserved  in  Chronicles! 


CHAP.  XXIV. 


2:*J 


Hazael,  and  the  heavy  misfortune  brought  by  him 
or:  the  kingdom  of  Israel.  If  the  future  was  in 
this  respect  disclosed  to  him,  the  greatest  of  all 
the  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament,  why  might 
not  this  also  have  been  revealed  to  him,  that 
Joram,  who  had  already  before  his  decease  Con- 
nie ted  himself  with  the  abominable  Athaliah, 
will,  by  his  grievous  sins,  bring  upon  uimsell 
the  judgment  of  the  Lord?"  on  the  other  hand, 
Keil,  p.  21*0  :  "To  whom  God  revealed  the  eleva- 
tion of  Jehu  to  the  throne  of  Israel,  the  accession 
of  Hazael,  etc.,  events  which  took  place  after  the 
death  of  .Imam  of  Judah.  to  whom  God  already, 
under  Ahab,  committed  the  anointing  of  Jehu  "to 
lie  king  of  Israel  (1  Kings  xix.  16),  which,  fourteen 
years  after  the  death  of  Ahab,  Elisha  performed 
by  a  scholar  of  the  prophet's  (2  Kings  ix.  Iff.) — to 
him  the  Lord  might  also  in  the  second  year  ol 
Ahaziah  of  Israel,  when  he  announced  to  this 
king  his  death,  about  seven  years  before  Jehosha- 
phat's  death,  reveal  the  wickedness  of  his  successor 
Joram,  anil  commit  the  announcement  of  the 
divine  punishment.  But  if  Elijah  made  over  the 
anointinsr   as  well  of  Hazael  as  of  Jehu  to  his 


servant  Elisha,  why  might  he  not  also  have  en- 
trusted to  him  the  handing  of  the  written  predic- 
tion of  woe  to  Joram?"  We  find  this  statement 
SO  tar  completely  suitable  and  convincing,  but 
Cannot  agree  with  the  two  learned  men  from 
whom  it  proceeds  in  this  that  they  hold  Elijah 
to  be  the  writer  (corupoter)  of  the  letter  in  it* 
extant  form.  We  find  it  much  more  satisfactory 
for  the  establishment  of  the  essential  authenticity 
of  the  document,  if  the  mediate  origin  of  it  from 
Elijah  (the  powerful  "prophet  of  deed,"  who  was 
no  man  of  the  jen,  and  of  whose  action  as  a 
writer  nothing  is  said)  is  maintained.  With  this 
also  agree  the  generally  acknowledged  contents 
ami  tone  of  the  writing,  quite  irrespective  of  the 
personal  position  of  the  prophet,  which,  how- 
ever, is  not  on  this  account  to  be  held  (with 
Berth,  and  other  recent  critics)  to  be  an  idealiz- 
ing composition  of  a  later  historian  ;  for  in  that 
case  it  would  be  different  only  in  degree  (as  a 
pseudepigraphon  within  the  canon)  from  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  post-canonical  literature,  above  which 
it  seems  exalted  by  its  genuine  prophetic  con- 
tents. 


h.  Joash  :  thk  Prophet  Zechariah  Son  of  Jehoiada. — Ch.  xxiv. 


a.  Reign  of  Joash  under  the  Guidance  of  Jehoiada:  Repair  of  the  Temple:  vera.  1-14. 

Ch.  xxiv.  1.  Joash  was  seven  years  old  when  he  became  king;  and  he  reigned  forty 

2  years  in  Jerusalem  :  and  his  mother's  name  was  Zibiah  of  Beer-sheba.     And 

Joash  did  that  which  was  right  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  all  the  days  of 

.1  Jehoiada  the  priest.     And  Jehoiada  chose  for  him  two  wives  ;  and  he  begat 

sons  and  daughters. 

4  And  it  came  to  pass  after  this  that  it  was  in  the  heart  of  Joash  to  renew 

5  the  house  of  the  Lord.  And  he  gathered  the  priests  and  the  Levites,  and 
said  to  them,  Go  out  into  the  cities  of  Judah,  and  gather  of  all  Israel  money 
to  repair  the  house  of  your  God  from  year  to  year,  and  hasten  ye  the  matter : 

6  but  the  Levites  hastened  it  not.  And  the  king  called  for  Jehoiada  the  chief, 
and  said  unto  him,  Why  hast  thou  not  required  of  the  Levites  to  bring  in  out 
of  Judah  and  Jerusalem  the  tax  of  Moses  the  servant  of  the  Lord,  and  of  the 

7  congregation  of  Israel,  for  the  tent  of  witness1!  For  Athaliah  the  wicked 
doer  [ami]  her  sons1  have  broken  up  the  house  of  God,  and  bestowed  all  the 

8  consecrated  things  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  upon  Baalim.  And  the  king 
commanded,  and  they  made  a  chest,  and  set  it  without  at  the  gate  of  the 

9  house  of  the  Lokd.  And  they  proclaimed  in  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  to  bring 
in  to  the  Lord  the  tax  of  Moses  the  servant  of  God  upon  Israel  in  the  wil- 

10  derness.     And  all  the  princes  and  all  the  people  were  glad,  and  they  brought 

11  and  cast  into  the  chest,  till  it  was  full.  And  at  the  time  when  the  chest  was 
brought  to  the  survey  of  the  king  by  the  Levites,  and  when  they  saw  that 
there  was  much  money,  then  went  the  king's  scribe  and  the  officer  of  the 
head  priest  and  emptied  the  chest,  and  took  it,  and  carried  it  to  its  place 

12  again  :  thus  they  did  day  by  day,  and  gathered  money  in  abundance.  And 
the  king  and  Jehoiada  gave  it  to  the  work-master  of  the  service  of  the  house 
of  the  L  iRD,  and  they  hired  masons  and  carpenters  to  renew  the  house  of  the 
Lord,  and  also  smiths  in  iron  and  brass  to  repair  the  house  of  the  Lord. 

13  And  the  workmen  wrought,  and  furtherance  was  given  to  the  work  by  their 

14  hand  :  and  they  set  the  house  of  God  in  its  form,  and  strengthened  it.  And 
when  they  had  finished,  they  brought  before  the  king  and  Jehoiada  the  rest 
of  the  money,  and  they  made  of  it  vessels  for  the  house  of  the  Lord,  vessels 
for  ministering  and  offering,  and  cups,  and  vessels  of  gold  and  silver :  and 
they  offered  burnt^offerings  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  continually  all  the  days 
of  Jehoiada. 


230  II.  CHRONICLES. 


/3.   Death  of Jehoiada :  Stalling  of  his  Sin,  the  Prophet  Zechariah: 
vera.  15-22. 

15  And  Jehoiada  was  old  and  full  of  days,  and  be  died;  he  was  a  hundred 

1 6  and  thirty  years  old  when  he  died.  And  they  buried  him  in  the  city  of 
David  with  the  kings  ;  for  he  had  done  good  in  Israel,  and  for  God  and  His 

17  house.     And  after  the  death  of  Jehoiada  came  the  princes  of  Judah,  and 

18  bowed  clown  before  the  king  :  then  the  king  hearkened  unto  them.  And 
they  left  the  house  of  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers,  and  served  the  Asherim 
and   the  idols  :  and  wrath  came  upon  Judah  and  Jerusalem  for  this  their 

19  trespass.     And  he  sent  prophets  among  them,  to  bring  them  back  to  the 

20  Lord  ;  and  they  testified  against  them,  and  they  did  not  give  ear.  And  the 
Spirit  of  God  clothed  Zechariah  son  of  Jehoiada  the  priest- ;  and  he  stood  up 
before  the  people,  and  said  unto  them,  Thus  saith  God,  Why  transgress  ye 
the  commandments  of  the  Lord,  and  do  not  prosper  1  for  ye  have  forsaken 

21  the  Lord,  and  He  has  forsaken  you.  And  they  conspired  against  him,  and 
stoned  him  by  command  of  the  king  in  the  court  of  the  house  of  the  Lord. 

22  And  Joash  the  king  remembered  not  the  kindness  which  Jehoiada  had  done 
to  him,  and  slew  his  son  :  and  when  he  died,  he  said,  The  Lord  shall  see  and 
require. 

y.  Distress  of  Joash  by  the  Syrians,  and  his  End:  vers.  23-27 

23  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  course  of  a  year,  that  the  host  of  Syria  camo 
up  against  him  ;  and  they  came  to  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  and  destroyed  all 
the  princes  of  the  people  out  of  the  people,3  and  sent  all  the  spoil  of  them 

24  unto  the  king  to  Damascus.4  For  the  host  of  Syria  came  with  few  men  ;  and 
the  Lord  gave  into  their  hand  a  very  great  host,  because  they  had  forsaken 
the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers  :  and  they  executed  judgments  upon  Joash. 

25  And  when  they  went  from  him,  for  they  left  him  with  many  wounds,  his 
servants  conspired  against  him  for  the  blood  of  the  sons5  of  Jehoiada  the 
priest,  and  slew  him  on  his  bed,  and  he  died  :  and  they  buried  him  in  the 

26  city  of  David,  but  they  buried  him  not  in  the  sepulchres  of  the  kings.  And 
these  were  the  conspirators  against  him  :  Zabad  son  of  Shimath  the  Am- 

27  monitess,  and  Jehozabad  son  of  Shimrith  the  Moabitess.  And  his  sons,  and 
the  greatness"  of  the  burden  upon  him,  and  the  building  of  the  house  of  God, 
behold,  they  are  written  in  the  commentary  of  the  book  of  the  Kings  :  and 
Amaziah  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

i.  Amaziah. — Ch.  xxv. 
a..  Duration  of  rus>  Reign,  and  its  Spirit:  vers.  1— * 

Ch.  XXV.  1.  Amaziah  became  king  when  twenty  and  five  years  old  ;  and  he  reigned 
twenty  and  nine  years  in  Jerusalem  :  and  his  mother's  name  was  Jehoaddan 

2  of  Jerusalem.     And  he  did  that  which  was  right  in  the  eyes  of  the  LORD,  but 

3  not  with  undivided  heart.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  kingdom  was 
established  to  him,  that  he  slew  his  servants  who  smote  the  king  his  father. 

4  But  he  put  not  their  sons  to  death,  but  as  it  is  written  in  the  law  in  the  book 
of  Moses,  as  the  Lord  commanded,  saying,  The  fathers  shall  not  die  for  the 
sons,  nor  shall  the  sons  die  for  the  fathers  ;  but  every  one  shall  die  for  his 
own  sin. 

/3.    The  Conquest  of  the  Eilo.i.ites  iu  the  Valley  if  Salt:  vers.  5-13 

5  And  Amaziah  gathered  Judah,  and  arranged  them  by  father-houses,  by 
captains  of  thousands  and  captains  of  hundreds,  for  all  Judah  and  Benjamin  : 
and  he  mustered  them  from  twenty  years  old  and  upwards,  and  found  them 
three  hundred  thousand  choice  men,  going  out  to  war,  holding  spear  and 


CHAP.  XXV.  23) 


6  shield.     Ami  he  hired  out  of  Israel  a  hundred  thousand  mighty  men  of  valour 

7  for  a  hundred  talents  of  silver.  And  a  man  of  God  came  to  him,  -saying,  0 
king,  let   not  the  army  of  Israel  go  with  thee ;  for  the  Lord  is  not  with 

8  Israel,  with  all  the  sons  of  E{ihraim.  But  go  thou  ;  do,  be  strong  for  the 
battle;    [otherwise7]    God    shall    make    thee    fall    before   the  enemy;  for  with 

9  God  is  power  to  help  and  to  cast  down.  And  Amaziah  said  in  the  man  of 
God,  But  what  shall  we  do  for  the  hundred"  talents  which  I  have  given  to 
the  host  of  Israel  ?     And  the  man  of  God  -aid,  It  rests  with  the  LORD  to  give 

10  thee  much  more  than  this.  And  Amaziah  separated  them,  to  wit,  the  host 
that  was  come  to  him  from  Ephraim,  to  go  to  their  place  :  and  their  anger 
was  greatly  kindled  against  Judah,  and  they  returned  to  their  place  in  hot 

11  anger.     And  Amaziah  took  courage,  and   led   forth  his  people,  and   went  to 

12  the  valley  of  Salt,  and  smote  of  the  sons  of  Seir  ten  thousand.  And  the 
sons  of  Judah  took  ten  thousand  alive,  ami  brought  them  to  the  top  of 
the   rock,  and  cast  them  down   from  the  top  of  the  rock,  and  all  of  them 

13  were  broken  in  pieces.  And  the  men  of  the  host  which  Amaziah  sent 
back  from  going  with  him  to  battle,  fell  upon  the  cities  of  Judah,  from 
Samaria  even  to  Beth-horon,  and  smote  of  them  three  thousand,  and  took 
much  spoil. 

y.  Amaziah'.*  Idolatry,   War  with  Joash  (if  Israel,  and  End:  vers.  14-28. 

14  And  it  came  to  pass,  after  Amaziah  was  come  from  smiting  the  Edomites, 
that  he  brought  the  gods  of  the  sons  of  Seir,  and  set  them  up  for  him  as  gods, 

15  and  bowed  down  before  them,  and  burnt  incense  to  them.  And  the  anger  of 
the  Lord  was  kindled  against  Amaziah,  and  He  sent  unto  him  a  prophet, 
who  said  to  him,  Why  hast  thou  sought  after  the  gods  of  the  people,  who  did 

16  not  deliver  their  own  people  out  of  thy  hand?  And  it  came  to  pass  as  he 
talked  with  him,  that  he  said  unto  him,  Have  we  made  thee  councillor  to  the 
king?  Forbear;  why  should  they  smite  thee?  And  the  prophet  forbare, 
and  said,  I  know  that  God  hath  resolved  to  destroy  thee,  because  thou  hast 

17  done  this,  and  hast  not  hearkened  to  my  counsel.  And  Amaziah  king  of 
Judah  took  counsel,  and  sent  to  Joash  son  of  Jehoahaz,  son  of  Jehu  king  of 

18  Israel,  saying,  Come,'  let  us  look  one  another  in  the  face.  And  Joash  king 
of  Israel  sent  to  Amaziah  king  of  Judah,  saying,  The  thorn  that  was  in 
Lebanon  sent  to  the  cedar  that  was  in  Lebanon,  saying,  Give  thy  daughter  to 
my  son  to  wife  ;  and  a  beast  of  the  field  that  was  in  Lebanon  passed  by  and 

19  trampled  on  the  thorn.  Thou  sayest,  Lo,  thou  hast  smitten  Edom  ;  and  thy 
heart  hath  lifted  thee  up  to  boast:  now  abide  at  home;  why  provokest  thou 
evil,  that  thou  mayest  fall,  and  Judah  with  thee? 

20  And  Amaziah  hearkened  not ;  for  it  was  of  God  that  they  might  be  given 

21  up,  because  they  sought  after  the  gods  of  Edom.  And  Joash  king  of  Israel 
went  up,  and  they  looked  one  another  in  the  face,  he  and  Amaziah  king  of 

22  Judah,  at  Beth-shemesh,  which  is  of  Judah.     And  Judah  was  smitten  before 

23  Israel  ;  and  they  fled  every  man  to  his  tent.  And  Joash  king  of  Israel  took 
Amaziah  king  of  Judah,  son  of  Joash,  son  of  Jehoahaz,  at  Beth-shemesh,  and 
brought  him  to  Jerusalem,  and  brake  down  the  wall  of  Jerusalem  from  the 

24  gate  of  Ephraim  to  the  corner  gate,10  four  hundred  cubits.  And  all  the  gold 
and  the  silver,  and  all  the  vessels  that  were  found  in  the  house  of  God  with 
Obed-edom.  and  the  treasures  of  the  king's  house,  and  the  hostages  ;  and  he 

25  returned  to  Samaria.     And  Amaziah  son  of  Joash  king  of  Judah  lived  after 

26  the  death  of  Joash  son  of  Jehoahaz  king  of  Israel  fifteen  years.  And  the 
rest  of  the  acts  of  Amaziah,  first  and  last,  behold,  are  they  not  written  in  the 

27  book  of  the  kings  of  Judah  and  Israel  ?  And  from  the  time  that  Amaziah 
turned  away  from  the  Lord,  they  made  a  conspiracy  against  him  in  Jeru 
salem  ;  and  he  fled  to  Lachish:  and  they  sent  after  him  to  Lachish,  and  there 

28  put  him  to  death.  And  they  brought  him  upon  horses,  and  buried  him  with 
his  fathers  in  the  city  of  Judah.11 


«->  II.  CHRONICLES. 


k.  Uzziah. — Ch.  XXVI 

a..  His  early  Theocratic  Inclination  and  Prosperous  Reign :  vers.  1-15. 

CflAP.  XXVI.  1.  And  all  the  people  of  Judah  took  Uzziah,  when  sixteen  years  old, 

2  and  made  him  king  instead  of  his  father  Amaziah.     He  built  Eloth,  and  re- 

3  stored  it  to  Judah,  after  the  king  had  slept  with  his  fathers.  Sixteen  years 
old  was  Uzziah  when  he  became  king ;  and  he  reigned  fifty  and  two  years  in 

4  Jerusalem  :  and  his  mother's  name  was  Jeehiliah  12  of  Jerusalem.  And  he 
did  that  which  was  right  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  according  to  all  that 

5  Amaziah  his  father  had  done.  And  he  continued  to  seek  God  in  the  days  of 
Zechariah,  who  understood  the  visions  13  of  God  :  and  so  long  as  he  sought 
the  Lord,  God  made  him  prosper. 

6  And  he  went  out  and  fought  with  the  Philistines,  and  brake  down  the 
wall  of  Gath,  and  the  wall  of  Jabneh,  and  the  wall  of  Ashdod,  and  built 

7  cities  about  Ashdod  and  among  the  Philistines.  And  God  helped  him  against 
the  Philistines,  and  against  the  Arabs  that  dwelt  in  Gur-baal,  u  and  against 

8  the  Meunites.     And  the  Ammonites  15  gave  gifts  to  Uzziah  :  and  his  name 

9  went  even  to  Egypt ;  for  he  became  very  mighty.  And  Uzziah  built  towers 
in  Jerusalem,  at  the  corner  gate  and  at  the  valley-gate,  and  at  the  corner,  and 

10  fortified  them.  And  he  built  towers  in  the  wilderness,  and  dug  many  wells  ; 
for  he  had  much  cattle  in  the  lowland  and  in  the  plain  ;  husbandmen  and 
vine-dressers  in  the  mountains  and  in  Carmel ;  for  he  was  a  lover  of  land. 

11  And  Uzziah  had  a  host  of  fighting  men,  that  went  out  to  war  in  troops,  by 
the  number  of  theii   muster  at  the  hand  of  Jeuel 16  the  scribe,  and  Maaseiah 

12  the  officer,  at  the  hand  of  Hananiah,  one  of  the  captains  of  the  king.  The 
whole   number  of  the  chiefs  of  the  fathers  for  the  mighty  men  of   valour 

13  was  two  thousand  and  six  hundred.  And  at  their  hand  was  an  army  of  three 
hundred  thousand  and  seven  thousand  and  five  hundred  fighting  men  in  full 

14  strength,  to  help  the  king  against  the  foe.  And  Uzziah  prepared  for  them, 
for  the  whole  army,  shields  and  spears,  and  helmets  and  coats  of  mail,  and 

15  bows  and  sling-stones.  And  at  Jerusalem  he  made  engines,  the  invention  of 
craftsmen,  to  be  on  the  towers  and  battlements,  to  shoot  arrows  and  great 
stones :  and  his  name  went  forth  far  abroad  ;  for  he  was  marvellously  helped 
till  he  was  strong. 

/3.  His  Boasting,  ami  Divine  Chastisement  by  Leprosy:  his  End:  vers.  16-23. 

16  And  when  he  became  strong,  his  heart  was  lifted  up  to  do  corruptly,  and 
he  transgressed  against  the  Lord  his  God  ;  and  he  went  into  the  temple  of 

17  the  Lord  to  burn  incense  upon  the  altar  of  incense.  And  Azariah  the  priest 
went  in  after  him,  and  with  him  eighty  priests  of  the  Lord,  men  of  valour. 

18  And  they  withstood  Uzziah  the  king,  and  said  unto  him,  It  pertaineth  not 
unto  thee,  Uzziah,  to  burn  incense  unto  the  Lord,  but  to  the  priests,  the  sons 
of  Aaron,  that  are  consecrated  to  burn  incense :  go  out  of  the  sanctuary  ;  for 
thou  hast  transgressed  ;  and  it  shall  not  be  for  thine  honour  from  the  Lord 

19  God.  And  Uzziah  was  wroth,  and  had  a  censer  in  his  hand  to  burn  incense  : 
and  while  he  was  wroth  with  the  priests,  the  leprosy  burst  forth  on  his  fore- 
head before  the  priests  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  from  beside  the  incense- 

20  altar.  And  Azariah  the  head  priest  and  all  the  priests  looked  upon  him,  and, 
behold,  he  was  leprous  in  his  forehead,  and  they  drove  him  out  thence ;  and 

21  even  he  himself  hasted  to  go  out,  because  the  Lord  had  smitten  him.  And 
Uzziah  the  king  was  a  leper  unto  the  day  of  his  death,  and  dwelt  in  a  sick- 
house  as  a  leper  ;  for  he  was  cut  off  from  the  house  of  the  Lord  :  and  Jotham 
his  son  was  over  the  king's  house,  judging  the  people  of  the  land. 

22  And  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Uzziah,  first  and  last,  Isaiah  son  of  Amos  the 

23  prophet  wrote.  And  Uzziah  slept  with  his  fathers  ;  and  they  buried  him  with 
his  fathers  in  the  burial  field  of  the  kings ;  for  they  said,  He  is  a  leper :  and 
Jotham  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 


JHAP.  XXVII,  XXVIII. 


•233 


'..    JOTHAM. — ClI.  XXVII. 

CHAP.  XXVII.  1.  Jotham  was  twenty  and  five  years  oW  when  he  became  king;  and 
he  reigned  sixteen  years  in  Jerusalem  :  and  his  mother's  name  was  Jerushah 

2  daughter  of  Zadok.  And  he  did  that  which  was  right  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Lord,  according  to  all  that  his  father  Uzziah  did  ;  only  he  entered  not  into 

3  the  temple  of  the  Lord  :  and  the  people  did  yet  corruptly.  He  built  the 
high  gate  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  ;  and  on  the  wall  of  Ophel  he  built 

4  much.     And  he  built  cities  in  the  mountains  of  Judah,  and  in  the  forests  he 

5  built  castles  and  towers.  And  he  fought  with  the  king  of  the  sons  of  Ammon, 
and  prevailed  over  them  :  and  the  sons  of  Ammon  gave  him  in  that  year  a 
hundred  talents  of  silver,  and  ten  thousand  cors  of  wheat,  and  ten  thousand 
of  barley  :  this  the  sons  of  Ammon  paid  him  also  in  the  second  and  third 

6  year.  And  Jotham  strengthened  himself ;  for  he  established  his  ways  before 
the  Lord  his  God. 

7  And  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Jotham.  and  all  his  wars  and  his  ways,  lo, 

8  they  are  written  in  the  book  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah.  He  was 
twenty  and  five  years  old  when  he  became,  king  ;  and  he  reigned  sixteen  years 

9  in  Jerusalem.  And  Jotham  slept  with  his  fathers  ;  and  they  buried  him  in 
the  city  of  David  :  and  Ahaz  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

m.  Ahaz  :  The  Prophet  Oded.— Ch.  xxviii. 

a..  Idolatry  of  Ahaz:  his  Defeat  by  the  Syrians  and  Ephraimites:  vers.  1-8. 

CHAP,  xxviii.    1.    Ahaz  was  twenty17   years  old  when  he  became  king;  and  he 
rei"iied  sixteen  years  in  Jerusalem  :  and  he  did  not  that  which  was  right  in 

2  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  like  David  his  father.     And  he  walked  in  the  ways  of 

3  the  kings  of  Israel,  and  made  also  molten  images  for  Baalim.  And  ht 
burnt  incense  in  the  valley  of  Ben-hinnom,  and  burnt  his  sons  in  the  fire, 
after  the  abominations  of  the  nations,  whom  the  Lord  had  cast  out  before 

4  the  sons  of  Israel.     And  he  sacrificed  and  burnt  incense  in  the  high  places, 

5  and  on  the  hills,  and  under  every  green  tree.  And  the  Lord  his  God  gave 
him  into  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Syria ;  and  they  smote  him,  and  took  from 
him  a  great  many  captives,  and  brought  them  to  Damascus : ls  and  he  was  also 
given  Into  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Israel,  and  he  inflicted  on  him  a  great 

6  blow.  And  Pekah  son  of  Remaliah  slew  in  Judah  a  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  in  one  day,  all  sons  of  valour,  because  they  had  forsaken  the  Lord 

7  God  of  their  fathers.  And  Zichri,  a  mighty  man  of  Ephraim,  slew  Maaseiah 
the  king's  son,  and  Azrikam,   the  governor  of  the  house,  and  Elkanah  the 

3  vicegerent  of  the  king.  And  the  sons  of  Israel  took  captive  of  their  brethren 
two  hundred  thousand,  women,  sons,  and  daughters,  and  stripped  them  of  great 
spoil,  and  brought  the  spoil  to  Samaria. 

/3.  Oded  the  Prophet  procures  the  Release  of  the  Captives:  vers.  9-15. 

9  And  a  prophet  of  the  Lord  was  there,  of  the  name  of  Oded  ;  and  he 
went  out  before  the  host  that  came  to  Samaria,  and  said  unto  them,  Behold, 
in  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  God  of  your  fathers  against  Judah  He  hath  given 
them  into  your  hand  ;  and  ye  slew  of  them  with  a  rage  that  reacheth  unto 

10  heaven.     And  now  ye  purpose  to  subject  the  sons  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem 
for  bondsmen  and  bondsmaids  to  you  :  are  there  not  even  with  you  yourselves 

1 1  trespasses  against  the  Lord  your  God  ?  And  now  hear  me,  and  release  the 
captives  which  ye  have  taken  of  your  brethren  ;  for  the  hot  anger  of  the  Lord 

12  is  upon  you.  Then  arose  men  of  the  chiefs  of  the  sons  of  Ephraim,  Azariah 
son  of  Johanan,  Berechiah  son  of  Meshillemoth,  and  Hezekiah  son  of  Shailum, 

13  and  Amasa  son  of  Hadlai,  against  those  who  came  from  the  war,  And  said 
unto  them,  Ye  shall  not  bring  the  captives  hither  .  for  with  the  trespass  of 


231  II.  CHRONICLES. 


the  Lord  upon  us  ye  intend  to  add  to  our  sins  and  to  our  trespass  :  for  great 

14  is  our  trespass,  and  there  is  hot  anger  against  Israel.  And  the  armed  hosi 
left  the  captives  and  the  spoil  before  the  princes  and  all  the  congregation. 

15  Then  there  rose  up  the  men  who  were  expressed  by  name,  and  took  the 
captives,  and  clothed  all  that  were  naked  of  them  from  the  spoil,  and  gave 
them  clothes,  and  shoes,  and  food,  and  drink,  and  anointed  them,  and  carried 
them  on  asses,  all  the  weary,  and  brought  them  to  Jericho,  the  city  of  palms, 
beside  their  brethren  :  and  they  returned  to  Samaria. 

y.  Further  Visitations  of  Ahaz  on  account  of  his  Idolatry:  his  End:  vers.  16-27. 

16  At  that  time  King  Ahaz  sent  unto  the  kings  of  Assyria  to  help  him. 
17,  IS  And  again  the  Edomites  came  and  smote  Judah,  and  took  captives.     And  the 

Philistines  invaded  the  cities  of  the  lowland  and  of  the  south  of  Judah,  and 
took  Beth-shemesh,  and  Ajalon,  and  Gederoth,  and  Socho  with  her  daughters, 
and  Timnah  with  her  daughters,  and  Gimzo  with  her  daughters  :  and  they 

19  dwelt  there.  For  the  Lord  humbled  Judah  on  account  of  Ahaz  king  of 
Israel,  because  he  had  revolted  in  Judah,  and  transgressed  greatly  against  the 

20  Lord.    And  Tilgath-pilneser  king  of  Assyria  came  against  him,  and  distressed 

21  him,  and  strengthened  him  not.  For  Ahaz  had  plundered  the  house  of  the 
Lord,  and  the  house  of  the  king  and  the  princes,  and  given  it  to  the  king  of 

22  Assyria ;  and  it  was  not  a  help  to  him.     And  in  the  time  of  his  distress  he 

23  transgressed  yet  more  against  the  Lord,  this  king  Ahaz.  And  sacrificed  to 
the  gods  of  Damascus  that  smote  him,  and  said,  Because  the  gods  of  the  kings 
of  Syria,  they  help  them,  I  will  sacrifice  to  them,  that  they  may  help  me  :  and 

24  they  were  the  downfall  of  him  and  of  all  Israel.  And  Ahaz  gathered  the 
vessels  of  the  house  of  God,  and  cut  up  the  vessels  of  the  house  of  God,  and 
shut  the  doors  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  ;  and  he  made  him  altars  in  every 

25  corner  of  Jerusalem.  And  in  every  single  city  of  Judah  he  made  high 
places  to  burn  incense  to  other  gods,  and  provoked  to  anger  the  Lord  God 
of  his  fathers. 

26  And  the  rest  of  his  acts  and  all  his  ways,  first  and  last,  behold,  they  are 

27  written  in  the  book  of  the  kings  of  Juda  i  and  Israel.  And  Ahaz  slept  with 
his  fathers,  and  they  buried  him  in  the  city  in  Jerusalem  :  for  they  brought 
him  not  into  the  sepulchres  of  the  kings  of  Israel :  and  Hezekiah  his  son 
reigned  in  his  stead. 

1  The  absent  copula  before  i"P33  is  supplied  in  the  Sept.,  Vulg..  and  Luth.,  and  rightly. 

*  The  Sept.  and  Vulg.  take   IPlbn   rather  as  the  accus.  belonging  to  Zechai  iah  («»  kpitx.,  sacerdotem). 

'  The  Vulg.  and  Syr.  do  not  translate    DJ?D;   the  Sept.  (i*  to  X<x£)  appeals  to  have  read    DV3- 

4  Hebr.    pb'DTH,  as  always  in  Chronicles;  comp.  1  Chron.  xviii.  5. 

1  For  JITlfT   '33  the  Sept.  and  Vulg.  probably  read  aright    '  J3.    The  plur.  seems  a  slip  of  the  pen. 

3  So  aecoiding  to  the  Kelhib  3"lV      On  the  Keri  3^\    "'be  multiplied  "  (the  sentence  upon  him).  Bee  Exeg.  FrpL 

1  Before  ?]7>^^33^  is  tO*[  to  be  supplied,  with  almost  all  recent  expositors.    See  Exeg  Expl. 

•For   rriXTS?   we  should  certainly  read,  with  the  Keri  (and  a  considerable  number  of  mss.):   j"1XDP- 

»  Tp,   Krtlnb ;  the  Keri  is  [13?.      Comp.  Exeg.  Expl. 
10  rOlBn  lyt^,    "gate  of  turning,"  is  undoubtedly  an  error  for  n-lSH     t^i   "corner  gate";  comp.  xxvl.  9,  and 
especially  the  parallel  2  Kings  xiv   13. 

"  For  nTliV  TJQ  the  old  versions  (Sept.,  Vulg.,  Syr.)  have:  "in  the  city  of  David." 

12  The  A'ert  amends  rP^S',  after  2  Kings  xv.  2,  into  Hy3%  which  is  scarcely  right. 

"  Insteal  of  niX13  shou'd  rather  be  read,  with  the  Sept.  (i.  fipti  xvplm),  Syr.,  Targ.     Riiselii,    Kimchi,  and  Kn 
Hebrew  mss.  of  de  Rossi  :    ]"IN^3- 

14  Sept. :  iiri  -nt;  tItpk;  (perhaps  thinking  of  Petra,  the  capital  of  Edom) 
■*  Sept  *  ei  M'vuTw,  by  mistake  (from  the  preceding  rwf  Mitwwrl. 


CHAP.  XXIV.  1-15. 


23." 


'•  So  the  Kethti  OW)  \   the  A'eri  has  PX'!""  (as  Ezra  viil.  13). 

»  The  Sept,  Syr,  and  Aral),  have  twenty-five,  a  reading  which  Ho.iuiKant,  Dathe,  Ewald,  Bertli.,  and  most  modernl 
prefer.    Comp.  also  J.  A  Bengel,  in  the    ass  ige  quoted,  Intrad.  §  6,  Item   (p.  28). 
14  Properly  "  Ddniuseus":  comp  1  (.."iron,  xviii  5,  6;  2  Chron.  xvi.  2.  xxiv.  23. 


EXEGETICAL. 

We  take  together  the  reports,  contained  in  eh.  ! 
xxiv.-xxviii.,  of  the  five  reigns  from  Joaah  to 
Ahaz,  nrtly  on  ajeount  of  their  general  simi 
lacin,  partly  because  in  2  Kings  xii.,  xiv.-x.yi., 
we  have  prett}  full  and  nearly  literal  parallels  tc 
them. 

1,  Reign  of  Joa^h  unih"  the  (iuidance  of 
Jehoiada :  Repair  of  the  Tenvjde  :  eh.  xxiv 
1-14.-— The  paudlel  account  in  2  Kings  xii 
1-17  is  more  di  tailed  in  the  statement  of  several 
circumstances,  especially  with  regard  to  the 
repair  of  the  temple,  but  yet  receives  many  im- 
portant supplements  from  the  present  narrative, 
which  is  derived  from  the  same  sources,  but 
constructed  on  different  views  and  principles. — 
Ver.  2.  All  the  days  of  Jehoiada  the  priest.  Some- 
what different  in  2  Kings  :  "  during  all  his  days, 
while  Jehoiada  instructed  him." — Ver.  3.  And 
Jehoiada  chose,  for  him  two  wives.     i?-Nt*'*l  nere 

obviously  expresses  this  sense,  not  as  in  xiii.  21  : 
"  took  to  himself"  ;  for  it  refers  to  this,  that  tin- 
young  king  soon  married  and  begat  an  heir  to  tin- 
throne.— Vers.  4-14.  The  Repair  of  the  Temple  ; 
comp.  Bain's  exposition  of  2  Kings  xii.  5-17.— 
To  renew  the  house  of  the  Lord;  comp.  xv.  8,  and 
the  synonym  "to  repair"  (properly,  "strengthen, 
make  strong  again  ' )  in  ver.  5  ;  2  Kings  xii.  b\ 
— And  hasten  ye  the  matter,  properly,  "with 
respect  to  the  "matter."  On  the  relation  of  the 
following  statement,  according  to  which  the 
Levites  hastened  not,  to  the  apparently  different 
narrative  in  2  Kings,  comp.  Bahr. — Ver.  6.  And 
the  king  culled  for  Jehoiada  the  chief,  namely, 
of  the  priesthood,  by  which,  however,  is  not 
necessarily  meant  the  high  priest  ;  the  phrase 
t'Nin  |i"I3,  "head-priest,  supreme  priest,"  may 

(as,  for  example,  above  xix.  11  of  Amariah,  or 
beneath  xxvi.  20  of  Azariah,  under  King  Ozziah) 
denote  the  legal  high  priest,  but  has  not  neces- 
sarily this  meaning;  comp.  on  xxiii.  S. —  Why 
hast  thou  nut  required  of  the  Leoites  to  briny 
in,  literally,  "asked  cf  the  Levites,"  etc.  (comp. 
Job  v.  8  ;  Ps.  cxlii.  3)?  The  "tax"  or  assess- 
ment of  Moaes  (nsb'D,  as  ver.  9 ;  comp.  Ezek.  xx. 

40)  is  that  of  the  sanctuary  (heave-ottering)  im- 
posed, Ex.  xxx.  12-16,  xxxviii.  25,  by  Moses,  and 
willingly  paid  by  the  community  of  Israel,  of  half 
a  shekel  a  head.— Ver.  7.  For  Athaliah  .  .  . 
(and)  her  suns.  By  these  "sons  "  of  Athaliah  are 
scarcely  meant  the  priests  of  Baal  iJerome)  or 
IHrtain  bastard  sons  of  the  queen  (Ewald,  Qesch. 
iii.  1,  290),  but  probably  Ahaziah  with  his 
brothers  and  brothers' sons  (comp.  xx:.  17,  xxii. 
3  f.),  that  might  have  shown  their  zeal  lot- 
idolatry  at  a  very  early  age  (comp.  Berth.,  also 
Hitz.  Gesch.  p.  2i>3). — Broken  up  the  house  of 
God;  V1B  as  i  Chron.  xiii.   11  ;  Job  xxx.   14  ; 

Eecles.  x.  8. — All  the  consecrated  things  of  the 
house  of  tlie  Lord;  all  the  gold  and  silver  vessels, 
weapons,  etc.,  preserved  there  as  gifts.  Of  such 
profanation  of  the  temple  treasures  by  the  idola- 


trous sons  of  Athaliah,  moreover,  the  Chronist 
only  reports,  who  here  supplements  the  statements 
of  2  Kings. — Ver.  10.  Vast  into  the  chest  till  it 
was  fu//  rlpj?  "IJ*,  as  xxi.  1  (comp.  »lso 
rf?3  tVi  2  Kings  xiii.  17,  19);  literally,   "even 

to  making  full,"  whereby  may  be  meant  either 
the  fulness  of  the  number  of  givers,  or  even  the 
fulness  of  the  chest  that  reecivi-d  the  gifts.  The 
latter  sense,  which  the  Sept  and  Vulg.  express, 
commends  itself  most,  as  ver.  11  shows,  and 
should  not  therefore  have  been  questioned  by 
Berth.,  Kamph.,  etc. — Ver.  11.  And  at  the  time, 
etc.,  literally,  "and  it  came  to  pass  at  the  time 
when  one  brought  the  chest  to  the  survey  of  the 
king,"  that  is,  for  the  royal  surveillance  or  keep- 
ing (mp3.  as  in  xxiii.  IS). — And  when  they  saw 

that  there  was  much  money,  properly,  "and  on 
their  seeing,"  etc. — Thus  they  did  day  hy  day, 
literally,  "to  day  by  day  "  (comp.  1  Chron.  xii. 
22),  that  is,  every  day  when  it  was  necessary, 
every  time  that  the  chest  was  full.  — Ver.  12. 
And  the  king  .  .  .  gave  it  to  the  work-master  of 
the   .■iircice   uf  the   house  of  the  Lurd.       r\12Jl 

flinTVS  here,  not  "service  in  the  house  of  the 

Lord,"  as  1  Chron.  xxiii.  24,  but  labour,  repair 
of  the  house  of  the  Lord.  —  Ami  they  hired, 
literally,  "and  they  were  hiring,"  continually 
Irom  day  to  day  ;  comp.  Matt.  xx.  1  tf. 
"  Masons  and  carpenters  "  ;  so  in  1  Chron.  xxii. 
14  ;  comp.  Ezra  iii.  7. — Ver.  13.  And  further- 
ance was  given  to  the  work  by  their  hand,  liter- 
ally, "there  went  up  (was  laid,  Jer.  viii.  22) 
binding  on   the  work";    on  n3i")N,   "binding, 

healing,"  comp.  Neh.  iv.  1  ;  Jer.  xxx.  17. — And 
they  set  the  house  of  God  in  its  form;  literally, 
"on  its  measure"  (Ex.  xxx.  32),  that  is,  in  the 
original  proportions. — Ver.  14.  And  they  made 
of  it  vessels,  literally,  "made  it  vessels"  (into 
vessels);  comp.  Ezra  i  7. —  Vessels  for  minister- 
ing and  offering,  altar  vessels  (com)).  Num.  iv. 
12),  from  which  cups  (Ex.  xxv.  29)  and  other 
gold  and  silver  vessels  are  there  distinguished. — 
And  they  offered  burnt-offerings  .  .  .  all  the  days 
of  Jehoiada  :  as  long  as  he  hail  the  direction  of 
the  temple  worship,  it  was  conducted  in  a  regular 
and  legal  way  ;  that  it  had  quite  ceased  after 
Jehoiada's  death,  neither  the  present  phrase  nor 
the*  subsequent  narrative  attirms. 

2.  Death  of  Jehoiada :  Stoning  of  his  Son  : 
the  Prophet  Zechariah  :  vers.  15-22.  There  is 
no  parallel  to  this  section  in  2  Kings  xii. ;  but  it 
is  of  no  less  importance  for  the  pragmatic  under- 
standing of  that  which  is  related  underneath,  ver. 
23  11'.,  concerning  the  last  events  in  the  life  of 
Joash. — And  Jehoiada  was  old  and  full  of  days. 
WO'  V'3t"\  as  otherwise  only  of   the  patriarchs 

Abraham  and  Isaac,  of  David  (1  Chron.  xxiv.  1  ; 
comp.  xxix.  28),  and  of  Job  (xiii.  17),  so  in 
general  is  it  used  only  of  five  men  of  God  in  the 
Old  Testament  ;  comp.  Achelis,  Das  Zeitalter  du 
Patriarclien,  a  contribution  to  *he  understanding 


23rj 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


of  Scripture  (Barm.  1S71),  p.  46.  From  the 
following  statement  of  his  age  as  130  years  at 
his  death,  it  follows  that  he  must  have  been 
about  100  years  old  when  he  helped  his  nephew 
by  a  successful  revolution  to  the  throne  (S77  B.C. 
by  the  common  chronology) ;  for  the  repair  of  the 
temple  carried  on  by  Joash  and  him  (which  he 
survived  for  a  time,  according  to  ver.  14  of  our 
chapter),  fell,  according  to  2  Kings  xii.  7,  in  the 
twenty-third  year  of  that  king. — Ver.  16.  And 
they  buried  him  .  .  .  with  the  kings.  With  this 
honourable  distinction  bestowed  upon  him  at 
his  death,  the  directly  following  record  of  the 
slaughter  of  his  like-minded  sou  stands  in  the 
same  contrast  as  that  presented  by  Christ,  Matt. 
xxiii.  29  ff.,  over  against  the  Pharisees. — Ver.  17. 
Bowed  down  before  the  king,  earnestly  entreating ; 
for  what  ?  The  following  words  show  that  it  was 
for  permission  to  worship  strange  gods  along  with 
the  Lord.  That  Joash  himself  forthwith  took 
part  in  this  worship  of  idols  is  not  affirmed,  but 
that  he  bore  the  full  responsibility  of  it,  and  after- 
wards took  a  direct  part  in  the  impiety,  is  plain 
from  ver.  21  f. ;  comp.  ver.  25. — Ver.  18.  Served 
the  Asherim,  etc. ;  comp.  on  ch.  xiv.  2.  For  the 
Same    of    wrath    (5)Sp)   which    this  enkindled, 

comp.  xix.  2,  10,  xxix.  8. — Ver.  19.  Testified 
against  them,  by  way  of  warning,  pointing  to  the 
inevitable  consequences  of  their  apostasy  ;  comp. 
2  Kings  xvii.  13  ;  Ps.  1.  7  ;  Neh.  ix.  26,  29. 
Was  Joel  also  among  these  prophetic  monitors  ? 
As  we  may  conjecture  from  his  book  that  his 
age  nearly  coincided  with  the  reign  of  Joash,  it  is 
not  improbable ;  comp.  Wiinsche,  Die  Weissagung 
des  Proph.  Joel,  Introd.  p.  13  If. ;  also  Keil,  Introd. 
to  the  0.  T.  p.  322  f.— Ver.  20.  And  the  Spirit 
of  God  clothed  Zechariah  son    of  Jehoiada  the 

priest.     On  B>a|j,  "  clothe, "  comp.  1  Chi  on.  xii. 

18.  The  identity  with  the  Zechariah  mentioned 
by  Christ,  Matt,  xxiii.  35,  Luke  xi.  51,  as  slain 
between  the  temple  and  the  altar,  who  is  called 
in  the  former  passage  "the  son  of  Barachias,"  is 
to  be  assumed  the  more  certainly,  as — 1.  The  place 
of  his  death  quite  agrees  there  and  here  (the 
tvirmirTri^at  is  the  altar  of  burnt-offering,  which 
stood  in  the  court  ;  comp.  ver.  21)  ;  2.  An 
allusion  is  made  in  the  speech  of  Christ  to  our 
passage  before  mentioning  the  martyrdom  of 
Zechariah  ;  see  above  on  ver.  16  ;  and  3.  The 
Barachias  named  in  Matt,  xxiii.  35  as  the  father 
of  Zechariah  may  have  been  the  son  of  Jehoiada, 
and  Zechariah  his  grandson,  which  is  highly  pro- 
bable, from  the  great  age  to  which  Jehoiada 
attained. — Stood  up  before  the  people,  properly, 

"  above  the  people  "  (p  ^yo,  as  in  xiii.   4);   the 

inner  court,  from  which  he  spoke,  and  where  he 
was  afterwards  slain,  was  higher  than  the  outer, 
where  the  people  stood. — And  do  not  prosper,  or : 
and  will  be  unfortunate,  will  have  no  success. 
The  two  things  are,  in  a  theocratico-prophetical 
point  of  view,  inseparably  connected  :  the  forsak- 
ing of  the  Lord  (comp.  xii.  5,  xv.  2,  etc.),  and 
becoming  unfortunate  ;  comp.  xxvi.  5  (Uzziah). — 
Ver.  21.  And  they  conspired  against  him :  comp. 
ver.  25  ;•  1  Kings  xv.  27,  and  also  ch.  xxiii.  13. 
The  true  witness  of  God  is  slain  by  stoning,  the 
very  penalty  which  is  in  the  law  (Lev.  xx.  2. 
xxiv.  23)  imposed  on  idolaters,  to  which  there- 
fore hi)  murderers  were  doomed. — Ver.  22.  And 


Joash  .  .  .  remembered  not  the  kindness ;  ~[or\, 

as  in  Mic.  vi.  8.  Joash  appears  here  designated 
as  the  murderer  of  the  son  (or  grandson)  of 
Jehoiada,  certainly  not  for  mere  silent  connivance 
at  the  wicked  deed,  bit  for  positive  and  direct 
participation  in  it;  comp.  ver.  21.—  T/te  Lord 
shall  see  and  re</uire,  or  "will  see  (comp.  Ps. 
lxxxiv.     10)   and   require"    (CHI,     here    "seek 

revenge,  punish:"  comp.  Ps.  ix.  13  ;  1  Sam  xx 
16). 

3.  Distress  of  Joash  by  the  Syrians,  *nJ  his 
End  :  vers.  23-27.  Here  again  2  Kings  xii. 
18-22  affords  a  parallel,  where  that  which  relates 
to  the  invasion  of  the  Syrians  is  narrated  more 
particularly,  and  their  king,  Hazael  (Haza-iluof 
the  Assyrian  inscriptions),  is  named  as  executor  of 
this  judgment  on  Joash. — And  it  came  to  pass  in 
the  course  of  a  year,  "in  the  circuit  of  a  year," 
the  year  beginning  with  the  death  of  the  prophet 
Zechariah. — That  the  host  of  Syria,  as  in  ver.  24. 
— A  nd  destroyed  all  tlie  princes  of  the  people  out 
of  the  people,  out  of  the  mass  of  the  people  (comp. 
Ps.  Ixxxix.  20),  so  that  these  were  spared,  but 
their  chiefs,  who  were  the  authors  of  the  religious 
ami  moral  evil  (ver.  17  f.),  were  overtaken  by  the 
doom  of  extermination.  On  the  variants  in  the 
old  versions  with  respect  to  "out  of  the  people," 
see  Crit.  Note. —  With  few  men,  literally,  "with 
smallness  of  men"  ;  comp.  Job  viii.  7. — And  they 
executed  judgments  upon  Joash.      D'tDD'J'  !"IL"J?, 

as  in  Ex.  xii.  12;  Num.  xxxiii.  4;  Ezek.  v.  10,  15; 
elsewhere   with   2,    here   with    J-|N   (comp.   nt>]! 

DS  31D,  1  Sam.  xxiv.  19).     The  judgment  upon 

Joash  refers  especially  to  the  mortal  wound  which 
he  received. — Ver.  25.  For  they  left  him  with 
many  wounds.     D'vnD,  less  suitably  translated 

"diseases"  by  Luther,  occurs  only  here;  but 
comp.  the  similar  Q'N^nn,  xxi.  19.  With  re- 
spect to  the  somewhat  surprising  "  sons  of 
Jehoiada  "  (instead  of  son),  see  Crit.  Note. — And 
slew  him  on  his  bed;  narrated  more  particularly 
2  Kings  xii.  21.  The  burial  was  not  in  the  tombs 
of  the  kings, 'but  in  another  place,  as  in  the  case 
of  Joram  ;  see  xxi.  20. — Ver.  26.  On  the  names 
of  the  conspirators,  of  which  one  is  different  in 
2  Kings  xii.  (Jozachar  for  Zabad),  see  Bahr  on 
this  passage. — Ver.  27.  And  his  sons,  and  the 
greatness  of  the  burden  upon  him,  the  greatness 
of  the  treasure  which  he  had  to  send  as  tribute 
to  Hazael  in  Syria;  comp.  2  Kings  xii.  19.  So 
it  is  perhaps  to  be  explained  (with  Then,  and 
Kamph.)  on  the  basis  of  the  Kethib  xtPBH  1"W 

V?J?.     Possible  also  is  the  interpretation  adopted 

by  Cleric,  Keil,  and  others:  "and  the  multitude 
of  prophetic  oracles  concerning  him  "  (comp.  ver. 
19),   though  in  this  case  the  singular  KBTSH  is 

somewhat  strange.  On  the  contrary,  the  refer- 
ence, attempted  by  the  Vulg.,  Luther,  and  others, 
of  the  N'J'Dn  2")  to  the  temple  tribute  (vers.  6,  9) 
imposed  by  Joash  would  require  a  change  into 
nxti'D,  and  the  v^JJ  would  not  suit  this  view 
(for  which  w\!  should  rather  expect  ^>N"it;"  bll)- 
The  Keri  2~\s  gives  rise  to  the  sense:  "and  with 


CHAP.  XXV.  1-13. 


237 


regard  to  his  bobs  the  oracle  (that  of  the  dying 
Zechariah,  ver.  224)  multiplied  itself  in  them,  ' 
which  is  obviously  much  too  obscure,  and  could 
scarcely  be  intended  by  the  Masoretes  themselves 
The  Sept.  alters  the 'text  <niit<-  arbitrarily,  ««i 
Tfiaixfa*  air*  «'  tIvti   (nt-'On  for  Nu'QH),   and 

so  the  Syriac. — Behold,  the;/  ore  written  in  the 
commentary  of  the  book  of  Kings,  the  elaboration 

of  this  book  :  rump    on   xiii.    12,   and   Introd. 

5  5. -: 

4.  Amaziah:   a.  Duration  of    .■  Reign,  and  its 

Spirit:  ch.  xxv.  11;  comp.  the  essentially  parallel 
verses,  2  Kings  xiv.  1-ti.  —  Ver.  2.  And  he  did .  .  . 
but  iint  with  undivided  heart.  For  this  is  in 
2  Kings:  "yet  not  like  David  his  father,  he  did 
according  to  all  that  liis  lather  Joash  did."  This 
more  particular  statement  our  author  avoided, 
perhaps,  on  account  of  the  less  favourable  light  in 
which  he  had  exhibited  Joash.  The  following 
also:  "only  the  high  places  were  not  removed,  ' 
etc. ,  he  omits;  perhaps  he  intended  sufficiently 
to  indicate  this  partial  continuance  of  idolatry  by 
his  "not  with  undivided  heart"  (comp.  xvi.  9). 
— Ver.  4.  Put  not  their  sons  to  death,  according 
to  the  law,  Dent.  xxiv.  16;  comp.  Bahr  on 
2  Kings  xiv.  6. 

5.  Continuation  :  b.  The  Conquest  of  the 
Edomites  in  the  Valley  of  Salt  :  vers.  5-13. 
Again  a  section  peculiar  to  the  Chronist,  for  which 
nothing  is  fouml  in  2  Kind's  xiv.  7  but  the  brief 
notice  that  Amaziah  smote  the  Edomites  in  the 
valley  of  Salt,  took  their  city  Sela,  and  gave  it 
the  name  Joktheel.  —  And  he  mustered  them 
(comp.  Num.  i.  3)  mid  found  them  300,000  choice 
men  ;  thus  almost  a  million  less  than  the  force  of 
Judah  and  Benjamin  under  Jehoshaphat,  ch.  xvii., 
and,  if  the  numbers  there  are  to  be  considered 
incorrect,  even  much  less  than  the  sum  total  of 
the  troops  of  the  south  kingdom  given  in  xiv.  7 
for  the  time  of  Asa.  But  it  is  obvious  that  the 
number  of  troops  must  be  shown  to  be  much 
diminished  by  defeats  sustained  during  the  last 
reigns  and  other  calamities,  and  therefore  in  need  o) 
being  strengthened  by  foreign  mercenary  soldiers, 
as  the  following  verse  clearly  proves. — Going  out 
to  war  (comp.  1  <  'hron.  v.  18),  holdiny  spear  and 
shield;  comp.  1  Chron.  xiii.  9;  .Ter.  xlvi.  9. — Ver. 
7.  With  a't  the  sons  of  Ephraim.  This  is  a  more 
definite  addition  to  "  Israel  "  (comp.  Isa.  xvii.  3, 
xxviii.  1 )  that  appears  not  unnecessary,  because  the 
author  often  designates  the  kingdom  or  people  of 
Judah  also  as  Israel  (comp.  on  xii.  1). — Ver.  8. 
But  go  thou  alone,  do,  or  "  execute  it " ;  comp. 
1  Chron.  xxii.  lri;  Ezra  x.  4. — He  strong  for  tin 
battle,  (otherwise)  Gov  ■■'halt  make  ihei  fall  befori 
[fti  enemy.  The  se..*>e  is  obvious;  "be  strong, 
then  will  God  not  let  thee  fall."  Before  S^'BO' 
is  to  be  supplied  N?l,  with  Ew.,  Berth.,  Keil, 
Kamph.,  etc. ;  for  the  rjx  <2  can  neither  be  taken 

iwith  Cleric. )=sin  minus,  nor  (with  Seb.  Schmidt, 
Raml>.,  etc.)=aiioguin.  That  the  text  certainly 
needs  emendation  is  manifest  from  the  arbitrary 

and  diverse  interpretations  presented  by  the  old 
translators  ;  for  example,  the  Sept.  ?ti  s«>  IveXi^r.; 

xaritr%y<rou  <v  reimte  ;  Vulg.  ipitel  si  r/d/is  in  /*         / 

exercitus  belta  consietere  ;  Luther,  "  For  so  thou 
comest  as  to  show  a  boldness  in  fight,  God  will 
let  thee  fall  before  thy  enemies." — For  with  Gad 
ispower  to  help  and  to  cast  down,  literally   "ore- 


sent  is  might  in  God,"  etc.  For  the  sentence, 
comp.  1  Chron.  xxix.  12;  2  Chron.  xx.  6;  also  the 
well-known  verse  of  G.  Neumark,  "  He  is  the 
only  wonder-man,  who  now  lift  up,  now  cast  down 
can. " — Ver.  9.  What  shall  we  do  for  the  100 
talents?  In  the  mouth  of  a  prudent  ruler,  who 
counts  the  cost  in  all  his  steps,  certainly  a  very 
pardonable  question,  even  as  the  answer  given  to 
it  is  highly  worthy  of  a  trustful  man  of  God. 
"n"B.   "troop,"  that  is,  a  body  of  mercenaries; 

comp.  xxii.  1;  2  Kings  xiii.  20  f  --Ver.  '.0.  fo 
wit,  the  host,  etc.  p  before  "PHSn  is  the  defining 
7=  namely  (comp.  ver.  5a);  the  whole  is  in  appo- 
sition to  the  suffix  in  DTIQ'V — And  they  return:  d 

to  fair  place  in  hot  anger,  literally,  "in  the  glow  of 
anger"  (comp.  Ex.  xi.  S),  enraged  at  the  bad  usage 
they  had  received,  and  at  the  prospect  of  booty 
being  first  held  out  to  them  and  then  withdrawn 
(comp.  Acts  xvi.  19). — Ver.  11.  And  Amaziah 
look  courage,     pjnnil,  as  in  xv.   8  ;  comp.  also 

the  pfn  of  the  prophet  in  ver.  8.  On  the  situa- 
tion of  the  valley  of  Salt  (south-east  of  the  Dead 
Sea),  see  Bahr  on  2  Kings  xiv.  7. — Ver.  12.   And 

brought  them  to  tlte  top  of  the  rock  (jJPDn  U'NI?), 

probably  the  rock  on  or  at  which  the  Edoinite 
capital  Sela  lay,  so  that  the  rendering  "  on  the 
top  of  Sela"  (Kamph.,  etc.)  is  admissible.  The 
passage  in  2  Kings  xiv.  7,  where  the  taking  of 
Sela  after  the  victory  in  the  valley  of  Salt  is 
recorded,  and  the  present  one  thus  complete  one 
another.  That  the  present  report  of  the  Chronist 
is  merely  derived  from  a  misunderstanding  of  the 
text  of  the  old  source,  somehow  become  illegible 
(Then,  on  2  Kings  xiv.  7),  appears  an  inadmissible 
assumption  on  this  account,  that  our  writer  would 
not  have  imputed  so  frightful  and  barbarous  a 
proceeding  as  the  throwing  of  thousands  of  cap- 
tive Edomites  down  a  precipice  (comp.  for  the 
matter  of  fact,  Ps.  exxxvii.  9;  Luke  iv.  29),  on 
light  grounds  or  on  a  mere  misunderstanding,  to  a 
king  like  Amaziah  (comp.  on  1  Chron.  xviii.  2, 
xx.  3).  Besides,  the  number  10,000  here,  as  in 
the  previous  verse,  is  a  round  number,  and  not  to 
be  pressed  in  its  literal  sense. — Ver.  13.  And  the 
na  n  of  the  hast  (literally,  "  sons  of  the  host,"  that 
is,  the  troops  belonging  to  it)  fell  upon  the  cities  of 
Judah  :  comp.  for  construction,  Gen.  xxii.  24. 
I'll  is  pillaging  raid  of  the  mercenaries  is  to  be 
regarded  as  simultaneous  with  the  absence  of 
Amaziah  in  Idumea,  and  favoured  thereby;  comp. 
the  similar  events  in  the  thirty  years'  and  the 
s  \  en  J  cars'  wars  ;  also  the  invasion  of  Switzerland 
by  tin-  Armagnacs,  and  of  Elsass  under  the  Em- 
peror Frederic  III.  (1444),  etc.  —  From  Samaria 
even  to  Bethhoron,  that  is,  with  Samaria  as  start- 
ing-point,  and  Beth-horon    (see    for   its   site   or 

1  Chron.  vii.  24)  as  the  termination  of  their  raid. 
so  that  all  the  towns  between  these  two,  so  far  as 
they  belonged  to  Judah,  were  exposi  d  to  pillage. 

6.  Close  :  c.  Amaziah's  Idolatry,  War  with 
Joash  of  Israel,  and  End:  vers.  14-28.  The 
second  book  of  Kings  presents  no  parallel  to  the 
statements  regarding  the  desertion  of  Amaziah  to 
the  gods  of  the  conquered  Edomitts,  ^eis.  14-16, 
(In  the  contrary,  the  report  of  the  war  with  Joash 
of  Israel  (vers.  17-24)  agrees  almost  literally  with 

2  Kings  xiv.   8-14,   as  also  the  following  vers 


23S 


.1.  CHRONICLES. 


25-28  with  the  closing  remarks  there,  vers.  17-20 

After   Amaziah    was   come  from    smiting   the 

EdomUes ;  comp.  2  Sam.  i.  1.  The  "gods"  of 
the   children   of    Seir  are   naturally   their   idols 

(otherwise  a^DS  or  D'Ype') '.  an|i  tne  conquered 

Edomites  are  here  called  children  of  Seir,  not 
because  they  were  identical  with  the  tribe  of 
Seirites  or  Meunites  (xx.  1,  10,  22)  who  dwelt 
with  them,  but  because  here,  where  the  peculiarity 
of  iheir  gods  as  hill-gods  came  into  view  (comp. 
I  Kings  xx.  23),  it  was  very  natural  to  designate 
them  according  to  the  hill-country  in  which  they 
dwelt. — Ver.  16.  Have  we  made  thee  counsellor  to 
the  king?   properly,   "given";  the  plural  ^isn: 

is  of  communicative  import,  spoken  from  the 
position  of  the  king  and  his  council.  With  the 
question:  "  Why  should  they  smite  thee?"  comp. 
the  similar  one":  "Why  will  ye  die,  0  house  of 
Israel?"  (Ezek.  xxxiii.  11.) — /  know  (have  now 
observed)  that  God  hath  resolved  to  destroy  thee  ; 
comp.  1  Sam.  ii.  25  (Eli)  ;  and  Ex.  vi.  1,  x.  1, 
xi.  1,  etc.  (Pharaoh). — Because  thou  hast  done 
this  (worshipped  the  gods  of  Edom),  and  hast  not 
hearkened  to  my  counsel.  Thus  the  prophet  de- 
clares himself  authorized  to  give  counsel  to  the 
king,  however  scornfully  the  latter  may  h  ive 
deprecated  this  as  an  assumption  on  his  put. — 
Ver.  17  ft". ;  comp.  Bahr  on  2  Kings  kit.  8  ff.— 
Took  counsel,  namelv,  with  his  counsellors  and 
courtiers;  comp.  x.  6;  1  Chron.  xiii.  1.  Luther's 
rendering  is  also  possible:  resolved,  came  to  the 
decision  after  counsel  taken. — Come  (T|S=n3;>. 

"come  on";  comp.  Num.  xxiii.  13;  Judg.  xix. 
13),  ht  us  look  one  another  in  the  face,  measure, 
have  x  passage  at  arms  with  one  another. — Ver. 
19.  Thou  sayest,  Lo,  thou  hast  smitten  Edom,  or 
if  thou  hast  smitten.  It  is,  moreover,  of  the  same 
import  if  we  render  (with  Luther,  Kamph.,  etc.) 
"  I  have  smitten." — And  thy  heart  hath  lifted  thee 
up  (or  "carried,  urged  thee  ;"  comp.  Ex.  xxxy. 
21,  26)  to  boast,  properly,  "to  make  heavy"; 
comp.  Isa.  viii.  23.  It  is  considerably  different 
in  2  Kings  xiv.  10  ;  see  Bahr  on  the  passage. — 
Ver.  20.  For  it  was  of  Gotl  that  they  should  be 
given  up,  literallv,  "  that  they  m  ght  be  g'ven 
into  the  hand  (of  the  enemy)";  comp.  Deut.  i. 
27;  1  Kings  xx.  42,  etc.— Ver.  22.  And  they  fied 
every  man  to  Ids  tent,  to  bis  house  ;  comp.  x.  16; 

1  Kings  viii.  66.— Ver.  23.  from  the  gate  of 
Ephraiin  to  the  corner  gate  ;  so  according  to  the 
emendation    ri33n  -15?'^'    for    rui-SH  'l",    which 

latter  reading  gives  no  rational  sense,  as  the 
direction  in  which  the  gate  in  question  turns 
itself  must  have  been  stated  if  ruiSH  'C  meant 

the  gate  turning  itself  (comp.  Ezek.  viii.  3). — 
Ver.  21.  And  all  the  goU,  namely,  "he  took,"  a 

verb  (nn6)  which  is  to  be  supplied  from  2  Kings 

xiv.  14. — Vers.  25-28.  Comp.  Bahr  on  the  parallel 

2  Kings  xiv.  17-20;  and  with  regard  to  "  the 
book  of  the  kings  of  Judah  and  Israel  "  (ver.  26), 
Introd.  §  5,  ii.  —Ver.  28.  In  the  ciiy  of  Judah 
appears  to  be  an  error  in  copying  for  "  in  the  city 

of  David,"  occasioned  by  the  following  OJT73 
rvnrp  (xxvi.  1)  ;  comp.  Crit.  Note.  If  the 
Masoretic  reading   is   to   be    retained,  we  might 


be  tempted  to  think  of  the  designation  vO-i 
'I»i!S«,  occurring  Luke  i.  39,  which,  however,  can 
scarcely  be  supposed  to  refer  to  Jerusalem  (see 
Van  Oosterzee  on  this  passage). 

7.  Uzziah  :  a.  His  early  Theocratic  Inclination 
and  Prosperous  Reign :  ch.  xxvi.  1-15 ;  comp. 
the  very  brief  parallel,  2  Kings  xiv.  21,  22,  xv. 
1,  2,  where  the  present  (vers.  6-15)  report  of  the 
successful  wars  of  Uzziah,  his  buildings,  and  his 
strong  military  force,  is  wanting.  There,  more- 
over, this  king,  along  with  the  present  name  (VIHPi 


"  might  of  Jehovah  "),  bears  also  the  name  Azariah 
(mtj?   or  'innry,    "whom    Jehovah    helps"). 

Comp.  2  Kings  xiv.  21,  xv.  1,  6,  8,  23,  27,  where 
th    hitter  form  is  used,  with  2  Kings  xv.  13,  30, 
32,  34,  where  "Uzziah"  stands,  the  form  which 
the  Chronist,   irrespective  of   1    Chron.    iii.    12, 
always  uses,  and  which  is  also  found  in  the  super- 
scriptions  of    the   prophets    Hosea,    Amos,    and 
Isaiah,   as  in   Isa.   vi.    1,   vii.   1.     The  Assyrian 
cuneate  inscriptions  (the  tablets  of  Tiglath-pileser ; 
see   Sehrader,    p.    114)    present    exclusively   the 
form  Azariah  (Az-ri-ya-hu),  whereby  the  opinion 
of  tho-e  who  regard  this  form  as  the  later,  or  as 
the  result  of  a  mere  er^or  of  writing,  is  refuted  (so, 
for  example,  Gesen. -Dietrich  in   Lexicon).     But 
Hitzig's  hypothesis  also  (Gesch.  p.  209),  that  the 
name  Azariah  was  transformed  from  that  of  the 
high  priest  contempo  ary  with  him  (ver.  17)  to 
the  king,  is  refuted  by  this  evidence  of  Assyrian 
inscriptions.     Much  rather  the  only  assumption 
that    remains  warranted   is:   "that   the   similar 
names  of  almost  equal  import  were  used  simul- 
taneously "  ( Berth. ) :  as  was  the  case,  for  example, 
with  Uzziel  and  Azarel,  a  descendant  of  Heman 
(1  Chron.  xxv.  4,  18).     Not  even  the  conjecture 
expressed  by  Bahr  on  2  Kings  xiv.  21 :  "  that  the 
nam-   Uzziah  appears   to   have  come  into  more 
ceneral  use  after  he  ascended  the  throne,"  will 
harmonize  with  the  fact  th  it  the  Assyrian  kings 
know  only  the  name  Azariah. — Ver.  2.   He  built 
Eloth.     On  the  emphatic  prefixing  of  this  notice, 
even  before  the  chronological  dates  of  the  follow- 
ing  verse,    see    Bahr   on   the   passage. — Ver._3. 
Reigned  fifty-two  years   in   Jerusalem,    S10-759 
B.a,  according  to  the  usual  chronology,  though, 
according  to  the  Assyrian  monuments,  consider- 
ably later(accordit.gto  Neteler,  p.  225 ff.,  786-735). 
On"  the  name  of  the  queen-mother  Jechiliah  (in 
2    Kings    Jecholiah,    not    Jeehaliah,    as    Luther 
writes),  see  the  Crit.  Note. — Ver.  5.   And  he  con- 
tinued to  seek  God,  literally,  "  and  he  was  to  seek 
God,  was  out  to  seek  Him";   comp    xxxi.    21; 
Ezra  iii.  12. — In  the  days  of  Zcchnriah,  who  un- 
derstood the  visions    if  God.     Accordingly   this 
Zechariah,    who   is   ctherwise    unknown   (for  he 
cannot  be  identified  with  the   ZeJiariah  son  of 
Jeberechiah  mentioned  Isa.  viii.  2,  as  he  was  at 
hast  a  generation  older),  must   be  considered  a 
prophet,  and  DT6.Xn  111X12  !"2t;n  must  be  re- 
garded  as   a   chosen   periphrasis   for  rtNhil.  the 

seer  (comp.  Dan.  i.  17).  But  as  the  vision  of 
God  cannot  be  taken  as  a  work  of  human  activity, 
the  reading  of  the  Sept.  and  other  old  witnesses 
(see  Crit.  Note)  commends  itself  more,  which 
givss  the  sense  "expert  in  the  fear  of  God,"  or 
even  "  teacher  of  the  fear  of  God  "  (comp.  Neh. 
viii.  9).  Zechariah  remains  a  prophetic  teacher 
and  counsellor  of   Kiug  Uzziah    even  with  this 


CHAP.  XXVI.  6-18. 


239 


reading  (for  his  possible  priestly  character  would 
have  been  marked  by  a  inbrO  '.  hut  that  he  was  a 

"  master  in  divine  visions"  is  not  to  he  read  from 
it  ;  and  still  less  is  it  to  be  inferred  that  lie  and 
no  other  was  the  author  of  tins  oracles  of  Balaam 
(as  is  asserted  in  an  arbitrary  way  by  Fiirst,  Gesch, 
tier  WW.  Litiratur.  ii.  pp.  231,  359).  —  Vers.  6-15. 
Uzziah's  Successful  Wats,  Building  of  Cities,  etc. 
(without  parallel  in  2  Kings). — Ami  lie .  .  .  fought 
with  the  Philistines,  to  punish  their  pillaging 
inroad  under  Joram  (xxi.  16f.).  This  punishment 
most  have  been  inflicted  by  him  in  very  full  mea- 
sure, probably  by  the  subjection  of  their  whole 
territory  ;  for  the  cities  said  to  have  been  destroyed 
by  him,  Gatli  (see  on  xi.  8),  Jabneh  (=Jabneel, 
Josh.  xv.  11,  later= Jamnia  in  the  Maceab.  and 
in  Josephus),  and  Ashdod  (now  Esdud,  comp.  on 
Josh.  xiii.  3),  were  at  that  time  the  chief  places  of 
the  Philistines. — Ver.  7.  And  God  helped  him  .  .  . 
against  the  Arabs,  who  are  named  also,  xvii.  11, 
with  the  Philistines.  Where  Ourbaal  was  is  un- 
certain ;  it  is  by  no  means  to  be  identified  (after 
the  Sept.,  see  Crit.  Note)  with  the  Edomite  Petra ; 
rather  with  Gerar  (Gen.  xx.  1 ),  of  which  the  Targ. 
thinks.  Concerning  the  Melinites,  see  on  1  Chron. 
iv.  41;  2  Chron.  xx.  1. — Ver.  8.  And  his  name 
went  even  to  Egypt,  literally,  "even  to  the  en- 
trance of  Egypt."  But  by  the  name  of  Uzziah  is 
scarcely  meant  merely  his  fame  (Luther),  but  also 
his  active  influence,  his  power. — For  he  became 
very  mighty,  literally,  "showed  himself  mighty 
(Dan.  xi.  7)  unto  the  height"  (comp.  1  Chron. 
xiv.  2,  xxix.  25). — Ver.  9.  And  Uzziah  built 
towers  .  .  .  at  the  corner  gate.  The  corner  gate 
(comp.  xxv.  23)  lay  at  the  north-west  end  of  the 
city  ;  the  valley  gate  on  the  west  side,  where  the 
Jaffa  gate  is  now.  On  the  east,  over  against  these 
two  points  belonging  to  the  west  side  where  de- 
fence was  most  needed,  is  JrtVpEil,  the  corner,  to 

be  sought — namely,  a  bend  of  the  eastern  wall 
near  the  horse  gate ;  comp.  Neh.  iii.  19,  20,  '-'4,  '_>."> 
— Ver.  10.  And  he  built  towers  in  the  wilderness, 
in  the  wilderness  of  Judah,  to  protect  the  herds 
grazing  there ;  comp.  1  Chron.  xxvii.  25;  Mic.  iv. 
8;  Isa.  v.  2;  in  which  latter  place  mention  is  made 
of  the  digging  of  a  well  along  with  the  tower  build- 
ing.— For  he  hail  much  cattle  in  the  lowland,  etc., 
properly,  "and  in  the  lowland  and  in  the  plain," 
etc.  It  appears,  therefore,  as  if  three  regions  were 
here  distinguished — 1.  The  wilderness  (of  Judah) 
west  of  the  Dead  Sea  ;  2.  The  lowlands  at  the 
Mediterrannean  (comp.  1  Chron.  xxvii.  28) ;  3. 
The  plain  ("li^'BH),  perhaps  the  plain  beyond 

the  Jordan,  the  territory  of  the  Reubenites,  a 
region  specially  adapted  for  grazing,  which  Uzziah 
was  under  the  necessity  of  taking  from  the  Am- 
monites (ver.  Si. — Husbandmen  and  vinedressers 
in  the  mountains.  Kamph.  connects  against  the 
accents,  "in  the  plain,  husbandmen."  He  will 
also  explain  JjyiBDI  neither  of  the  Mount  Cariuel 

(Josh.  xix.  26;  Song  »ii.  6),  nor  of  Carmel  in  the 
south  of  Judah  (1  Sam.  xv.  12),  but  renders  "  in 
the  fruitful  field"  (comp.  Isa.  xxix.  17),  for  which 
there  is  no  constraining  necessity. — Ver.  11.  And 
Uzziah  had  a  hose  of  fighting  men,  literally,  "a 
host  (comp.  xiv.  7)  maker  of  war"  (comp.  ver.  13, 
xi.  1),  that  went  out  to  war  (comp.  1  Chron.  v.  8) 
in  troops  (in  a  marshalled  host). — By  the  number 
of  thet-  muster  at   the  hand  of  Jeuel.    "V3,    as 


afterwards,  "under  the  guidance  of  Hananiah,"  ii 
expressed  by  "at  the  hand  "'  (-p  ^y,  as  1  Chron. 

xxv.  6).  The  captain  Hananiah  appears  therefore 
as  superintendent,  Jeuel  and  Maaseiah  as  subor- 
dinate executive  officers  in   the  business  of  the 

muster.— Ver.   13.   And  at  their  hand  (ai»  >y, 

as  in  the  previous  verse)  an  army  of  307,500 
lighting  men.  Tims  each  of  the  2600  father- 
houses  constituted  a  corps  under  the  command  of 
the  bravest  among  them.  The  total  number  of 
307,500  warriors  agrees  in  the  main  with  the 
above  statement  of  the  strength  of  the  army  under 
Amaziah,  xxv.  5,  and  presupposes  the  more  cer- 
tainly an  actual  numeration  for  its  basis,  as  it  is 
not  a  round  number. — Ver.  11.  And  Uzziah 
prepared  for  them  ;  comp.  1  Chron.  xv.  1,  xxii.  5. 
— Ver.  15.  He  made  engines,  the  invention  of 
craftsmen, literally,  "devices  (ni:bt:TI, excogitata), 

the  device  of  the  deviser  "  (X'in  TOS/FtD),  skil- 
fully contrived  engines  of  war,  as  the  following 
words  show — a  kind  of  catapults  or  balisters,  for 
assaulting  besieging  troops  from  the  walls  and 
towers  of  defence. — And  his  name  went  forth, 
etc. ;  comp.  above,  ver.  8. 

8.  Uzziah:  b.  His  Boasting  and  Divine  Punish- 
ment by  Leprosy;  his  End:  vers.  16-23.  Comp. 
2  Kings  xv.  5-7,  where,  however,  the  mere  fact 
of  the  king's  becoming  leprous  is  mentioned,  with- 
out particularizing  the  cause,  so  that  in  fact  the 
three  verses  correspond  only  to  our  vers.  21-23. — 
And  when  he  became  strong.  lnpTrlDl,  as  in 
xii.  1.  For  the  following:  "to  do  corruptly" 
(rpni."n),  comp.  xxvii.  2.—  Went  into  the  temjih 
of  the  Lord  to  burn  incense,  which,  according  to 
Ex.  xxx.  7,  27,  Num.  xviii.  1-7,  only  priests 
were  to  do.  Uzziah  wished  to  exercise  regal  and 
sacerdotal  functions  at  the  same  time  (as  the 
Egyptian  kings,  and  afterwards  the  Roman  em- 
perors). He  fell  into  the  same  sin  as  Saul  before 
him  (1  Sam.  xiii.  9  f.).  It  was  not  the  restitution 
of  a  formerly  legitimate  union  of  regal  and  sacer- 
dotal power,  as  it  was  nominally  possessed  by 
David  and  Solomon  (Thenius,  Ewald),  which  was 
his  aim  ;  for  only  occasionally,  and  in  certain 
religious  solemnities  of  an  extraordinary  kind, 
had  those  kings  exercised  several  priestly  func- 
tions, with  the  permission  of  the  lawful  priests  (so 
correctly  Bertheau,  Keil,  etc.). — Ver.  17.  And 
Azariah  the  priest.  Whether  he  was  actually 
high  priest  is  not  determined  with  perfect  cer- 
tainty  from    his  subsequent  designation  as  >nb 

C'Nin  (as  in  the  case  of  Jehoiada ;  see  on  xxiii. 

8)  ;  yet  it  is  most  probable  that  the  "head 
priest,"  who  was  accompanied  with  eighty  priests, 
was  the  actual  legitimate  holder  of  high-priestly 
office.  But  very  improbable  is  the  identity  as- 
serted by  Keil  of  this  Azariah  with  the  Azariah 
named  in  the  list  of  high  priests.  1  Chron.  v.  36, 
37,  as  the  father  of  Amaiiali,  who  belongs  cer- 
tainly to  a  considerably  earlier  time  (see  on  this 
passage).       On   the    predicate   "men   of  valour," 

i>'n  '33,  comp.   1   Chron.  v.   18.— Ver.   18.   Ami 

they  withstood  Uzziah,  "stood  against"  him; 
comp.  Dan.  xi.  14. — And  it  shall  not  be  for  thine 
honour  from  the  Lord.  God,  that  is,  thy  ottering 
incense  serves  not,  as  thou  fanciest,  to  inctas* 


210 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


thy  honour  anil  glory  before  God,  hut  rather 
brings  thee  shame,  oecause  thou  thereby  showest 
thvself  to  be  disobedient  and  apostate. — Ver.  19. 
And  while  he  was  wroth  with  the  priests,  the 
leprosy  burs',  forth  on  his  forehead,  in  punish- 
ment of  his  impious  attempt.  The  punishment 
is  the  same  that  Miriam  endured  on  account  of 
her  rebellion  against  Moses  (Num.  xii.  10),  and 
with  which  Elisha's  servant  Gehazi  was  visited 
for  his  covetousness  (2  Kings  v.  27).  In  a  physi- 
cal and  pathological  sense,  also,  the  malady  may 
have  been  brought  on  in  all  these  cases  in  essen- 
tially the  same  way, — "  by  a  strong  physical  ex- 
citement, which  brought  the  leprosy,  already 
existing  as  a  tendency  in  the  system,  suddenly  to 
a.  visible  eruption"  (Friedreich,  Zur  Bibel,  etc., 
pp.  22-t,  230).  Wedel  (Exercilationes  medico- 
philulogicte,  ii.  4.9)  quite  arbitrarily  asserts  that 
Uzziah's  malady  was  not  leprosy,  but  syphilis. 
Not  less  arbitrary  and  contrary  to  the  text  is  the 
attempt  of  K.  Ad.  ilenzel  to  reduce  the  whole 
malady  to  a  bold  and  sly  mystification  of  the 
high  priest  Azariuh,  who  suddenly  cried  out  that 
he  saw  the  sign  of  leprosy  on  the  forehead  of  the 
king,  and  by  this  application  of  his  medical 
authority  so  far  robbed  him  of  his  self-command 
that  he  allowed  himself  to  be  arrested  and  put  in 
a  place  of  confinement  (Religion  und  Staatsidee, 
p.  89  ;  comp.  or.  xvi.  13).  A  special  contrast  to 
this  crude  attempt  at  a  natural  explanation  by  a 
miracle-rejecting  rationalism  is  presented  by  the 
Jewish  legend  in  Josephus,  Antiq.  ix.  10.  4, 
which  makes  Uzziah  be  punished  not  merely  by 
becoming  leprous  (supposed  to  be  produced  hy  a 
sunstroke  which  fell  through  the  split  roof  of 
the  temple  on  his  face),  but  also  by  a  simul- 
taneous violent  earthquake,  the  same  which  is 
mentioned  Amos  i.  1,  by  which  that  splitting  of 
the  temple  roof  was  effected. — Ver.  21.  And  dwelt 
in  a  sick-house,  properly,  "a  house  of  separation"; 
see  Bahr  on  2  Kings  xv.  5,  where  also  all  that  is 
necessary  is  remarked  on  the  probable  (amounting 
only  to  a  few  years)  duration  of  Uzziah's  illness 
and  of  Jotliam's  regency. — Ver.  23.  And  they 
buried  him  with  his  fathers  in  the  burial-field  of 
the  kings  ;  for  they  said,  He  is  a  leper.  They 
wished  not  to  defile  the  proper  tombs  of  the  kings 
by  burying  his  body  in  them,  and  therefore  buried 
it  in  the  field  adjoining  these  tombs.  In  the 
parallel  2  Kings  xv.  7  f.  this  important  detail  is 
wanting. 

9.  Jotham  :  eh.  xxvii. ;  comp.  2  Kings  xv. 
32-3S,  and  Bahr  on  this  passage. — Ver.  2.  Only 
he  entered  not  into  the  temple  of  the  Lord;  he 
abstained  from  such  an  impious  undertaking  as 
that  of  his  father,  xxvi.  IB  ff.  This  remark  is 
wanting  in  2  Kings.  On  the  contrary,  instead  of 
the  rather  indefinite  :  "  and  the  people  did  yet 
corruptly"  (comp.  on  xxvi.  16  ff.),  we  find  there 
the  more  special  statement:  "the  people  still 
sacrificed  and  burnt  incense  on  the  high  places." 
— Ver.  3.  And  on  the  wall  of  Ophel  lie  built 
much;   fortified  thus  the  southern  slope  of  the 

temple  mountain,  which  is  called  Ophel  (?2j)n  ; 

comp.  xxxiii.  14  ;  Neh.  iii.  26,  27),  and  therein 
continued  the  fortifications  of  his  father  Uzziah, 
which  had  applied  more  to  the  west  and  east 
sides  of  the  city  wall.  In  2  Kings  this  is  want- 
ing, as  also  the  notice  in  the  following  verse  of 
the  towns  and  castles  built  by  Jotham  (for  |"rt>3T3, 


"castles,  forts,"  see  on  xvii.  12),  while  the  pre- 
vious notice  regarding  the  building  (anew)  of  the 
upper  temple  gate,  the  north  gate  in  the  inner 
court  of  the  temple,  is  also  found  there.  —Ver.  5 
Ami  he  fought  with  the  king  of  the  sons  of  A  mmon. 
Of  this  victorious  war  with  the  Ammonites,  also, 
nothing  is  found  in  2  Kings.  This  war,  like  the 
buildings,  appears  to  be  a  continuation  of  that 
waged  by  Uzziah  ;  for,  according  to  xxvi.  8,  the 
Ammonites  had  also  to  pay  tribute  to  that  king. 
It  was  therefore  an  attempt  at  revolt,  for  whi  ;h 
they  were  now  punished  by  Jotham  with  the  im- 
position of  a  new  and  heavier  tribute  (100  talents 
of  silver,  with  10,000  cors  of  bailey  and  wheat 
yearly,  is  pretty  well  for  a  not  very  numerous 
people).  —  This  the  sons  of  Amnion  paid  him  alto 
in  the  second  and  the  third  year,  but  no  longer 
than  during  these  three  years;  perhaps  on  account 
of  the  war  of  Syria  and  Ephraim  with  Judali, 
which  took  its  rise  under  Jotham,  2  Kings  xv. 
37,  and  procured  for  the  Ammonites  their  former 
independence. — Ver.  6.  And  Jotham  strengthened 
himself,  namely,  "in  his  kingdom";  comp.  xiii. 
21,  and  the  following:  " he  established  his  ways,'1 
Prov.  xxi.  29. — Ver.  7.  And  all  his  wars.  Thai 
these  wars  of  Jotham,  of  which  only  one  is  here 
mentioned,  were  uniformly  successful  is  not 
stated  in  the  text ;  and  therefore  the  war  com- 
menced  with  Syria  and  Ephraim,  in  which 
Jotham  suffered  some  very  severe  defeats,  may 
be  here  included  (against  Keil).  In  other  re- 
spects the  closing  notices,  vers.  7-9,  agree  essen- 
tially with  2  Kings  xv.  36,  38. 

10.  Aliaz  :  a.  His  Idolatry,  and  Defeat  by  the 
Syrians  and  Ephraiiuites:  ch.  xxviii.  1-8;  comp. 
2  Kings  xvi.  1  ff,  where  the  first  four  verses,  re- 
lating to  the  idolatry  of  Ahaz,  agree  tolerably  well 
with  vers  1-4  of  our  text ;  while  the  report  of  the 
war  given  in  vers.  5-18  presents  considerable 
deviations  from  the  narrative  in  our  ch.,  vers.  5  ff., 
9,  and  16  ff.  Comp.  on  these  differences,  as  well 
as  on  the  whole  report  of  the  war,  C.  P.  Caspari, 
Der  <!iri.<ch-ephraimitische  Krieg  unter  Jotham 
u,id  Alms.  Christiania  1849. — Aha:  was  twenty 
years  old.  Tims  also  2  Kings  xvi.  2  ;  but  oo 
account  of  the  age  .f  his  son  and  successor,  — Heze- 
kiah  being  already  twenty-five  at  the  death  of 
Ahaz, — it  is  more  probable  that  the  reading  of  the 
Sept..  Syr.,  and  Arab,  is  to  be  preferred,  and  the 
age  of  Ahaz  at  his  accession  set  down  at  twenty- 
five  (not,  however,  at  thirty,  as  Hitzig,  Gesch. 
Isr.  p.  214,  will  have  it).  Moreover,  the  name 
Ahaz  (fnx)  >s  on  the  Assyrian  monuments  Ja- 

hukha-zi,  which  is  elsewhere  =  the  Hebr.  Jehoahaz 
(TnNirP) :  see  Schrader,  pp.  25,  147,  151  ff.    This 

difference  "is  either  to  be  referred  to  this,  that 
tlie  later  Jews  in  the  Old  Testament  changed  the 
actual  name  of  the  king,  namely  Jehoahaz,  in 
consequence  of  his  idolatrous  propensity,  into 
Ahaz,  by  the  omission  of  the  divine  name,  or  to 
this,  that  the  Assyrians  falsely  transferred  to 
Ahaz  the  like-sounding  name  of  an  earlier  king 
(Jehoahaz),  as  they  made  Jehu  a  son  instead  of  a 
successor  of  Omri"  (Schrader,  p.  152).  If  the 
first  of  those  two  conjectures,  according  to  which 
Ahaz  is  a  curtailed  name,  be  correct,  we  may 
compare  the  change  of  such  names  as  Jerubbaa) 
(into  Jerubbcshcth)  or  Mephibaal  (into  Mephi- 
bosheth),  and  also  the  legend  of  the  medireva] 
sects,  as  the  Euchites,  Bogomiles,  etc.,  that 
Satan   Mas  originally  called  Satanael,   and  af  e> 


CHAP.  XXVIII.  2-15. 


241 


his  tall  his  name  was  deprived  of  the  hist  syllable. 
C  iruj'.,  moreover,  on  ver.  21.  —  Ver.  2  f.  And  made 
also  molten  images/or  Baalim  :  comp.  Ps.  evi.  19  ; 
Judg.  xvii.  3,  etc.  Both  these  words  and  the 
following:  "and  he  burnt  Incense  in  the  valley 
of  Ben-hinnom,"  are  wanting  in  2  Kings;  but 
they  have  there  fallen  out  by  an  oversight  (occa- 
sioned by  a  twofold   CJV  !    comp.   Biihr   on   the 

passage. — And  burned  his  sons  in  the  fire,  or 
"made  his  sons  pass  through  the  tire."  Accord- 
ing  to   2    Kings,    he   performed   this    barbarous 

human    saeritk nly    in    the   case   of  one   son, 

which  is  intrinsically  the  more  probable  (comp. 
2   Kings  iii.    27,   xxi.   tit  ;    the  plur.   V33TIK  of 

our  passage  is  thus,  as  in  xxxiii.  6,  merely  a 
rhetorical  generalization  (Casp.,  Keil,  I?ahr,  etc.). 
On  vers.  3')  and  4,  comp.  Bah/s  exposition  of  the 
parallel  text.  — Ver.  5.  The  Lord  his  God  gaiv 
him  into  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Syria.  These 
introductory  words  of  the  following  report  of  the 
war,  compared  with  2  Kings  xvi.  6'  ft.,  demon- 
strate that  our  writer  proposes  to  give  rather  a 
rhetorically  conceived  than  a  strictly  historical 
description  of  the  i  hastisements  inflicted  on  Ahaz 
by  the  Syrians  and  Ephrainiib  s.  Comp.  Caspari 
as  quoted,  p.  42  ff.,  and  Keil,  p.  325  f.  :  "The 
[acts,  which  show •  how  Ahaz.  notwithstanding 
the  grievous  blows  which  fell  en  him  and  Judah, 
sinned  yet  more  grievously  against  the  Lord  his 
God,  are  brought  out  of  the  historical  material 
into  relief,  and  oratorically  represented,  so  that 
they  display  not  only  the  increasing  obstinacy  of 
Ahaz,  but  also,  by  adducing  the  conduct  of  the 
citizens  and  warriors  ol  the  kingdom  of  Israel, 
the  depth  to  which  Judah  had  fallen." — And  they 
smote  him,  literally,  "on  him,"  that  is,  they  in 
tiicted  a  defeat  on  his  army. — Ami  took  from  him 
a  great  man;/  captives,  "  led  captive  from  him  a 
great  leading  of  captives  "  (iT3L''.   as  in  ver.  II; 

Neh.  iii.  36). — Ver.  6.  And  Pckah,  son  of  Rema- 
liah,  slew  in  Judah  120,000  in  one  day,  that  is. 
in  a  great  battle,  with  the  pursuit  and  plundering 
that  follow..l.  Againstthe  suspicion  cast  on  this 
number  byde  Wette,  Gesenius,  Winer,  and  others, 
as  exaggerated,  see  Caspari,  p.  37  H'. ,  who  points 
with  justice  —  1.  to  the  fanaticism  of  the  Israelites 
and  Syrians,  who  aimed  directly  at  the  annihila- 
tion of  the  Jewish  power  (Isa.  vii.  6  ;  2  Kings  xv. 
16;  comp.  also  ver.  9) ;  2.  to  the  military  strength 
of  the  Jews  (307.5001,  stated  shortly  before  under 
I'zziah,  xxvi.  13,  which  shows  that  it  was  about 
a  third  of  their  force  that  was  put  to  the  sword  ; 
S.  to  the  round  number  120,000  (as  also  the  sub- 
sequent number  of  200,000  captives),  showing 
itself  to  be  the  product  of  a  rough  estimate,  and 
not  an  exact  enumeration. — Ver.  7.  And  Zichri 
.  .  .  slete  Maaseiah  the  king's  son,  probably  a 
royal  prince  of  an  older  generation,  uncle,  cousin, 
or  brother  of  Ahaz,  for  he  himself  at  this  time 
had  scarcely  a  son  of  military  age.  Azrikam  also 
is  perhaps  to  be  regarded  as  a  relative  of  the  king. 
for  a  "governor  of  the  house"  can  scarcely  de- 
signate a  president  of  the  temple  (according  to 
1  Chron.  ix.  11;  2  Chron.  xxxi.  13);  rather  might 
it  be  the  title  of  a  higher  officer  of  the  royal  house 
or  palace. — And  Elhanah  the  vicegerent  of  tlu 
iing,  literally,  "the  second  after  the  king,"  his 
minister  (chancellor,  vizier). — Ver.  8.  And  tlu 
'•nil  of  Israel  hud-  captive  of  their  brethren. 
'bserve  the  importance  of  this  reference  to  the 


character  of  the  war,  as  a  barbarous  strife  between 
brother  tribes. 
11.  Continuation  ;  6.  Oded  the  Prophet  ett'ect 

the  Release  of  the  Captives  ;  vers,  9-15  (without  u 
parallel  in  2  Kings). — And  n  prophet  of  the  Lord 
was  there  of  the  name  of  Oded,  in  Samaria,  the 
capital  of  the  northern  kingdom,     rlexe,  as  well 

as  in  other  places  of  this  kingdom,  prophets  of  tin 
true  (bid  appear  active  till  its  complete  fall  (722 
B.C.),  as  in  particular  the  ministry  of  Hoses 
teaches,  which  was  likewise  exercised  on  this 
soil. — Anil  lie  went  out;  comp.  the  report,  xv. 
2,  of  Azariah  son  of  Oded  under  Asa. — In  the 
wrath  .  .  .  against  Judah.  Xot  so  much  your 
bravery  as  the  judicial  sentence  of  God  for  the 
punishment  of  idolatrous  Israel  is  the  cause  of 
the  great  victory  over  your  adversaries — a  victory 
which  you  have  abused  by  a  frantic  slaughter  and 
carnage.  On  "that  reach eth  unto  heaven," 
comp.  Gen.  xviii.  21  ;  Ezra  ix.  6. — Ver.  10.  And 
now  ye  purpose  to  sulject  ;  comp.  Gen.  i.  28; 
Lev.  xxv.  42  ff. — Are  there  not  even  with  you 
yourselves  trespasses  against  the  Lord?  look  for 
once  at  yourselves,  whether  ye  do  not  perceive 
there  enough  of  that  which  inculpates  you  before 
God.  To  this  exhortation  to  repentance  is  suit- 
ably added  the  warning  in  ver.  11,  to  beware  of 
the  further  abuse  of  the  power  given  them  to 
execute  the  divine  judgment,  and  therefore  of 
the  unmerciful  treatment  or  even  the  longer 
n  tention  of  the  captives. — Ver.  12  f.  Four  of 
the  chiefs  of  Kjihraim  declare  their  concurrence 
with  this  exhortation  and  warning  of  Oded. 
Their  names  occur  only  here,  but  they  present,  at 
all  events,  a  weighty  testimony  for  the  concrete 
historical  character  and  credibility  of  the  present 
account. — For  with  the  trespass  of  the  Lord  upon 
us,  that  the  effect  of  our  heavy  guilt  with  God 
(ver.  10)  may  fall  upon  us,  that  the  heavy  punish- 
ment  of  sin  may  overtake  us.       niir  TICK'S   is 

here  the  effect,  the  punishment  of  guilt  con- 
tracted before  God. — Ver.  14.  And  the  armed 
host   left,   the  armed   escort  who  conducted  the 

captives  to  Samaria.      p^nil,  as  in   1  Chron.  xii. 

23. — Ver.   15.   The  men  who  were   expressed  by 

name,  the  notable  men  mentioned  by  name  in  the 
old  records,  who  specially  distinguished  them- 
selves at  that  time  by  a  noble  emulation  of  love 
and  compassion  for  the  poor  captives  ;  comp.  1 
Chron.  xii.  31,  xvi.  41  ;  2  Chron.  xxxi.  19.  The 
analogy  of  these  passages  forbids  us  to  think  only 
of  the  four  named  in  ver.  12. — And  clothed  alt 
that  were  naked  of  them,  literally,  "all  th< 
nakedness"  (abstr.  pro  concr.). — And  unointea 
them,  because  they  should  return  home  happj 
and  cheerful. — And  carried  tin  m  on  asses ;  tc 
which  is  appended  a  limiting  and  more  exactly 
denning  phrase,  all  the  weary  tor  "stumbling,' 

^t'i3"?37)-      Observe   the  pictorial   reality   an' 

epic  breadth  of  the  whole  description,  whicl 
exhibits  itself  even  in  designating  Jericho  as  th< 
city  el  palms  (comp  Judg.  iii.  13),  and  by  the 
mention  of  it  (as  the  border  town  of  Judah, 
whither  the  captives  were  first  brought  ;  comp. 
Josh,  xviii.  21 1  accords  with  the  story  -  t  tin 
Samaritan.  For,  in  fact,  there  is  heie  a  grand 
archetype  of  the  deed  of  compassion  described  in 
this  didactic  narrative  of  the  Lord,  as  sure  as 
they    were   inhabitants    of    the   city   and    later 


M2 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


:onntry  of  Samaria,  who  took  so  loving  an 
interest  in  the  helpless  Jews.  The  thought  that 
Christ  drew  directly  from  this  episode  of  the 
uresmt  war  several  points  of  His  noble  lesson 
should  by  no  means  be  absolutely  rejected.  Comp. 
Evangelical  and  Ethical  Reflections,  No.  3. 

12.  (.'lose  :  c.  Further  Visitations  of  Ahaz  on 
account  of  bis  Idolatry  ;  his  End  :  vers.  16-27. 
(Inly  the  part  of  this  section  that  refers  to  the 
relations  of  Ahaz  to  the  Assyrian  world-power 
(his  seeking  aid  from  Tiglath-pileser,  his  pay- 
ment of  tribute  to  the  same,  and  his  fall  occa- 
sioned by  this  slavish  submission  to  the  idolatry 
of  Syria  and  Damascus,  vers.  16,  20-25)  is  reported 
in  2  Kings  xvi.  (vers.  7-18),  ami  there,  indeed, 
much  more  fully  than  here.  On  the  contrary, 
there  is  wanting  there  a  statement  of  the  con- 
temporaneous humiliations  of  Ahaz  by  the  Edom- 
ites  and  Philistines,  as  they  are  here  reported, 
vers.  17-19. — At  that  time  King  Ahaz  sent  unto 
the  kings  of  Assyria.  The  rather  indefinite 
KTin  nj?3  admits  the  assumption  that  this  em- 
bassy to  Assyria  took  place  immediately  after 
the  invasion  of  Rezin  and  Pekah  (Berth.),  as  well 
as  that  several  months  or  years  elapsed  between 
these  events  (Keil).  But  according  to  2  Kings 
xvi.  6  ff.,  the  consequence  of  that  first  heavy 
defeat  by  the  Syrians  and  Ephraimites,  the 
taking  of  Elath  by  Rezin  (and  that  which  was 
connected  with  it,  the  invasion  of  the  Edomites 
and  Philistines),  seems  to  have  been  the  motive 
of  Ahaz  to  apply  to  the  Assyrians  for  aid.  The 
plural  "  the  kings  of  Assyria  "  is  p  rhaps  not 
rhetorical,  as  above,  vcr.  3,  V33  (Keil),   but,  as  it 

seems,  originally  written  under  the  consciousness 
that  the  head  of  the  Assyrian  government  was 
composed  of  several  factors,  namely,  the  king 
and  the  so-called  eponymus  or  archon  of  the 
current  year  ;  see  in  particular  xxx.  4,  where 
this  view  seems  undeniable  :  also  xxx.  6  ;  and 
comp.  Schrader,  Studien  und  Kritiken,  1871,  part 
iv.  ;  Die  Keilschriften,  etc.,  p.  308  If. — Ver.  17. 
And  again  the  Edomites  came,  perhaps  made 
free  again  by  Rezin's  expedition  against  Elath, 
2  Kings  xvi.  6,  from  the  Jewish  yoke,  which  lay 
upon  them  from  the  time  of  Amaziah  and  Uzziah 
(xxv.  11,  xxvi.  2).  The  tense  is  to  be  taken  as 
the  pluperfect:  "  and  moreover  OijJl,  etpratterea, 

et  insuper  :  comp.  Isa.  i.  5)  the  Edomites  had 
come  " ;  and  so  in  the  two  following  verses,  for 
they  also  report  something  that  preceded  the  fatal 
treaty  with  Tiglath  pileser,  and  served  to  bring 
it  about. — Ver.  18.  And  the  Philistines  invaded. 
Of  the  places  conquered  by  them,  Beth-shemesh 
(1  Chron.  vi.  44),  Ajalon  (1  Chron.  vi.  54),  and 
Socho  (2  Chron.  xi.  7)  have  occurred  already  in 
our  book.  For  Gederoth  (in  the  Shephelah), 
comp.  Josh.  xv.  41  :  for  Timnah,  now  Tibtich, 
Josh.  xv.  10  ;  for  Gimzo,  now  Jimsu,  a  large 
village  between  Lydda  and  Beth -boron,  Robins. 
Palest,  iii.  271  The  mention  of  daughter 
cities  (literally,  ''daughters")  along  with  the 
chief  places,  as  in  xiii.  9. — Ver.  19.  For  the 
Lord  humbled  Judah  on  account  of  Ahaz  king  of 
Israel.  Ahaz  is  perhaps  ironically  so  named  ; 
fi  r  the  title  "  King  of  Israel  "  can  scarcely  be  an 
honourable  designation  in  him,  as  in  Rehoboam 
ixii.  6)  or  Jchoshapliat  (x.\i.  2),  or  as  in  his  fore- 
fathers in  general,  vcr.  27.  It  contains,  perhaps, 
an  allusion  to  the  contrast  between  his  idolatrcus 


reign  and  the  mind  and  walk  of  the  true  "  Israel 
of  God"  (comp.  Gal.  vi.  16,  Caspari,  Keil,  etc.). 
— -Because  he  had  revolted  in  Judah.  So  is 
I^ISH  "3  with  3  following  certainly  to  be  taken. 

not  as  Kamph.  and  others  think  :  "because  he 
made  Judah  refractory  "  ;  comp.  rather  Ex.  v.  4, 
which  speaks  also  igainst  the  rendering  3f  he 
Vulg. :  eo  quod  nudasset  euni  auxilio,  and  of 
Luther  (that  he  made  Judah  naked).. — Ver.  20 
And  Tiglalh-pilneser.  Concerning  this  form,  at 
corresponding  not  so  well  to  the  Assyrian  as  the 
Tiglath-pileser  of  the  other  Old  Testament  sources, 
see  on  1  Chron.  v.  6  ;  for  the  conjectural  identity 
of  Pul  with  Tiglath-pileser,  see  on  1  Chron.  v.  _6. 
— And  distressed  him,  and  strengthened  him  not. 
This  is  the  only  rendering  agreeable  to  the  con- 
text, according  to  which,   p|n  here,  contrary  to  its 

usual  intransitive  meaning,  expresses  the  active 
sense  of  strengthening  (confortare,  roborare). 
See  for  justification  of  this  rendering  against 
Luther,  Then.,  Bertheau,  etc.  (who  take  pm 
according  to  xxvii.  5,  Jer.  xx.  7,  etc.  =  "  over- 
come"): "he  oppressed  and  besieged  him,  but 
subdued  him  not,"  in  particular  Keil  on  thi< 
passage ;  rightly  also  Neteler  anil  Kamph.— 
Ver.  21.  For  Ahaz  had  plundered  the  house  oj 
the  Lord.  This  was  at  the  time  that  he  sent 
the  embassy  with  its  cry  fur  help  to  the  mighty 
Assyrian  king  (ver.  16),  for  with  empty  hands 
he  need  not  approach  him  (comp.  also  2  Kings 

xvi.  7,  8).     ppn  here,  is  not  "divide  "  (Luther\ 

but    "plunder,  spoliare"  (Vulg.);    comp.   ppn, 

booty,  share  of  spoil  (Num.  xxxi.  36  ;  Job  xvii. 
5).  The  strong  expression  corresponds  to  the 
rhetorical  tone  of  the  narrator  ;  thereby  the 
certainly  historical  statement  shows  that  the 
treasures  of  the  king's  house,  as  well  as  those  of 
the  "princes"  (the  high  officers  of  the  palace, 
or  perhaps  also  the  princes  of  the  royal  house  ; 
comp.  on  vcr.  7),  must  have  contributed,  that 
the  gift  ("inb;,  see  ^  Kings  xvi.   8)  sent  with  the 

ambassadors  might  be  worthy  of  acceptance. 
That  Ahaz  paid  tribute  to  Tiglath-pileser  is 
attested,  besides  our  passage  ami  the  report  in 
2  Kings  xvi.  7-9  (comp.  also  Isa.  xxxvi  5,  where 
Rabshakeh  charges  Hezekiah  with  revolt  from 
Assyria),  also  by  the  Assyrian  monumerts.  In 
line  61  of  an  inscription  composed  in  the  last 
year  of  Tiglath-pileser 's  reign  (ii.  R.  67),  it  is 
said  that  this  king  received  tribute  (madatu)  from 
"  Mittini  of  Askalon,  Ahaz  (Jehoahaz— Ja-hu- 
kha-zi)  of  Judah,  Kozmalak  of  Edom. "  That  here 
Ahaz  is  spoken  of  as  a  tributary  of  the  great  king, 
and  not  Uzziah  (as  H.  Kawlinson  thought  on 
account  of  the  surprising  form  of  the  name),  is 
shown  by  the  naming  of  the  rulers  of  Philistia 
and  Edom,  who  in  Uzziah 's  time  would  scarcely 
have  been  co-ordinated  with  the  Jewish  king, 
the  naming  of  whom  along  with  Ahaz  is  quite 
consistent  with  the  contents  of  the  verses  of  our 
chapter.  Comp.  Schrader,  p.  151  ff.— Ver.  22. 
And  in  the  time  of  his  distress,  a  date  of  like 
indefiniteness  and  pliability  with  XTIH  HJJ3   'n 

ver.  16.  That  the  revolt  of  Ahaz  to  the  gods  of 
the  Syrians  thus  took  place  after  the  distresses 
which  the  Edomites,  Philistines,  and  Syrians 
prepared  for  him,  cannot  be  definitely  concluded 
from  this  passage  ;  rather  it  seems  to  follow  fror: 


CHAR   XXVIU.  21-27. 


243 


vei.  23  that  he  had  already,  during  the  war  with 
Resin,  begun  to  testify  Ins  respect  for  the  gods  of 
his  foe  ami  his  country.  There  is  therefore  no 
proper  contradiction  between  our  passage  and 
2  Kings  wi.  in  IV.  ;  only  that  there  is  given  a 
more  concrete  and  definite  report  concerning  this 
turning  of  Aha/,  to  the  Syrian  gods  than  in  our 
section,   which  also,  again,  bears  an  eminently 

rhetorical  and  pathetic  character,  as  ind 1  all 

that  is  related  from  ver.  5  onwards. — Ver.  24. 
And  Ahaz  .  .  .  cut  up  the  vessels  of  tht  koust 
of  Ood,  that  is,  as  is  stated  more  precisely  in 
i  Kings  xvi.  17,  he  broke  out  the  sides  of  the 
bases,  removed  the  lavers  from  them,  transferred 
the  sea  from  the  brazen  oxen  to  a  stone  pave- 
ment, etc. — A  nd  shut  ff"  doors  of  the  house  oj 
the  Lord,  that  is,  according  to  xxix.  3,  7,  the 
doors  not  of  the  court,  but  of  the  temple  itself, 
or  the   porch    before    the  holy   and    most   holy 

places.     Accordingly,  the  shutting  of  these  d - 

signified  that  he  suspended  the  worship  of  God 
in  the  holy  and  in  the  most  holy  place,  while  he 
left  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  in  the  court  ;  with 
which  2  Kings  xvi.  15  f.  agrees,  although  there  the 
erection  of  a  separate  altar  of  burnt-orl'ering,  built 
alter  the  model  of  Damascus  of  Syria,  beside  the 
brazen  altar  of  Solomon,  is  reported  (see  Bahr  on 
the  passage). — And  made  him  altars  in  every 
corner  of  Jerusalem,  Among  these  altars  is 
included  the  new  altar  of  burnt-orl'ering  in  the 
court,  2  Kings  xvi.  10-16,  built  at  the  command 
of  Ahaz  by  the  priest  Uriah  after  the  pattern  of 

the  idol-altar  at  Damascus.     The  pa  in  n3  3~733 

is  not  to  be  pressed,  nor,  for  example  :  "  under 
every  tree,"  in  ver.  4,  nor  the  phrase  :  "in  every 
single  city  of  Judah,"  in  the  following  verse. — 
Ver.  25.   And  provoked  to  anger  the  Lord  (DID, 

hiph.,  as  in  Deut.  xxxii.  16;  1  Kings  xiv.  9). — 
Vers.  26,  27  ;  eomp.  the  briefer  closing  notice  in 
2  Kings  xvi.  19,  20.  —  And  they  buried  him  in  the 
city  in  Jeritsalrm ;  thus  not:  "in  the  city  of 
David,"  as*  is  usually  said,  and  further  not:  "in 
the  sepulchres  of  the  kings  of  Israel  "  (see  on  ver. 
19),  but  apart  from  the  proper  tombs  of  the  kings — 
perhaps  in  toe  field  mentioned  in  xxvi.  23,  where 
the  leprous  ITzziah  was  buried.  2  Kings  xvi.  20 
reports  nothing  of  such  an  exception  that  was 
made  with  respect  to  the  grave  of  Ahaz. 

EVANGELICAL  AND  ETHICAL  REFLECTIONS  AND 
HOMILETIC  HINTS  OX  CH.  XXIV. -XXVIU. 

1.  A  period  of  fully  a  century  and  a  half  (877- 
727  in  the  usual  chronology)  is  occupied  by  the 
five  reigns  here  combined,  comprising  a  reign 
of  forty,  of  nearly  thirty,  and  of  fifty-two  years. 
But  none  of  them  yields  any  permanent  gain  for 
the  development  of  Judah  into  the  normal  form 
of  a  truly  theocratic  condition,  as  the  deep  cor- 
ruption exhibited  under  the  last,  an  instance  of 
decided  misrule,  shows.  When  the  Canaanitish 
idolatry,  naturalized  by  Athaliah,  after  a  short 
predominance,  was  again  expelled,  as  an  element 
utterly  foreign  to  the  Davidic  house  and  the 
Jewish  people,  five  reigns  regularly  following  in 
legitimate  succession,  of  which  perhaps  none 
was  begun  otherwise  than  under  favourable 
auspices,  and  with  joyful  hopes  on  the  side  of 
the  theocratic  party,  furnish  before  the  end  of 
150  years  the  sad  result  of  a  decided  relapse  into 


that  idolatry.  For  the  less  insidiously  evil  and 
murderous  than  merely  weak  policy  of  Ahaz  in 
every  instance  must  be  regarded  as  such  a  re- 
lapse, though  it  might  not  be  the  Tynan - 
Canaanitish  idolatry  of  Athaliah  to  which  he 
chiefly  yielded,  but  the  Damascene-Syrian  super- 
stition of  his  adversary  Hezin,  and  though, 
further,  the  outward  form  and  show  of  the 
legitimate  worship  was  perhaps  better  observed 
under  him  than  under  the  priest  -  opposing 
daughter  of  Omri  t>u  the  whole,  it  is  manifest 
that  under  Ahaz  the  corruption  of  religion  and 
murals  had  gnawed  more  deeply  than  at  that 
time,  and  struck  firmer  roots  into  the  conscious- 
ness and  customs  of  the  people.  It  is  now,  at 
least,  quite  contrary  to  the  state  of  things  then, 
directly  a  priest,  perhaps  the  high  priest  (Uriah, 
2  Kings  xvi.  10  ff. ),  who  readily  enters  into  the 
king's  idolatrous  intentions,  and  lends  a  hand  to 

lis.,  rate  the  sanctuary  of  Jehovah  with  foreign 
modes  of  worship,  elaborated  after  heathen 
models  ;  a  characteristic  which  the  Chroni3t 
perhaps  only  neglected  expressly  to  mark,  be- 
cause it  disgusted  and  annoyed  him  to  report 
anything  so  unreasonable  and  abominable  as  this 
treason  of  a  priest  of  the  Lord.  And  as  the 
priest,  so  the  people  does  not  now,  at  the  beck  of 
a  true  witness,  as  then  of  Jehoiada,  rise  up  as  one 
man  to  put  an  end  to  the  foreign  hateful  thing 
at  one  blow,  but  presents  so  little  resistance  to 
the  seductions  to  spiritual  and  corporeal  adultery 
proceeding  from  the  court,  that  it  remains, 
during  a  reign  of  almost  sixteen  years,  on  the 
path  of  Baal-worship,  and  establishes  not  only 
idolatrous  altars  in  every  corner  of  Jerusalem, 
but  also  high  places  for  burning  incense  to 
strange  gods  "in  every  single  city  of  Judah" 
(comp.  xxviii.  24,  25),  without  standing  up  in 
righteous  indignation  against  such  a  course,  or 
even  earnestly  seeking  a  return  to  theocratic 
obedience.  That  it  could  come  to  this  a  century 
and  a  half  after  the  events  under  Athaliah,  tells 
not  of  a  gradual  progress  to  a  better  state  of 
things,  but  rather  of  a  slow  but  irresistible  sink- 
ing into  worse  and  worse — of  a  constant  ripening 
of  the  people  for  that  fearful  judgment  of  God 
which  now  fell  on  the  kindred  people  of  Ephraim 
immediately  after  the  death  of  Ahaz  at  the  end 
of  these  150  years,  and  with  respect  to  which  for 
Judah,  with  all  the  energy  of  many  attempts  at 
reform  (especially  under  Hezekiah  and  Josiah), 
nothing  beyond  a  postponement,  a  delay  of  less 
than  150  years  more  was  secured. 

2.  None  of  the  four  comparatively  theocratic 
reigus  before  Ahaz  had  been  able  to  check  the 
descent  of  the  people  with  uneasy  certainty  and 
constancy  on  this  downward  path  to  final  corrup- 
tion ;  for  none  possessed  the  reverence  for  God 
and  law,  untainted  by  heathenish  abominations, 
which  characterized  the  rule  of  an  Asa  or  Je- 
hoshapliat.  For  .loash  maintained  a  decidedly 
theocratic  demeanour  only  so  long  as  his  pater- 
nal friend,  instructor,  and  counsellor  Jehoiada 
governed  him,  or  so  long  as  those  two  symbols 
given  him  (xxiii.  11)  at  his  accession — the  crown 
as  the  sign  of  power,  and  the  law  as  the  sign  of 
theocratic  wisdom — exercised  their  united  influ- 
ence over  him  ; '  after  whose  death  he  permits,  at 

1  Cot>p  Lienor's  marcinal  note  on  tlii-  |ia»flge  :  "Finely 
are  both  tht  crown  and  the  book  presented  to  the  king,  that 
he  mignt  be  not  only  mighty,  but  al>o  wi>e.  or  (as  we  may 
say)  know  God's  word  end  right.  Thus  even  now,  we 
make  kings  with  a  swerd  and  buok." 


244 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


the  request  of  the  worldly-minded  "princes  of 
Judah  "  (representatives  of  the  higher  nobility,  to 
whom  the  "priestly  power"  might  long  since 
have  well  been  an  abomination),  the  en'rance 
again  of  :iolatry  and  causes  the  faithful  witness 
of  the  truth,  warning  them  of  the  jvil  conse- 
quences cf  such  a  course,  the  son  of  his  instructor 
Jehoiada  (and  therefore  his  near  relative),  to  be 
slain  in  the  court  of  the  temple.  Whereupon 
also  the  threatened  judgment  of  God,  accom- 
plished by  a  desolating  raid  of  the  Syrian  Hazael, 
suddenly  enters,  and  in  a  very  short  time  brings 
about  the  end — and  that  a  terrible  end — of  the 
unfaithful  king.  This  reign  resembles  in  more 
than  one  respe  <t  the  history  of  such  rulers  of  the 
Middle  Ages  or  of  modern  times  as  the  German 
emperors  Otto  III.  and  Henry  iv. ,  or  in  many 
respects  Louis  xiv.  of  Fiance,  who  enjoyed  the 
guardiansliip  of  excellent  regents  of  the  spiritual 
order  at  the  beginning  of  their  career,  but  after- 
wards failed  to  beware  of  the  evil  consequences 
of  their  passing  over  to  a  false  independence. 
Not  much  better  or  happier  was  the  reign  of 
Amaziah,  whose  early  measures,  as  the  sparing  of 
the  children  of  the  murderers  who  conspired 
against  Joash  (xxv.  4  ;  comp.  Deut.  xxiv.  16) 
shows,  were  entirely  accordant  with  the  precepts 
of  the  law  ;  but  who  afterwards,  in  consequence 
of  a  successful  war  with  Edom,  which  seems 
to  have  made  the  conqueror  presumptuous,  de- 
generated into  heathenish  practices,  offered  the 
tribute  of  worship  to  the  gods  of  the  conquered 
Edomites  (naturally  without  meaning  to  abolish 
the  legitimate  worship  of  Jehovah,  proceeding  on 
some  sort  of  theoretical  and  practical  mingling  of 
the  two  modes  of  worshipping  God),  and  added 
to  this  the  further  folly  of  a  supercilious  provoca- 
tion of  the  powerful  Joash  of  Israel  to  war.  A 
severe  humiliation  by  this  foe,  as  a  reward  for 
this  haughty  bearing  (conjoined  with  which  are 
here,  again,  scornful  neglect  and  rough  treatment 
of  one  of  the  prophets  of  Jehovah,  ver.  16),  here 
also  failed  to  delay  the  issue  ;  and  the  end  of  the 
king,  effected  by  a  band  of  traitors  and  con- 
spirators, ver.  27,  was  as  violent  as  that  of  his 
father.  With  respect  to  external  politics  as  well 
as  military  and  economic  (financial)  consolidation 
of  their  power,  the  two  following  reigns  appear 
to  have  been  more  fortunate.  The  vigorous 
Uzziah,  reigning  more  than  a  half  century,  re- 
stores in  many  respects  once  nore  the  glorious 
days  of  a  Jehoshaphat,  especially  with  regard  to 
the  maintenance  of  his  sway  over  the  southern 
tribes,  and  the  great  advance  of  the  defensive 
power  and  financial  capability  of  the  country. 
But  when  the  true  spiritual  adviser  whom 
he  long  followed,  the  prophet  Zeehariah,  was 
separated  from  him,  he  also  exhibited  haughti- 
ness, daring  arrogance,  and  false  independence  in 
spiritual  things.  And  if  his  people  were  not  in- 
volved in  the  judgment  incurred  by  this  guilt, 
yet  his  transgression  brought  on  himself  a  heavy 
and  shameful  fall,  for  which  there  was  no  re- 
covery on  this  side  the  grave.  He  dies  as  one 
"smitten  of  God"  (Isa.  liii.  4  ;  comp.  Job  ii.  7, 
vi.  4  f.,  xvi.  12  ff.)  in  a  sick-house,  and  does 
not  even  in  death  partake  of  the  honour  due 
to  a  king  of  the  line  of  David,  and  also  a 
powerful  and  celebrated  prince  (xxvi.  28).  To 
his  son  Jothain,  reigning  a  much  shorter  time, 
but  in  a  like  spirit  and  with  like  external  for- 
tune, a  humiliation  of  the  same  kind  is  certainly 


spared  ;  for  "  he  entered  not  into  the  temple  o] 
the  Lord,"  ventured  on  no  such  daring  stretch  ol 
his  authority  as  Uzziah  in  his  attempt  to  burn 
incense,  ^nd  how  far  he  was  thereby  from  being 
without  guilt,  or  free  from  inward  participation  in 
such  offences,  is  shown  by  the  reckless  audacity 
with  which  his  on  and  successor,  during  hi£ 
whole  reign  (of  equal  length  with  that  of  his 
father),  ventured  to  addict  himself  to  the  de- 
moralizing idolatry  of  the  neighbouring  nations, 
and  to  procure  for  it  unlimited  entrance  among 
his  people.  Of  the  father  of  such  a  son  we  ;;an 
form  no  very  favourable  opinion,  even  if  the 
scanty  notices  of  our  author  announce  little 
or  nothing  positively  unfavourable  concerning 
him. 

3.  The  penal  judgment  of  God  for  such  con- 
tinued yielding  to  the  seducing  and  corrupting 
influence  of  heathenism,  as  it  was  decreed  against 
Judah,  soon  after  the  corruption  had  broken  forth 
in  all  its  grossness,  in  the  so-called  war  with 
Syria  and  Ephraim,  appears,  according  to  the  re- 
presentation of  the  Chronist,  to  have  been  terribly 
great  and  severe.  More  than  100,000  fighting 
men  fall  as  the  sacrifice  of  a  single  battlefield, 
and  almost  double  that  number  of  women,  chil- 
dren, and  other  prisoners  of  war  are  dragged  away 
as  slaves,  and  owe  their  instant  unconditional 
release  to  the  compassion  of  their  kinsmen,  the 
victorious  Ephraimites,  evoked  by  a  bold  and 
vehement  prophetic  admonition  ;  so  that  in  this 
case  the  Jews  were  put  to  shame  by  the  more 
righteous  and  pious  conduct  of  the  citizens  of  the 
neighbouring  kingdom  (which,  however,  took 
place  on  the  very  eve  of  their  religious  and 
political  ruin).  But  the  spiritual  blessing  which 
should  have  sprung  from  so  heavy  and  deeply 
humiliating  a  vi-itation  was  gone.  No  trace  of 
the  return  of  the  heart  to  the  true  God  and  to 
His  law  comes  to  light  in  the  subsequent  accounts 
concerning  the  acts  and  events  of  the  reign  of 
Ahaz.  And  the  calamities  added  to  that  great 
defeat,  the  invasions  of  the  Edomites  and  Philis- 
tines, as  well  as  the  distress  from  the  Assyrian 
king,  whose  alliance  naturally  soon  proved  to  be 
an  oppressive  sovereignty,  produce,  instead  of 
repentance  toward  God,  only  increasing  submis- 
sion to  the  idols.  As  slave  children  with  venal 
servility  kiss  the  rod  with  which  they  are 
chastised,  so  Ahaz  thinks  he  must  present  more 
demonstrations  of  respect  to  the  gods  of  his 
victorious  foes,  in  proportion  as  they  prepare  for 
him  heavier  humiliations.  And  no  one  among 
the  people  brings  him  back  from  such  folly  ;  the 
voice  of  no  prophet,  though  they  press  as  strongly 
and  closely  upon  his  ear  as  that  of  an  Isaiah 
(Isa.  vii.-x.),  is  able  to  check  the  criminal  course 
into  which  he  has  gone  with  his  princes,  his 
counsellors,  and  his  strong  party  among  the 
people.  First  under  his  son  Hezekiah,  repent- 
ance and  amendment,  the  path  to  which  was 
already  prepared  in  many  hearts  by  the  previous 
afflictions,  come  to  light ;  and  that  unusually 
severe  judgment  of  God  finally  proves  to  be  a 
wholesome  corrective  measure,  the  effect  of  which 
is  to  save,  create  new  life,  and  purify  ;  comp. 
Hezekiah's  own  reflections  on  it,  xxix.  9, — a  pas- 
sage which,  at  the  same  time,  deserves  to  be  taken 
into  account  as  a  supplementary  testimony  to  the 
greatness  of  the  loss  suffered  by  the  people  from 
the  defeats  in  question. 

4.  In  the  representation  of  the  author  of  the 


CHAP.  XXIX. 


*4.S 


books  of  Kings,  this  pragmatic  connection  of  the 
defeats  of  Ahaz,  especially  that  indicted  on  him 
by  tliu  Syrians  and  Ephraimites,  with  his  sins 
and  his  sinking  into  ever  worse  impenitence  and 
idolatry,  is  less  sharply  and  clearly  exhibited  than 
in  the  strong,  rhetorically-coloured,  and  generally 
animated  and  impassioned  style  adopted  by  OUT 
author.  But  its  substantial  credibility  can  suffer 
no  damage  from  this,  that  it  here  and  there 
presents  other  points  of  view,  and  in  part  con- 
nects the  events  otherwise.  As  the  reports  of  the 
Chronist,  giving  great  prominence  to  the  Levitical 
element  in  the  revolution  conducted  by  Jehoiada, 
lis  well  as  in  the  contributions  for  the  temple  and 
its  repair  under  Joash,  in  contrast  with  those  of 
the  books  of  Kings,  do  not  deserve  to  be  cast  in 
the  shade  and  disparaged;  or  as  that  which  our 
author  more  specially  relates  concerning  Uzziah's 
transgression  and  punishment  from  his  Levitical 
point  of  view  is  not  to  be  suspected  in  comparison 
with  the  allusive  brevity  of  the  older  parallel 
account ;  even  so  we  have  no  right  to  hesitate  with 
regard  to  that  which  is  peculiar  to  him  in  the 
description  of  the  Syro-Ephraimitish  war.  The 
roundness,  resting  rather  on  an  estimate  than  an 
exact  enumeration,  of  the  high  numbers  in  xxviii. 
6-8  is  the  only  tiling  that  is  to  be  conceded  to  the 
judgment  of  the  opponent  calling  in  question  the 
strict  historical  accuracy  of  his  narrative  (sec 
above  on  this  passage).  All  other  details  of  this 
description  clearly  rest  on  good  historical  ground; 
neither  the  names  of  the  persons  that  fell,  ver.  7, 
in  the  great  engagement  with  Pekah  among  the 
king's  relatives  and  nearest  circle,  nor  those  of  the 
nobles  of  Ephraim  who  supported  by  their  vote 
the  admonition  of  Oded  to  release  the  Jewish 
captives  (ver.  12),  look  like  mere  invention.  The 
invention  of  such  names,  in  order  to  invest  an 
account,  legendary  in  itself,  with  the  appearance 


i  of  historical  truth,  would,  in  fact,  lie  an  incon- 
ceivable monstrosity,  a  umcum  in  the  history  of 
literary  fictions.     But  they  both  hold  and  support 

'  each  other,  the  undeniable  historical  reality  of 
these  names,  and  the  credibility  of  the  facts  with 
which  they  are  connected  and  environed.  The 
entrance  also  of  the  prophet  Oded,  and  the  words 
spoken  by  him,  are  accredited  by  the  reacting 
power  of  these  concrete  names.  What  is  done 
to  the  Jewish  captives  by  those  four  chiefs  of 
Ephraim    seems  purely  inconceivable   without  a 

i  vehement  admonition,  such  as  that  spoken  by 
Oded  according  to  vers.  9-11.  Caspari  therefore 
declares  it  to  be  the  "highest  levity"  (against 
Geseuius,  in  his  Commentary  on  Juaiah,  p.  269, 
and  other  impugners  of  the  historical  truth  of 
this  prophetic  utterance)  to  hold  the  report  in 
vers.  9-11  to  be  unworthy  of  credit,  and  yet  to 
regard  the  contents  of  ver.  12  If.  as  historical. 
And  iu  the  same  relation  of  supplement  and  of 

!  correspondence  to  2  Kings  stands  in  general  all 
that  our  author  reports  different  from  the  state- 
ments there  concerning  Ahaz  and  the  steps  taken 
by  liim  for  the  furtherance  of  idolatry.  As  the 
remarks  made  by  him,   vers.   17-19,   concerning 

j  the  invasions  of  the  Edomites  and  Philistines, 
agree  excellently  with  2  Kings  xvi.  6,  so  between 
that  which  he  relates,  vers.  23-25,  regarding  the 
idolatrous  profanation  of  the  temple  anil  its 
vessels  and  2  Kings  xvi.  10-16  there  is  no  con- 
tradiction whatever,  but  merely  a  relation  of 
supplement  and  confirmation.  On  the  whole,  it 
would  seem  superfluous,  indeed  almost  paltry, 
after  Caspari's  emphatic  and  pertinent  argument 
in  favour  of  the  essential  harmony  of  the  two 
reports  of  the  war,  to  enter  further  into  subtle 
critical  disquisitions  or  wide  apologetic  investiga- 
tions regarding  their  apparent  or  even  real  points 
of  difference. 


n.  Hezekiah:  The  Prophet  Isaiah. — Ch.  xxix.-xxxii. 


a..   Ilezekialis  Beginnings ;   the  Cleansing  ami  Consecration  of  the  Temple:  ch.  xxix. 

Chap.  xxix.  1.   Hezekiah  became  king  when  he  was  twenty  and  five  years  old,  and 
he  reigned  twenty  and  nine  years  in  Jerusalem  ;  and  his  mother's  name  was 

2  Abijah,  daughter  of  Zeehariah.  And  he  did  that  which  was  right  in  the  eyes 
of  the  Lord,  according  to  all  that  David  his  father  had  done. 

3  He,  in  the  first  year  of  his  reign,  in  the  first  month,  opened  the  doors  of 

4  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  renewed  them.     And  he  brought  in  the  priests 

5  and  Levites,  and  assembled  them  in  the  broad  way  of  the  east,  And  said 
unto  them,  Hear  me,  ye  Levites  ;  now  sanctify  yourselves  and  sanctify  the 
house  of  the  Lord  God  of  your  fathers,  and  remove  the  filthiness  out  of  the 

6  holy  place.  For  our  fathers  have  transgressed  and  done  that  which  was  evil 
in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  our  God,  and  have  forsaken  Him,  and  have  turned 

7  their  face  from  the  dwelling  of  the  Lord,  and  shown  the  back.  They  have 
also  shut  the  doors  of  the  porch,  and  put  out  the  lamps,  and  have  not  burned 
incense  nor  offered   burnt-offering  in  the  holy  place  unto  the  God  of  Israel. 

8  And  the  displeasure  of  the  Lord  was  against  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  and  He 
delivered  them  to  horror,1  to  astonishment,  and  to  hissing,  as  ye  see  with 

9  yoar  eyes.     And  lo,  our  fathers  have  fallen  by  the  sword,  and  our  sons  and. 

10  our  daughters  and  our  wives  are  in  captivity  for  this.  Now  it  is  in  my 
heart  to  make  a  covenant  with  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  that  the  hotness  of 

11  His  anger  may  turn  away  from  us.  My  sons,  now  delay  not;  for  the  Lord 
hath  chosen  you  to  stand  before  Him  to  serve  Him,  and  to  be  His  ministers 
and  incense- burners. 


246  II.  CHRONICLES. 


12  Then  the  Levites  arose,  Mahath  son  of  Amasai,  and  Joel  son  of  Azariah, 
of  the  sons  of  the  Kohathites  ;  and  of  the  sons  of  Merari,  Kish  son  of  Abdi, 
and  Azariah  son  of  Jehalelel ; 2  and  of  the  Gershonites,  Joah  son  of  Zimmah, 

13  and  Eden  son  of  Joah.     And  of  the  sons  of  Elizaphan,  Shimri  and  Jeuel  ;3 

14  and  of  the  sons  of  Asaph,  Zechariah  and  Mattaniah.  And  of  the  sons  of 
Heraau,  Jehuel*  and  Shimi ;  and  of  the  sons  of  Jeduthun,  Shemaiah  and 

15  Uzziel.  And  they  gathered  their  brethren,  and  sanctified  themselves,  and 
came  at  the  command  of  the  king,  by  the  words  of  the  Lord,  to  cleanse  the 

16  house  of  the  Lord.  And  the  priests  went  into  the  interior  of  the  house  of 
the  Lord  to  cleanse,  and  brought  out  all  the  uncleanness  that  they  found  in 
the  temple  of  the  Lord  into  the  court  of  the  house  of  the,  Lord  ;  and  the 

17  Levites  took  it  to  carry  it  out  abroad  into  the  brook  Kidron.  And  they 
began  on  the  first  of  the  first  month  to  sanctify,  and  on  the  eighth  day  of  the 
month  they  came  to  the  porch  of  the  Lord  ;  and  they  sanctified  the  house  of 
the  Lord  eight  days,  and  in  the  sixteenth  day  ot  the  first  month  they  made 

18  an  end.  And  they  went  in  to  Hezekiah  the  king,  and  said,  We  have  cleansed 
all  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  and  all  its  vessels, 

19  and  the  table  of  shew-bread  and  all  its  vessels.  And  all  the  vessels  which 
King  Ahaz  in  his  reign  cast  away  in  his  infidelity  we  have  prepared  and 
sanctified,  and  behold,  they  are  before  the  altar  of  the  Lord. 

20  And  Hezekiah   the  king  rose  early  and  gathered  the  rulers  of  the  city, 

21  and  went  up  to  the  house  of  the  Lord.  And  they  brought  seven  bullocks, 
and  seven  rams,  and  seven  lambs,  and  seven  he-goats  for  a  sin-offering  for  the 
kingdom,  and  for  the  sanctuary,  and  for  Judah,  and  he  bade  the  sons  of 

22  Aaron  the  priests  to  offer  them  on  the  altar  of  the  Lord.  And  they  killed 
the  cattle,  and  the  priests  received  the  blood  and  sprinkled  it  on  the  altar  ; 
and  they  killed  the  rams,  and  they  sprinkled  the  blood  upon  the  altar ;  and 

23  they  killed  the  lambs,  and  they  sprinkled  the  blood  upon  the  altar.  And 
they  brought  the  he-goats  of  the  sin-offering  before  the  king  and  the  congre- 

24  gation,  and  they  laid  their  hands  upon  them.  And  the  priests  killed  them, 
and  offered  their  blood  for  sin  upon  the  altar,  to  atone  for  all  Israel  ;  for  the 

25  king  had  ordered  the  burnt-offering  and  the  sin-offering  for  all  Israel.  And 
he  set  the  Levites  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  with  cymbals,  with  psalteries, 
and  with  harps,  by  the  command  of  David,  and  Gad  the  king's  seer,  and 
Nathan  the  prophet ;  for  by  the  Lord  was  the  commandment  by  His  pro- 

26  phets.     And  the  Levites  stood  with  the  instruments  of  David,  and  the  priests 

27  with  the  trumpets.  And  Hezekiah  said  to  offer  the  burnt-offering  on  the 
altar ;  and  when  the  burnt-offering  began,  the  song  of  the   Lord  began  also 

28  with  the  trumpets,4  and  after  the  instruments  of  David  king  of  Israel.  And 
all  the  congregation  worshipped,  and  the  song  was  sung,  and  the  trumpets 

29  sounded ; 6  the  whole  until  the  burnt-offering  was  ended.  And  when  they 
made  an  end  of  offering,  the  king  and  all  that  were  with  him  bowed  down 

30  and  worshipped.  And  Hezekiah  the  king  and  the  princes  said  to  the  Levites 
to  praise  the  Lord  with  the  words  of  David  and  Asaph  the  seer ;  and  they 
praised  with  gladness,  and  bowed  down  and  worshipped. 

31  And  Hezekiah  answered  and  said,  Now  ye  have  filled  your  hand  unto  the 
LORD,  draw  nigh  and  bring  sacrifices  and  thank-offerings  into  the  house  of 
the  Lord  :  and  the  congregation  brought  sacrifices  and  thank-offerings,  and 

32  every  one  that  was  willing  of  heart,  burnt-offerings.  And  the  number  of  the 
burnt-offerings,  which  the  congregation  brought,  was  seventy  bullocks,  a 
hundred  rams,  two  hundred  lambs ;   all  these  for  a  burnt-offering  to  the 

33  Lord.     And  the  consecrated  things  were  six  hundred  oxen  and  three  thou- 

34  sand  sheep.  Only  the  priests  were  too  few,  and  they  could  not  flay  all  the 
burnt-offerings,  and  their  brethren  the  Levites  assisted  them  till  the  work 
was  ended,  and  till  the  priests  had  sanctified  themselves  ;  for  the  Levites 

35  were  more  upright  of  heart  to  sanctify  themselves  than  the  priests.  Ami 
also  the  burnt-offering  was  in  abundance,  with  the  fat  of  the  peace-offerings, 
and  the  libations  for  the  burnt-offering  :  and  the  service  of  the  house  of  the 


CHAP.  XXX.  -M7 


36  Loud  was  established.  And  Hezekiah  and  all  the  people  were  glad  that 
God  had  prepared  the  people ;  for  the  thing  was  done  suddenly. 

J.   The  Passorer:  ch.  xxx. 
Cll    XXX.  1.   And  Hezekiah  sent  to  all  Israel  and  Judah,  and  wrote  letters  also  to 
Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  to  come  to  the  house  of  the   Lord  at  Jerusalem,  to 

2  keep  the  passover  unto  the  Lord  God  of  Israel.  And  the  king  took  counsel 
with  his  princes,  and  all  the  congregation  in  Jerusalem,  to  keep  the  passover 

3  in  the  second  month.  For  they  could  not  keep  it  at  that  time,  because  the 
priests  had  not  sanctified  themselves  sufficiently,  nor  had  the  people  gathered 

4,  5  to  Jerusalem.  And  the  thing  pleased  the  king  and  all  the  people.  And  they 
settled  the  thing,  to  issue  a  proclamation  in  all  Israel,  from  Beer-sheba  even 
to  Dan,  to  come  to  keep  the  passover  unto  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  at  Jeru- 

6  salem ;  for  they  had  not  kept  it  with  a  multitude  as  it  was  written.  And  the 
posts  went  with  the  letters  from  the  hand  of  the  king  and  his  princes  through 
all  Israel  and  Judah.  and  at  the  command  of  the  king,  saying,  Ye  sons  of 
Israel,  return  unto  the  Lord  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Israel,  and  He  will 
return  to  the  escapej  remaining  to  you  from  the  hand  of  the  kings  of  Assyria. 

7  And  be  not  ye  like  your  fathers  and  your  brethren,  who  revolted  against  the 
Lord  God  of  their  fathers,  and  He  gave  them  up  to  desolation,  as  ye  see. 

8  Now  be  not  stiff-necked  like  your  fathers  ;  yield  yourselves  to  the  Lord,  and 
go  into  His  sanctuary,  which  He  hath  sanctified  for  ever,  and  serve  the  Lord 

'J  your  God,  that  the  hotness  of  His  anger  may  turn  from  you.  For  if  ye  return 
to  the  Lord,  your  brethren  and  your  children  shall  find  compassion  before 
their  captors,  and  they  shall  return  to  this  land  ;  for  the  Lord  your  God  is 
gracious  and  merciful,  and  He  will  not  turn  His  face  from  you  if  ye  return 
to  Him. 
10  And  the  posts  passed  from  city  to  city  in  the  land  of  Ephraim  and  Ma- 
ll nasseh  and  unto  Zebulun  ;  and  they  scoffed  at  them  and  mocked  them.  But 
some  men  of  Asher  and  Manasseh  and  Zebulun  humbled  themselves,  and 

12  came  to  Jerusalem.  Also  the  hand  of  God  was  upon  Judah  to  give  them 
one  heart  to  do  the  command  of  the  king  and  the  princes,  by  the  word  of  the 
Lord. 

1 3  And  much  people  assembled  at  Jerusalem  to  keep  the  feast  of  unleavened 

14  bread  in  the  second  month,  a  very  great  congregation.  And  they  arose  and 
took  away  the  altars  that  were  in  Jerusalem  ;  and  all  the  altars  for  incense 

15  they  took  away,  and  cast  into  the  brook  Kidron.  And  they  killed  the  pass- 
over  on  the  fourteenth  of  the  second  month  :  and  the  priests  and  the  Levites 
were  ashamed,  and  sanctified  themselves,  and  brought  burnt-offerings  into  the 

16  house  of  the  Lord.  And  they  stood  in  their  place  after  their  rule,  according 
to  the  law  of  Moses  the  man  of  God,  the  priests  sprinkling  the  blood  from 

17  the  hand  of  the  Levites.  For  there  were  many  in  the  congregation  that  were 
not  sanctified  ;  and  the  Levites  took  charge  of  the  killing  of  the  passovers  for 

18  all  that  were  unclean,  to  sanctify  them  unto  the  Lord.  For  a  multitude  of 
the  people,  many  from  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  Issachar  and  Zebulun,  had 
not  cleansed  themselves,  yet  they  ate  the  passover  not  as  it  was  written  :  for 

19  Hezekiah  prayed  for  them,  saying,  The  good  Lord  pardon7  every  one  That 
hath  prepared  his  heart  to  seek  God,  the  Lord  God  of  his  fathers,  though 

20  not  in  the  cleanness  of  the  sanctuary.     And  the  Lord  heard  Hezekiah,  and 

2 1  healed  the  people.  And  the  sons  of  Israel  that  were  in  Jerusalem  kept  the 
feast  of  unleavened  bread  seven  days  with  great  gladness ;  and  the  Levites 
and  the  priests  were  praising  the  Lord  day  by  day,  with  instruments  of 

22  might  to  the  Lord.  And  Hezekiah  spake  to  the  heart  of  all  the  Levites  who 
had  good  understanding  of  the  Lord  :  and  they  ate"  the  feast  seven  days, 
offering  sacrifices  of  peace,  and  confessing  to  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers. 

23  And  the  whole  congregation  resolved  to  keep  other  seven  days  with  glad- 

24  ness.  For  Hezekiah  king  of  Judah  gave  to  the  congregation  a  thousand 
bullocks  and  seven  thousand  sheep ;  and  the  princes  gave  to  the  congregatior 


«t>  II.  CHRONICLES. 


a  thousand  bullocks  and  ten  thousand  sheep  :  and  a  great  many  priests  sanc- 

25  titled  themselves.  And  all  the  congregation  of  Judah,  and  the  priests  and 
Levites,  and  all  the  congregation  that  came  out  of  Israel,  and  the  strangers 

26  that  came  from  the  land  of  Israel,  and  that  dwelt  in  Judah.  were  glad.  And 
there  was  great  gladness  in  Jerusalem  ;  for  since  the  days  of  Solomon  son  of 

27  David  king  of  Israel  was  not  the  like  in  Jerusalem.  And  the  priests  [and]  the 
Levites"  arose  and  blessed  the  people  :  and  their  voice  was  heard,  and  their 
prayer  came  up  to  His  holy  dwelling,  to  heaven.10 

y.  Further  Religious  Reforms  of  Hezekiah .-  ch.  xxxi. 
Ch.  XXXI.  I.  And  when  all  this  was  finished,  all  Israel  that  were  present  went  out 
to  the  cities  of  Judah,  and  brake  the  statues,  and  cut  down  the  asherim,  and 
pulled  down  the  high  places  and  the  altars  out  of  all  Judah  and  Benjamin, 
ami  in  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  completely  :  and  all  the  sons  of  Israel  returned, 
every  man  to  his  possession,  unto  their  cities. 

2  And  Hezekiah  appointed  the  courses  of  the  priests  and  the  Levites  after 
their  courses,  ever}'  man  according  to  his  service,  of  the  priests  and  the 
Levites  for  burnt-offering  and  peace-offering,  to  minister,  and  to  thank,  and  to 

3  praise  in  the  gates  of  the  camp  of  the  Lord.  And  the  king's  portion  of  his 
property  for  burnt-offerings,  for  the  burnt-offerings  of  the  morning  and  of  the 
evening,  and  the  burnt-offerings  for  the  sabbaths,  and  the  new  moons,  and 

4-  the  set  feasts,  as  it  is  written  in  the  law  of  the  Lord.  And  he  said  to  the 
people,  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  to  give  the  portion  of  the  priests  and 

5  the  Levites,  that  they  might  be  stedfast  in  the  law  of  the  Lord.  And  when 
the  word  came  forth,  the  sons  of  Israel  brought  abundantly  the  first-fruits  of 
corn,  must,  and  oil,  and  honey,  and  all  the  increase  of  the  field  :  and  the  tithe 

6  of  all  they  brought  in  abundance.  And  the  sons  of  Israel  and  Judah  that 
dwelt  in  the  cities  of  Judah,  they  also  brought  the  tithe  of  oxen  and  sheep, 
and  the  tithe  of  holy  things"  consecrated  unto  the  Lord  their  God,  and  laid 
them  in  heaps.     In  the  third  month  they  began  to  lay  down  the  heaps,  and 

!"■  in  the  seventh  month  they  finished  them.  And  Hezekiah  and  the  princes 
came  and  saw  the  heaps,  and  they  blessed  the  Lord  and  His  people  Israel. 
3,  10  And  Hezekiah  inquired  of  the  priests  and  Levites  concerning  the  heaps.  And 
Azariah  the  chief  priest,  of  the  house  of  Zadok,  answered  him  and  said,  Since 
they  began  to  bring  the  offerings  into  the  house  of  the  Lord,  we  have  eaten 
and  been  satisfied,  and  left  in  abundance  ;  for  the  Lord  hath  blessed  His 

1 1  people,  and  this  great  store  is  left.     And  Hezekiah  said  to  prepare  chambers 

12  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  they  prepared  them.  And  they  brought  in 
the  offerings  and  the  tithe  and  the  consecrated  things  faithfully ;  and  over 

13  them  Conaniah12  the  Levite  was  ruler,  and  Shinii  was  second.  And  Jehiel, 
and  Azaziah,  and  Nahath,  and  Asahel,  and  Jerimoth,  and  Jozabad,  and  Eliel. 
and  Ismachiah,  and  Mahath,  and  Benaiah  were  overseers  under  Conaniah12 
and  his  brother  Shinii,  by  the  appointment  of  Hezekiah  the  king,  and  Azariah 

1 4  the  ruler  of  the  house  of  God.  And  Kore,  son  of  Jimnah  the  Levite,  the 
porter  toward  the  east,  was  over  the  freewill-offerings  of  God,  to  distribute 

15  the  offering  of  the  Lord,  and  the  most  holy  things.  And  by  him  stood  Eden, 
and  Minjamin,  and  Jeshua,  and  Shemaiah,  Amariah,  and  Shechaniah  in  the 
cities  of  the  priests,  with  truth  to  give'  to  their  brethren,  in  the  courses,  to  the 

16  great  as  to  the  small.  Beside  their  register  of  males  from  three  years  old 
and  upward,  to  every  one  that  entereth  into  the  house  of  the  Lord,  for  the 

1  7  rate  of  each  day,  for  their  service  in  their  charges  by  their  courses.  And  the 
register  of  the  priests  by  their  father-houses ;  and  the  Levites  from  twenty 

18  years  old  and  upward,  in  their  charges  by  their  courses.  And  to  the  register 
of  all  their  little  ones,  their  wives,  sons,  .and  daughters,  for  all  the  congrega- 
tion ;  for  in  their  faithfulness  they  sanctified  themselves  in  the  holy  thing. 

1 1)  And  for  the  sons  of  Aaron  the  priests,  in  the  fields  of  the  suburbs  of  their 
cities,  in  every  city  [wire appointed]  men  who  were  expressed  by  name,  to  give 
portions  to  every  male  among  the  priests,  and  to  all  the  register  of  the  Levites. 


CHAP.  XXXII.  249 


20  And  Hezekiah  did  thus  in  all  Judah,  and  did  that  which  was  good  and  right 

21  and  true  before  the  Lord  his  God.  And  in  every  work  which  he  began  in 
the  service  of  the  house  of  God,  and  in  the  law  and  the  commandment  to  seek 
his  God,  with  all  his  heart  h  ■  did,  and  prospered. 

8.  Expedition  of  Sennacherib  against  Jerusalem,  and  averting  of  the  threatened  Danger  Ob 
Divine  Help:  cli.  xxxii.  l-2o. 

Cll.  XXXII.  1.  After  these  events,  mid  this  faithfulness,  Sennacherib  king  of  Assyria 
came  and   entered  into  Judah,  and  besieged  the  fenced  cities,  and   thought 

2  to  break  into  them  for  himself.     And  Hezekiah  saw  that  Sennacherib  was 

3  come,  and  his  face  was  for  war  against  Jerusalem.  And  he  took  counsel  with 
his  princes  and  his  mighty  men  to  stop  the  waters  of  the  fountains,  which 

4  were  without  the  city ;  and  they  helped  him.  And  much  people  was  gathered, 
and  they  stopped  all  the  fountains,  and  the  brook  that  Honed  through  the 
land,11  saying,  Why  should  the  kings  of  Assyria  come  and  find  much  water  1 

5  And  he  strengthened  himself,  and  built  up  all  the  "all  that  was  broken,  and 
raised  it  to  the  towers,14  and  another  wall  without,  and  strengthened  Millo  in 

6  the  city  of  David,  and  made  weapons  in  abundance,  and  shields.  And  he  set 
captains  of  war  over  the  people,  and  gathered  them  to  him  in  the  broad 

7  way  at  the  gate  of  the  city,  and  spake  to  their  heart,  saying,  Be  brave  and 
strong,  fear  not  nor  be  dismayed  for  the  king  of  Assyria,  nor  for  all  the 

8  multitude  that  is  with  him ;  for  with  us  is  more  than  with  him.  With  him 
is  an  arm  of  flesh ;  and  with  us  is  the  Lord  our  God,  to  help  us,  and  to  fight 
our  battles  :  and  the  people  relied  upon  the  words  of  Hezekiah  king  of 
Judah. 

9  After  this  Sennacherib  king  of  Assyria  sent  his  servants  to  Jerusalem,  and 
he  himself  stood  against  Lachish,  and  all  his  power  with  him,  against 
Hezekiah  king  of  Judah,  and  against  all  Judah  that  was  at  Jerusalem,  saying, 

10  Tims  saith  Sennacherib  king  of  Assyria,  Whereon  do  ye  trust,  and  why  sit 

1 1  ye  in  restraint  in  Jerusalem  I  Doth  not  Hezekiah  mislead  you  to  deliver  you 
to  die  by  hunger  and  thirst,  saying,  The  Lord  our  God  shall  deliver  us  from 

12  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Assyria  !  Hath  not  this  Hezekiah  removed  his  high 
places  and  his  altars,  and  said  to  Judah  and  to  Jerusalem,  saying,  Before  one 

13  altar  shall  ye  worship,  and  burn  incense  upon  it  1  Know  ye  not  what  I  and 
my  fathers  have  done  to  all  the  peoples  of  the  lands  1  Have  the  gods  of  the 
nations  of  the  lands  been  at  all  able  to  deliver  their  lands  from  my  hand  t 

14  Who  was  there  among  all  the  gods  of  these  nations,  that  my  fathers  extirpated, 
that  could  deliver  his  people  out  of  my  hand,  that  your  God  should  be  able  to 

15  deliver  you  from  my  hand  'I  And  now  let  not  Hezekiah  deceive  you  nor 
seduce  you  in  this  way,  neither  believe  him ;  for  no  god  of  any  nation  or 
kingdom  was  able  to  deliver  his  people  from  my  hand,  nor  the  hand  of  my 

16  fathers  ;  much  more  your  God  shall  not  deliver  you  from  my  hand.  And  his 
servants  spake  yet  more  against  the  Lord,  and  against  Hezekiah  His  servant. 

1 7  And  he  wrote  a  letter  to  rail  on  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  and  to  speak  against 
Him,  saying,  Like  the  gods  of  the  nations  of  the  lands  who  have  not  delivered 
their  people  from  my  hand,  so  shall  not  the  God  of  Hezekiah  deliver  His 

18  people  from  my  hand.  And  they  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  in  the  Jewish 
tongue,  to  the  people  of  Jerusalem  that  were  on  the  wall,  to  affright  them 

19  and  trouble  them,  that  they  might  take  the  city.  And  they  spake  to  the 
God  of  Jerusalem  as  against  the  gods  of  the  peoples  of  the  earth,  the  work  of 
men's  hands. 

20  And  for  this  Hezekiah  the  king,  and  Isaiah  son  of  Amoz  the  prophet, 

21  prayed  and  cried  to  heaven.  And  the  Lord  sent  an  angel,  and  cut  off  every 
valiant  hero  and  leader  and  captain  in  the  camp  of  the  king  of  Assyria :  and 
he  returned  with  shame  of  face  to  his  own  land ;  and  he  came  into  the  house 
of  his  god,  and  they  that  came  out  of  his  own  bowels  15  there  slew  him  with 

22  the  sword.     And  the  Lord  saved  Hezekiah,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem, 


2bO  II.  CHRONICLES. 


from  the  hand  of  Sennacherib  king  of  Assyria,  and  from  the  hand  of  all,16  and 
?3  defended  them  around.     And  many  brought  a  gift  to  the  Lord  at  Jerusalem, 
and  jewels  to  Hezekiah  king  of  Judah  ;  and  he  was  exalted  in  the  eyes  of  all 
nations  thereafter. 

i.  Sickness,  Remaining  Years,  and  End  of  Hezekiah :  vers.  24-33. 

24  In  those  days  Hezekiah  was  sick  unto  death,  and  he  prayed  unto  the 

25  Lord  :  and  He  spake  unto  him,  and  gave  him  a  sign.  And  Hezekiah  repaid 
not  according  to  the  benefit  done  to  him ;  for  his  heart  became  proud,  and 

26  there  was  indignation  against  him,  and  against  Judah  and  Jerusalem.  And 
Hezekiah  humbled  himself  for  the  pride  of  his  heart,  he  and  the  inhabitants 
of  Jerusalem  ;  and  the  indignation  of  the  Lord  came  not  upon  them  in  the 
days  of  Hezekiah. 

27  And  Hezekiah  had  very  much  riches  and  glory  ;  and  he  made  himself 
treasuries  for  silver,  and  gold,  and  precious  stones,  and  spices,  and  shields,  and 

28  all  articles  of  desire.     And  storehouses  for  the  increase  of  corn,  and  must,  and 

29  oil;  and  stalls  for  all  kinds  of  cattle,  and  flocks  for  the  folds.17  And  he 
made  him  cities,  and  possession  of  flocks  and  herds  in  abundance  ;  for  God 

30  had  given  him  very  much  substance.  And  this  Hezekiah  stopped  the  upper 
outflow  of  the  water  of  Gihon,  and  led  it  '8  straight  down  to  the  west  of  the 

31  city  of  David  :  and  Hezekiah  prospered  in  all  his  work.  And  so  in  the  case 
of  the  ambassadors  of  the  princes  of  Babel,  who  sent  to  him  to  inquire  of  the 
wonder  that  was  done  in  the  land,  God  left  him,  to  try  him,  to  know  all  that 
was  in  his  heart. 

32  And  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Hezekiah,  and  his  kindness,  behold,  they  are 
written  in  the  vision  of  Isaiah  the  prophet,  son  of  Amoz,  in  the  book  of  the 

33  kings  of  Judah  and  Israel.  And  Hezekiah  slept  with  his  fathers,  and  they 
buried  him  in  the  height  of  the  sepulchres  of  the  sons  of  David  ;  and  all 
Judah  and  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  gave  him  glory  in  his  death  :  and 
Manasseh  his  son  became  king  in  his  stead. 

•  Kelhib:  HJ71T  (a*  in  Jer.  xv.  4,  etc  ) ;  Keri:  rTlj7T  (as.  for  example,  in  Dent,  xxviii.  25). 
1  For  the  name  PtwiT  the  Sept,  c  Al„  gives  'Ixkxi.k  ;  c.  Vat.,  'Ujitoik:  Vulg.,  JaJakel. 
1  Kelhib:  "Jeuel":  Keri:  "Jeiel";  comp.  1  Chron.  ix.  35,  and  elsewhere. 

•  Kelhib:  "Jehuel";  Keri:  "Jehiel."    The  latter  foi-m  in  xxxi.  13  is  the  Kelhib. 

5  The  Sept.  does  not  express  the  1  before  ^~?y.  The  Vulg.  and  Syr.  appear  to  have  read  it,  but  render  very 
freely. 

•  Kelhib:   Q'lVSrlO:  Keri:   D'tVPlD:  as  in  1  Chron.  xv.  24  ;  2  Chron.  v.  12,  vii.  6,  xiii.  14. 

T  The  Sept,  Vulg..  and  apparently  the  Syr.,  though  it  translates  rather  freely,  give  up  here  the  Masoretic  division  of. 
the  verse,  and  Join  "lj/3  "IS^  immediately  with  the  following  verse.  So  also  R  Kimchi,  and  afta  him  most  of  the 
moderns. 

•  For  v3Ns1,    "and  they  ate,"  the  Sept.  appears  to  have  read  ^2'*)    (x*i  rvnrtiiirxi). 

•The  ^  before  D,a1?n  in  some  mss.,  and  in  the  old  versions  (Sept.,  Vulg..  Syr),  seems  a  g'oss  from  ver.  25.  Comp 
for  tie  asyndeton:  "the  priests,  the  Levites,"  for  example,  xxiii.  IS. 

19  For  D^CCv  some  mss  and  old  prints  have  D^O^'H  (accus  of  direction). 

i:  For  Ds£Hp  "ib'VD  the  Sept.  [ix,Sixxrx  miym  xact  xyixirxti  seems  to  have  re^d  D^CHpm  TjTl,  and  so  naireJ 
•  goats  "  a'so  along  with  oxen  and  sheep. 

1  For  5,iT33i3  the  Kethib  has  twice  (vers.  12,  13)  ^!T332    (so  also  Luiher). 

'*  Instead  of  }""IKn~Tjiri3  'he  Sept.  has  read  "VyiVTjirQ  ;  but  the  Masoretic  reading  is  to  be  preferred  on  real 
grounds;  comp.  ver.  30;  2  Kings  xx.  20;  Sir.  xlviii.  17. 

14  For  nvT^O/y  ?VS1    (words  which  the  Sept.  leaves  un'ranslated),  from  the  el  exstruzil  lurres  desuper  of  the 

Vulg.  7117130   HvV  ?V51  seems  to  have  originally  stood  in  ihe  text  (Ew.,  Keil,  Kamph.,  etc.). 

'•  The  Kelhib  lSOX'D  is  miswriiten  for  'K'V'D  (contracted  (rem  |D  and  'tt«{\  constr.  pL  of  N,S,)1  a  fonn  like 
'T^O,   1  Chron.  xx.  i 


CHAP.  XXIX.  1-19. 


261 


'•  Some  Mss.  place  V3'X  after  73~*VD,   a  supplement  which,  unneces^a  y  in  itself,  is  doi  confirmed  by  the  Sept 

or  Vule. 

17  The  Sept.  (z*l  u**1>p*t  us  rat  ni.fj.tia.)  appears  to  hare  h:id  another  reading ;    pet  h.ips  also  the  Vulff.  {caulasqut 
priurum) ;  cienp.  Luther's  translation:   "  and  folds  tor  the  sheep." 

"  Setlub:   D"lt5"»1  (Pi.);     Keri:   D1t?»l  (l'i.  contmcted). 


EXEGETICAL. 

Preliminary  Remark.— While  the  military 
and  political  side  of  the  reign  of  Hezekiah,  its 
lelation  to  the  Assyrian  monarchy,  its  threatened 
annihilation  by  the  invasion  of  Sennacherib,  with 
the  divine  deliverance  from  this  catastrophe,  the 
later  sickness  and  recovery  of  the  king,  and  his 
proceedings  With  the  ambassadors  of  Babylon, — 
while  all  this  is  much  more  fully  narrated  in  the 
books  of  Kings  (2  Kings  xviii.  8-xx.  9),  and  in 
the  parallel  records  of  the  book  of  Isaiah,  than 
here,  our  author,  on  the  contrary,  treats  much 
more  fully  ami  clearly  of  the  reformation  of  wor- 
ship by  Hezekiah  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign, 
his  cleansing  and  n  consecration  of  the  temple, 
his  grand  and  general  celebration  of  the  passover, 
in  which  many  north  Israelites  participated,  and 
his  other  measures  for  the  order  and  purification 
of  religious  life.  To  the  sections  concerning  this 
inner  religious  and  theocratic  side  of  the  reign  of 
Hezekiah,  ch.  xxix  -xxxi.,  correspond  in  2  Kings 
merely  the  seven  introductory  verses  of  ch.  xviii., 
so  that  almost  the  whole  contents  of  those  three 
chapters  are  peculiar  to  the  Chronist. 

1.  Hezekiah 's  Beginnings  :  the  Cleansing  and 
Consecration  of  the  Temple:  ch.  xxix. — Hezekiah 
became  king.      V7'ptn\  the  fullest  form  of  this 

name,  signifies  "whom  Jehovah  strengthens, "  as 
the  somewhat  shortened  irppTH,   Isa.  xxxvii.  1  If., 

or   rpptn,  2  Kings  xviii.  1  If.,  means  "strength 

of  Jehovah."  The  Assyrian  monuments  present 
the  form  Ha-za-ki-ya-hu,  corresponding  to  that 
of  Isaiah  ;  see  Sell  rader,  p.  168  tf.  Moreover,  vers. 
1,  2  agree  almost  throughout  with  2  Kings  xviii. 
1-3.  For  the  chronology  see  Evangelical  and 
Ethical  Reflections,  No.  3.— Vers.  3-19.  The 
Cleansing  of  the  Temple. — He  in  the  first  year  of 
his  reign,  in  the  first  month,  that  is,  in  Nisan, 
the  first  month  of  the  ecclesiastical  year,  not  (as 
Caspari  thinks,  Beitrdge  zur  Einleitung  in  d-is 
Buck  Jesaia,  p.  Ill)  in  the  first  month  of  the 
reign  of  Hezekiah.  How  long,  that  is,  how  many 
months,  he  had  reigned  when  he  in  the  first 
month  of  the  n.»w  year  began  his  measures  of 
reform,  remain;  uncertain ;  the  assumption  of 
Von  Gumpach  (Die  Zeitrcchn.  der  Babylonier 
und  Assyrer,  p.  99)  ami  Bertheau,  that  Heze- 
kiah's  reign  began  with  the  first  month  (Tisrii  ol 
the  previous  year,  appears  a  bare  conjecture  in 
face  of  the  indetiniteness  of  the  statement  in  our 
text. — Ami  renewed  them,  repaired  them — a  re- 
novating process  which  is  more  exactly  described 
in  2  Kings  x\  iii.  16  as  an  overlaying  with  gold 
plate. — Ver.  4  And  assembled  them  in  the  broad 
way  of  tlit  east,  not,  perhaps,  in  the  inner  court 
(Bertheau,  Kainph. ),  but  in  an  open  area  outside 
the  whole  temple  building,  on  the  south-east  or 
east;  comp.  Ezras.  9,  Neh.  viii.  1,  3,  16. — Ver. 
5.  Now  sanctify  yourselves,  an  indispensable 
prerequisiti  for  a  worthy  and  effectual  perform- 
ance of  the  business  of  cleansing  the  temple  ; 
comp.  ver.  15  and  Ex.  xix.  10.     On  mj,  filthi- 


ness,  as  a  designation  of  idolatry,  comp.  Lam.  i. 
17  ;  Ezra  ix.  11  ;  and  the  synonym  riXDD  >n   ver. 

16. — Ver.  6.  For  our  fathers  hare  transgresvtl 
— Ahazand  his  contemporaries,  for  the  statement 
in  ver.  7  suits  these  only.  On  "  to  turn  the 
back  "  (properly  "give"),  comp.  Neh.  ix.  29. — 
Ver.  7.  -"hey  have  also  shut  the  doors  of  the 
porch,  ami  thus  of  the  whole  temple,  for  only 
through  the  porch  was  there  access  to  the  holy 
and  most  holy  place  :  comp.  xxviii.  24,  where 
also  the  new  altar  of  burnt-offering  erected  by 
Ahaz  in  the  court  after  the  heathenish  model  is 
mentioned,  which  the  Chronist,  according  to  our 
passage  ("nor  offered  burnt-ottering"),  regarded 
by  no  means  as  a  lawful  place  of  worship. — Ver. 

8.  And  the.  displeasure  of  the  Lord,  etc.  ;  comp. 
xix.  2,  10,  xxiv.  18,  xxxii.  25  ;  and  for  the  fol- 
lowing strong  terms:  "horror,  astonishment, 
and  hissing,"  Deut.  xxviii.  25;  Jer.  xix.  8,  xxiv. 

9,  xxv.  9 ;  Lam.  ii.  15 ;  and  also  ch.  xxx.  7.  For 
ver.  9  comp.  the  Evangelical  and  Ethical  Reflec- 
tions on  the  verse  before,  No.  3. — Ver.  10.  Now 
it  is  in  my  Iteart;  comp.  vi.  7,  ix.  1  ;  1  Chron. 
xxii.  7.  xxviii.  2. — Ver.  11.  My  sons,  familiar,  per- 
suasive address,  as  in  Prov.  i.  8,  etc.—  Now  delay 
not,  literally,  "withdraw  yourselves  not"  (vt?D. 
Niph.   of    n?c' ;    comp.    Job   xxvii.    8).     On   b, 

comp.  xxvi  18  ;  1  Chron.  xxiii.  13  ;  Deut.  x.  8. 
—  Ver.  12.  Then  the  Levites  arose.  Of  the  fol- 
lowing fourteen  names,  Joah  son  of  Zinimah,  and 
Kish  son  of  Abdi,  occur  already  in  the  Levitical 
genealogy,  1  Chron.  vi.  5  f.,  29  ;  Mahath,  Eden, 
and  Jehiel  recur  in  xxxi.  13-15.  —  Ver.  13.  And 
of  the  sons  of  Elizaplian,  Shimri.  That  of  this 
family  two  Levites  are  expressly  mentioned,  is 
explained  by  the  high  repute  which  Elizaphan  or 
Elzaphan,  son  of  TJzziel,  son  of  Kohath  (Ex.  vi. 
18),  enjoyed  as  prince  of  the  house  of  Kohath  in 
the  time  of  Moses  (Num.  iii.  30).  Hence  their 
co-ordination  here,  on  the  one  hand,  with  the 
three  Levitical  head  families,  and  on  the  other 
with  the  three  singing  families  of  Asaph,  Hernan, 
and  Jeihithun. — Ver.  15.  And  they  gathered 
their  brethren,  the  remaining  Levites  present  in 
Jerusalem. — At  the  command  of  the  king  by  the 
words  of  the  Lord;  comp.  xxx.  12;  1  Chron. 
xxv.  5.  The  king's  command  was  founded  on  tin 
divine  prescription  of  the  law.  — Ver.  16.  And 
the  priests  .  .  .  brought  out  all  the  uncleanness 
.  .  .  into  the  court,  all  the  sacrificial  vessels 
employed  in  idolatry,  perhaps  also  the  remains  of 
the  idolatrous  offerings,  and  the  like.    For  flNOE. 

see  on  ver.  5  ;  for  the  brook  Kidron,  comp.  xv. 
16,  xxx.  14. — Ver.  17.  They  began  on  the  first  of 
the  first  month.  On  the  first  eight  days  of  the 
month  they  employed  themselves  in  the  cleansing 
of  the  court,  the  eight  following  in  that  of  the 
temple  itself,  so  that  they  hail  finished  on  the 
sixteenth. — Ver.  19.  And  all  the  vessels  which 
King  Ahaz  .  .  .  cast  away  ;  comp.  xi.  14 
These  are  the  brazen  altar  cf  burnt-offerinr;,  the 
brazen  sea,  and  the  lavers   on    the   stands  ;  see 


J52 


It.  CHRONICLES. 


2    Kings   xvi.    14,    17.       For  yan,    abbreviated 

form  of  Ut3\3n  (1  Chron.  xxix.  16),  see  Ew.  §  196, 

6. — And  behold,  they  are  before  the  altar  of  the 
Lord,  the  altar  of  burnt-offering. — Vers.  20-30. 
The  Sacrifices  at  the  Keconsccration  of  the  Temple. 
— Ver.  21.  And  they  brought  seven  buttocks.  The 
seven  bullocks,  rams,  and  lambs  were,  as  the 
sequel  shows,  to  serve  as  a  burnt-offering,  the 
seven  he-goats,  ver.  23,  as  a  sin-offering  ;  comp. 
Ezra  viii.  35. — Ver.  22.  And  the priests  received 
the  blood,  "took  it,"  as  in  ver.  16.  -Ver.  2i 
Laid  their  hands  upon  them,  "  leaned  their 
hands  upon  them,"  comp.  Lev.  i.  4,  from  which 
it  moreover  follows  that  this  laying  on  of  hands 
took  place  also  in  the  burnt-offerings.  Perhaps 
it  is  specially  mentioned  only  in  the  case  of  the 
sin-offering,  because  the  circumstance  that  the 
king  and  the  congregation  (naturally  its  represen- 
tatives, the  princes)  directly  laid  their  hands  on 
the  sin-offering  clearly  exhibited  the  relation  of 
the  expiatory  act  to  the  whole  of  Israel ;  comp. 
the  following  verse. — Ver.  24.  And  the  priests 
.  .  .  offered  their  blood  for  sin  upon  the  altar, 
literally,  "  made  their  blood  to  atone";  Htsn.  as 

in  Lev.  iv.  30,  34,  ix.  15.  The  whole  of  Israel 
is  not  merely  the  southern  kingdom  (Judah  and 
Benjamin),  but,  as  xxx.  5  ff.  shows,  the  whole  of 
the  twelve  tribes  ;  Hezekiah's  great  expiatory 
■tet  was  intended  to  affect  even  the  Ephraimites. 
— Ver.  25.  And  he  set  the  Levites  .  .  .  with 
cymbals  ;  comp.  1  Chron.  xv.  16,  and  with 
respect  to  the  command  of  David,  ch.  viii.  14. 
For  Gad  and  Nathan  as  counsellors  and  assistants 
of  David  in  his  arrangement  of  the  temple  service, 
comp.  1  Chron.  xxi. ,  xxix.  29. — By  His  prophets, 
"  by  the  hand  of  His  prophets,"  is  an  explanatory 
apposition  to   ^i^,  T3,    and   denotes   that    the 

divine  commandment  is  accomplished  by  the 
instrumentality  of  the  prophets. — Ver.  26.  With 
the  instruments  of  David,  with  the  instruments 
introduced  into  the  divine  service  by  David ; 
comp.  1  Chron.  xxiii.  5  and  xv.  16. — Ver.  27. 
And  when  the  burnt-offering  began,  the  song  of  the 
Lord  began,  that  is,  the  praise  of  the  Lord  by 
singing  with  musical  accompaniment  ;  comp. 
1  Chron.  xvi.  42,  xxv.  7. — And  after  the  instru- 
ments of  David,  literally,  at  the  hands  of  the 
instruments  of  David  ;  comp.  1  Chron.  vi.  16, 
xxv.  2,  3,  6  ;  2  Chron.  xxiii.  18.  The  instru- 
ments of  David  appear,  accordingly,  as  governing 
and  leading  the  whole  musical  performance,  accord- 
ing to  a  view  of  the  relation  between  singing  and 
music  somewhat  different  from  the  modern. — 
Ver.  28.  And  the  song  was  sung,  properly,  ' ' was 
singing,  sounded."  The  sense  of  the  whole  verse 
is  obvious  :  during  the  whole  time  of  the  offer- 
ing the  praising  musical  performance  continued. 
Accordingly  ver.  30  also  must  be  understood 
not  as  if  the  Levites  had  struck  up  a  song  of 
praise  on  the  close  of  the  offering  at  the  com- 
mand of  the  king,  but  in  the  sense  of  a  supple- 
mentary notice  of  this,  that  they  were  Davidic 
and  Asaphie  songs,  which  the  Levitical  singers 
performed  during  the  solemnity.  Asaph  is  here 
called   a   seer    (nth),   as  elsewhere  also  Heman 

(1  Chron.  xxv.  5)  and  Jeduthuu  (2  Chron.  xxxv. 
15). — And  they  praised  with  gladness,  "even 
onto  gladness, "  as  in  1  Chron.  xv.  16. — Vers. 
il-3ti.   The  Presenting  of  Sacrifices,  Thank-Offer- 


ings, and  Free-Will  Offerings,  as  the  Closing  Act 
of  the  Consecration. — Now  ye  have  filed  your 
hand  unto  the  Lord,  "have  consecrated  your- 
selves to  His  service  "  ;  comp.  xiii.  9  ;  Ex.  xxviii. 
41,  xxxii.  29,  etc.  The  words  appeal  addressee1 
only  to  the  priests  ;  but  as  the  following  sen- 
tence :  "Draw  nigh  and  bring  sacrifices  and 
thank-offerings,"  etc.,  according  to  ver.  32  ff., 
applies  to  the  whole  community,  this  is  to  be  con 
sidered  as  included  with  the  priests,  and  partici- 
pating in  their  office.  Our  passage  belongs, 
therefore,  to  the  Old  Testament  testimonies  for 
the  universality  of  the  priestly  dignity  in  the 
kingdom  of  God,  like  Ex.  xix.  6  ;  Hos.  iv.  6  ; 
Isa.  lxi.  6. — Sacrifices  and  thank-offerings,  that 
is,  perhaps,  "  sacrifices  even  thank-offerings,"  or 
"sacrifices  as  thank-offerings";  for,  according 
to  Lev.  vii.  11,  16,  the  thank-offerings  (nilim 
appear  as  a  special  class  of  sacrifices  (a'CDf  01 

D^OX'  TUT),    along   with    vows    and    free-will 

offerings. — Ver.  33.  And  the  consecrated  things, 
D'C^lpn.  the  holy  things  ;  here  the  animals  pre- 
sented as  thank  offerings.  This  is  clear  not 
only  from  ver.  32,  but  also  from  such  passages  as 
xxxv.  13  ;  Neh.  x.  34. — Ver.  34.  Only  the, priests 
were  too  few,  and  they  coukl  not  flay  all  the  burnt- 
offerings.  "  In  private  burnt-offerings  the  flaying 
of  the  animal  was  the  business  of  the  worshipper, 
Lev.  i.  6  ;  but  in  those  presented  on  festivals  in 
the  name  of  the  community,  it  was  the  business 
of  the  priests,  in  which,  because  it  had  no 
specially  priestly  character,  the  Levites  might 
help"   (Keil).  —  On    p^n,     "strengthen,"   here 

"assist,"  comp.  xxviii.  20  ;  Ezra  vi.  22. — For 
the  Levites  were  more  upright  of  heart  to  sanctify 
themselves  than  the  priests,  who,  perhaps  because 
they  were  nearer  the  court,  were  more  deeply 
involved  in  the  idolatrous  movement  under  Ahaz. 

3?  ,"lt;'\  properly,  recUores  animo,  better  in- 
clined, under  a  more  righteous  impulse. — Ver. 
35.  And  atso  the  burnt-offering  was  in  abundance, 
the  voluntary  burnt-offerings,  ver.  31  f.  (70  oxen, 
100  rams,  200  lambs  in  number),  which  were 
added  to  the  proper  sacrifice  of  consecration  ; 
and  hence  the  burden  of  labour  on  the  priests  was 
very  great.  For  the  fat  pieces  next  mentioned, 
comp.  Lev.  iii.  3-5  ;  for  the  libations  as  an 
accompaniment  of  the  burnt  -  ottering,  Num. 
xv.  1-16. — Ami  the  service  of  the  house  of 
the  Lord  was  established,  prepared,  arranged  ; 
comp.  ver.  36,  xxxv.  10,  16.  The  "service" 
(mby)  is  the  regular  sacrificial  worship  in  the 

temple,  not  its  cleansing  and  consecration,  as 
Berth,   thinks.— Ver.    36.     Were  glad  that  God 

had,    etc.;   prtn  by  =  pn  "ID'S  by;    comp.    1 

Chron.  xxvi.  28.  This  refers  not,  perhaps,  to 
the  willingness  of  the  people,  which  God  effected 
by  His  grace  (Ramb.,  Berth.),  but  the  cleansing 
of  the  temple  and  restoration  of  the  true  theo- 
cratic worship,  which  was  accomplished  by  the 
willing  part  taken  by  the  people. —fur  the  thing 
was  done  suddenly,  with  unexpected  readiness ; 
comp.  ver.  3. 

2.  The  Passover:  ch.  xxx.— -Vers.  1  -Vi.  Pre- 
parations for  it.  — And  wrote  letters  also  to  Ephraim 
and  Manasseh,  to  those  belonging  to  the  northeri: 


CHAP.  XXX.  2-18. 


26.1 


kingdom,  who  are    tere  named  by  their  chief  \  fathers,  since  the  time  of  Jeroboam.    On  "making 
Ver.  2.  And  the  king    the  neck  stiff"  =  being  Btiffnecked,  comp.  2  Kings 


tribes;  com]),  vers.  S,  10, 
took  counsel  (comp.  xxv.  IT  ...  to  keep  the  pass- 
over  in  the  second  month.  Such  an  after-celebra- 
tion of  the  passover  is  permitted  by  the  law,  Num. 
ix.  6-13,  to  those  who,  from  Levitical  defilement, 
or  being  on  a  journey,  were  prevented  from  cele- 
brating it  at  the  right  time,  on  the  14th  Nisan. 
On  this  decision  of  the  law  Hezekiah  here  rests 
!n  transferring  the  whole  celebration  from  the 
firs';  to  the  second  month,  because,  as  is  expressly 
stated,  ver.  3,  those  two  cases  of  hindrance  (im- 
purity of  the  priests,  and  distance  of  the  greater 
part  of  the  people  from  Jerusalem)  were  actually 
involved.  Peculiar,  yet  destitute  of  sufficient 
ground,  is  the  assumption  of  Hitzig  (Oesch.  p. 
219),  that  the  law  in  Num.  ix.  6  If.  was  first 
occasioned  by  Hezekiah's  after-celebration  of  the 
passover,  even  as  almost  all  the  laws  of  the  fourth 
book  of  Moses  originated  in  the  times  of  Hezekiah. 
— Ver.  3.  Because  tlie  priests  had  not  sanctified 

themselves  sufficiently.    *no?,   compounded  of  *?. 

pio,  and  W|,  signifies  properly,   "to  that  which 

was  enough,"  ad  sufficieutiam,  and,  in  connection 

with  K^,  expresses  here  the  thought  that  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  sanctified  Levitically  ch-an 
priests  could  not  be  ready  in  the  month  of  Nisan 
to    celebrate   the    passover  at   that    time   (njJ3 

K'nn) ;    comp.    xxix.    34.       Observe,    moreover, 

how  clearly  the  contents  of  this  verse,  as  well  as 
the  following,  point  to  this,  that  the  celebration 
of  the  passover,  of  which  it  treats,  was  to  take 
place,  and  did  take  place,  in  the  next  month,  after 
the  consecration  of  the  temple,  and  therefore  in  the 
first  year  of  Hezekiah's  reign.  Comp.  at  the  close 
of  this  chapter.  — Ver.  5.  And  they  settled  the  thing, 
resolved  upon  it;  comp.  xxxiii.  8;  Neh.  x.  33. 
For  the  proverbial  form:  "from  Beer-sheba  even 
to  Dan,"  to  designate  the  whole  territory  of 
Israel,  comp.  Judg.  xx.  1 ;  1  Sam.  iii.  20;  2  Sam. 
iii.  10,  etc.;  see  above  on  xix.  4. — For  they  had 

not  kept  it  loith  a  multitude;  so  is  2~P  ii"?  most 

probably  to  be  taken.  The  celebration  should 
take  place  with  a  numerous  concourse  of  people ; 
comp.  ver.  13;  Ezra  iii.  4.  The  explanation 
followed  by  Kimchi,  then  by  Luther,  and  rec  ntly 
by  de   Wette:    "For   not  for  a   long   time,"  is 

verbally   inadmissible   (comp.    for   2it>.   in    the 

sense  of  "in  multitude,  numerous,"  also  ver. 
24).  A  statement  also  follows  in  ver.  26  of  the 
length  of  time  during  which  the  passover  had  not 
been  celebrated  by  gnat  numbers. — Ver.  6.  And 
the  posts  went,  the  royal  couriers  (whether  belong- 
ing directly  to  the  king's  guards  is,  notwith- 
standing xxiii.  1  ft'.,  uncertain);  comp.  Esth.  iii. 
13,  15,  viii.  14. — Remaining  to  you  from  the 
hand  of  the  kings  of  Assyria,  of  Tiglath-pileser 
and  his  viceroys  (arehons,  eponyms);  see  on  xxviii. 
16.  Pul  (whether  different  from  Tiglath-pileser, 
comp.  on  1  Chron.  v.  26)  cannot  be  here  intended, 
because  he  led  no  Israelites  captive  ;  see  2  Kings 
sv.  19.  Neither  can  Shalmaneser  be  meant,  as 
he  came  to  the  throne  almost  at  the  same  time 
with  Hezekiah,  and  his  invasion  took  place  in 
the  sixth  year  of  this  king,  while  that  which  is 
he  e  recorded  belongs  to  the  first  year;  see  under 
ver.  27. — Ver.  8.  2?ow  be  not  stiffnecked  like  your 


xvn.  14;   Neh.   ix.  Hit'.;  on   "giving  the  hand, 

for    yielding    oneself,   vowing    allegiance  to,    2 

Bangs  x.  15;  Ezra  x.  19;  Ezek.  xvii.  18  (as  also 

1  Chron.  xxix.  24,  Lam.  v.  6,  "submit  to");  for 
the  close  of  the  verse,  xxix.  10.  —  Your  brethren 
and  your  children  shall  find  compassion  before, 
literally,  "shall  be  for  compassion  before  yout 
captors;"  comp.  Neh.  i.  11.— Ver.  10.  And  untc 
Zebulun;  thus  not  quite  to  the  extreme  no-th 
border  (not  literally  even  to  Dan,  ver.  5).  Ob- 
serve the  concrete  historical  character  of  "hia 
notice,  by  no  means  favouring  the  suspicion  of  a 
pure  fiction  of  these  reports  on  the  part  ol  our 
author.  The  messengers  also  might  very  easily 
reach  Zebulun  (and  the  southern  Asher,  ver.  11) 
in  the  interval  between  the  16th  Nisan  (xxix. 
17)  and  the  1 4th  of  the  following  month;  they 
could  scarcely  have  travelled  to  the  more  northern 
Naphtali,  next  to  Dan  (Laish),  and  North  Asher. 
But  these  most  northern  parts  of  the  country  had 
been  quite  wasted  and  depopulated  by  Tiglath- 
pileser;  see  2  Kings  xv.  29.  That  which  is  here 
stated  (vers.  10,  11)  agrees  still  less  with  the 
hypothesis  of  Caspari  aud  Keil,  that  all  that  is 
related  in  our  chapter  happened  in  the  time  af'er 
the  fall  of  Samaria  (see  under  ver.  27),  as  the 
artificial  attempts  at  adaptation  by  Keil  show. — 
Ver.  12.   Also  the  hand  of  God  was  upon  Judah 

to  give  them  one  heart.     The  phrase  :  DTl^SH  T 

2  Him,  here  sensu  bono  of  the  blessed  effect  of 

the  divine  power  (comp.  Ezra  viii.  22),  otherwise 
usually  in  the  sense  of  judicial  punishment  (Ex. 
ix.  3;" Dent.  ii.  15,  etc.). — By  the  word  of  the 
Lord;  comp.  xxix.  15. — Vers.  13-22.  The  Festival 
itself. — Took  away  the  altars;  those  erected  by 
Aliaz  for  idolatrous  burnt-offerings  and  incense  ; 
comp.  xxviii.  24. — Ver.  15.  And  the  priests  and 
the  Levitts  were  ashamed;  a  clause  referring  to 
ver.  3,  which  points  by  way  of  supplement  to 
this,  that  the  present  full  participation  of  the 
Levitical  spirituality,  in  contrast  with  the  former 
deficiency  (especially  with  regard  to  the  priests, 
xxix.  34),  was  owing  to  the  feeling  of  shame  mean- 
while awakened  in  the  whole  order  on  account  of 
their  former  participation  in  idolatry. — Ver.  16. 
And  they  stood  in   their  place.      ItyiJ.    "place, 

stand,"  as  xxxv.   10;  Dan.   viii.  17,  18. — After 

their  rule;  comp.  1  Chron.  vi.  17.  —  The  priests 
sprinkling  the  blood  from  the  hand  of  the  Levitts, 
that  is,  the  Levites  handed  them  the  blood  to 
sprinkle  on  the  altar.  That  the  Levites  here  did 
this,  whereas  this  handing  of  the  blood  was  the 
part  of  the  several  worshipping  householders 
(xxxv.  6;  Ezra  vi.  20),  is  explained,  ver.  17,  by 
[minting  out  that  only  the  Levites  were  as  yet  all 
properly  cleansed,  and  not  the  remaining  multi- 
tude (n2T  here,  and  ver.  18,  a  neuter  substantive 

before  the  preposition,  and  not  an  adverb,  as  in 
Ps.  cxx.  6).— Ver.  IS.  Many  from  Ephraim  ami 
Manasseh,  Issachar  and  Zebulun.  The  Chronist 
reports  this  not  from  "an  excess  of  national 
feeling,"  as  if  he  wished  to  represent  the  whole 
northern  kingdom  as  subjected  to  the  Jewish  king 
Hezekiah  (H.  Schultz,  fheologie  des  Allen  T.  ii. 
309),  but  simply  because  some  of  the  tribes  of  the 
northern  kingdom,  then  governed  by  Hosea,  and 
already  on  the  verge  of  total  ruin,  had  sent  repre 


25 1 


II.  CHRONICLKS. 


sentatives  to  the  passover  of  Hezekiah,  to  signify 
that  the  feeling  of  national  guilt  was  awakened  in 
them  in  all  its  strength.  That  in  ver.  11  the 
tribes  of  Asher,  Manasseh,  and  Zebulun,  but  here 
Ephraim,  Manasseh,  Issachar,  and  Zebulun,  are 
named  as  "humbled"  (returning  penitent  to  the 
theocratic  centre  of  worship),  appears  to  rest  on 
definite  historical  grounds,  the  nature  of  which 
we  cannot  now  determine. —  Yet  they  ate  the  pass- 
over  not  as  it  was  written,  as  Levitieally  unclean, 
and  thus  contrary  to  the  precept,  Num.  ix.  6; 
nomp.  Josephus,  de  B.  Jud.  vi.  9.  3,  and  under 
ver.  26.  —  The  good  Lord  pardon.  With  these 
closing  words  of  ver.  18  (1J/3  133'  31DH  nw) 
are  to  be  immediately  connected,  notwithstanding 
the  Masoretic  division  of  the  verses,  the  initial 
words  of  ver.  19:  "  Every  one  that  hath  prepared 
his  heart  to  seek  Gol."     "i)J3  stands  thus  before 

the  relative  sentence,  ver.  19  [rather  before  "73], 

without   "iB>'x    (as    ptf,   1   Chron.    xv.   12).      On 

-133,  in  the  sense  of  forgiving,  comp.    Ps.   lxv. 

4;  Lev.  xvi.  6,  11. — Though  not  in  the  cleanness 
of  the  sanctuary,  though  they  did  not  strictly 
comply  with  the  legal  prescriptions  concerning 
the  purity  to  bs  observed  in  approaching  the 
sanctuary.  A  remarkable  mildness  and  almost 
evangelical  freedom  of  view  are  expressed  in  these 
words. — Ver.  20.  And  ht-aled  the  people,  forgave 
their  guilt,  healed  them  in  an  ethical  respect ; 
comp.  Ps.  xli.  5;Hos.  xiv.  5;  Jer.  iii.  22.  The 
healing  of  disease  or  of  death,  that  was  to  be 
apprehended  as  punishment  for  their  guilt  (Lev. 
xv.  31),  is  scarcely  intended  (against  l-Serth.  and 
Kamph.).—  Ver.  21.  And  the  sons  of  Israel  that 
were  in  Jerusalem,  "were  found";  comp.  xxix. 
29,  xxxi.  1. —  With  instruments  of  might  to  the 
Lord,  instruments  by  which  they  ascribed  might 
to  the  Lord,  glorified  His  might  (comp.  Ps.  xxix. 
1),  therefore  with  instruments  for  praising  the 
might  of  the  Lord.  Interesting,  but  not  quite 
certain,  is  the  interpretation  of  Kamphausen,  who 

takes  fj;  ^33  by  itself  in  the  sense:  "with  in- 
struments of  might,"  that  is,  with  loud  sound.— 
Ver.  22.  And  Hezddah  spake  to  the  heart  of  all 
the  Levites,  spake  hearty,  loving,  encouraging 
words  to  them. —  Who  had  good  understanding  of 
the  Lord,  of  the  service  of  the  Lord. — And  they 
ate  the  feast  seven  days.  We  are  scarcely  to  read 
with  the  Sept.  (see  Crit.  Note) :  "And  they  com- 
pleted the  feast;''  for  the  reading:  "eat  the 
feast,"  appears  simply  modelled  after  the  known: 
"eat  the  passover,"  as  the  following:  "offering 
sacrifices  of  peace,"  clearly  shows  (comp.  also  Ps. 
cxviii.  27).  Moreover,  the  collective  worshippers, 
not  merely  the  Levites  and  priests,  are  the  subject. 
— And  confessing  to  the  Lord  God  0  '  their  fathers, 
namely,  with  praise  and  thanksgiving — not,  per- 
haps, with  penitent  confession  of  their  guilt,  as 
some  of  the  ancients  thought.      rniDD   is  quite 

the  IZv/tiXoysTirtxi  of  the  Hellenistic  Greek  (and  so 
of  the  Sept.  in  our  passage). — Vers.  23-27.  The 
Feast  of  Seven  Days  after  the  Passover. — Resolved 
to  keep  ("make  ")  other  seven  day*  with  gladnes*. 
nnDL",  adverbial  accusative  for  nrrat'a-  —  Ver. 

24.  For  Hezekiah  .  .  .  gave  to  the  congregation 
[properly,  heaved,  gave  as  a  heave-offering;  comp. 


xxxv.  7)  a  thousand  bullocks,  etc.;  that  is,  thf 
king  and  princes  had  contributed  victims  il- 
liberally for  the  passover,  that  they  had  not  con- 
sumed the  whole  during  the  seven  days  of  the 
feast,  but  had  still  provision  for  so  long  an  after- 
feast. — And  a  great  many  priests  sanctified  them- 
selves; the  extraordinary  abundance  of  offerings 
could  thus  be  overtaken ;  comp.  ver.  3,  xxix.  34. 
— Ver.  25.  Aiul  the  strangers  that  came  from  the 
land  of  Israel,  and  that  dwelt  in  Judah.  These 
strangers  (QM-l)  from  Israel  and  Judah  are  here, 

as  certainly  as  they  were  distinct  from  "the  con- 
gregation that  came  out  of  Israel"  (  =  Ephraim), 
that  is,  from  the  Ephraimites  mentioned  vers.  11, 
18,  actually  "strangers,"  that  is,  proselytes.  It 
is  otherwise  in  xv.  9,  where  those  dwelling  as 
strangers  among  the  Jews,  from  Ephraim  and 
Manasseh  and  Simeon,  are  simply  the  Israelites 
that  have  migrated  thence. — Ver.  26.  For  since 
the  days  of  Solomon  .  .  .  was  not  the  like  in  Jeru- 
salem, no  so  fair  and  sublime  a  festival  cele- 
brated by  so  great  a  multitude.  But  the  point 
of  comparison  is  perhaps  not  any  passover  under 
Solomon,  but  rather  the  feast  of  the  consecration 
of  the  temple  under  this  king  (vii.  1-10).  This 
resembles  the  passover  of  Hezekiah  in  this  respect, 
that,  with  the  feast  of  tabernacles  following,  it 
lasted  also  fourteen  days.  Because  this  only  is 
intended,  and  not  any  passover  of  Solomon,  there 
is  no  contradiction  between  our  passage,  or  in 
g-neral  between  that  which  is  depicted  in  our 
chapter  and  xxxv.  18,  and  2  Kings  xxiii.  22.  If 
in  the  latter  passage  it  is  said  of  Josiah's  passover: 
"  There  was  not  holden  such  a  passover  from  the 
days  of  the  Judges,"  this  remark  refers,  in  the 
first  place,  to  the  purity  and  legitimacy  of  the 
feast ;  and  in  this  respect  the  present  celebration 
by  Hezekiah  was  defective,  just  as  our  author 
has  expressly  acknowledged. — Ver.  27.  And  the 
priests  (and)  the  Levites  arose;  comp.  Crit.  Note. 
That  the  benediction  of  the  priests  was  heard, 
and  actually  penetrated  to  His  (God's)  dwelling 
in  the  heaven,  our  historian  might  conclude  with 
sufficient  certainty,  from  the  further  gladness  and 
elevation  of  heart  which  he  had  to  recount  in  the 
two  following  chapters  of  Hezekiah 's  reign  (in  its 
inner  as  well  as  outer  aspect). 

On  the  date  of  Hezekiah's  passover,  first  Keil 
(Komment.  zu  den  Biichern  der  Konige,  1S45,  p. 
515  f. ),  then  Caspari  (Beitrdge  zur  JSinleitung  in 
das  Bnch  Jesaia,  p.  109  ft'.),  and  again  Keil 
(Komment.  zur  Chron.  p.  313  ft".),  laid  down  the 
opinion  that  it  was  held  not  in  the  first  year  of 
his  reign,  in  the  next  month  after  the  cleansing 
of  the  temple,  but  considerably  later,  namely, 
after  the  destruction  of  the  kingdom  of  the  ten 
tribes,  in  his  sixth  year.  Against  this  assump- 
tion, and  for  the  usual  view,  according  to  which 
the  Chronist  in  our  chapter  means  to  report  some- 
thing immediately  following  the  feast  of  the  con- 
secration described  in  ch.  xxix.,  speak — 1.  The  1 

consec.  in  r6ti''1  at  the  beginning  of  ver.   1  ;  2. 

The  statement  in  ver.  3,  that  "the  priests  had 
not  sanctified  themselves  sufficiently,"  which 
clearly  refers  to  xxix.  34,  and  does  not  at  all 
permit  the  interposition  of  a  period  of  six  years 
between  the  two  chapters  ;  3.  The  naming  of  the 
second  month  in  ver.  2,  which  is  certainly  to  be 
understood  from  xxix.  3,  17  (the  "first  month, '" 
that  is,  Nisan,  in  the  first  year  of  his  reign),  and 


CHAP.  XXXI.  1-15 


255 


therefore  to  be  referred  to  the  first  year  of  Heze- 
kiah.  To  these  in  themselves  deeisive  grounds, 
which  Keil  vainly  endeavours  in  a  long  discussion 
to  invalidate,  are  to  be  added,  as  further  cogent 
arguments— 4.  The  circumstance  that  our  author, 
if  lie  had  actually  meant  to  represent  the  passover 
as  instituted  after  the  fall  of  Samaria  and  the 
destruction  of  the  northern  kingdom,  and  even 
with  reference  to  the  condition  and  necessity  of 
the  population  occasioned  by  this  catastrophe, 
must  have  expressly  said  so,  «  such  an  important 
inotn  for  including  the  Ephraimites  as  partakers 
in  the  feast  could  not  have  been  passed  over  in 
silence  ;  5.  The  circumstance  that  the  manner  in 
which  these  northern  guests  and  their  seats  are 
mentioned  in  vers.  6,  10  f.  and  18  suits  only 
the  time  after  the  invasion  of  Tiglath-pileser,  not 
that  after  the  fall  of  Samaria  (see  on  these  pas- 
sages, especially  ver.  11)  ;  6.  The  circumstance 
that  the  description  given  in  vers.  10-12  of  the 
preparations  for  the  festival,  compared  with  the 
opening  of  the  description  of  the  feast  itself  in 
ver.  13,  makes  only  a  short  duration  of  these 
preparations  probable  ;  7.  And  lastly,  the  cir- 
cumstance that  the  appearance  of  a  not  incon- 
siderable number  of  communicants  from  the 
northern  kingdom  agrees  very  well  with  that 
which  is  attested  in  2  Kings  xvii.  2  of  the  com- 
paratively pious  and  theocratic  character  of  Hosea, 
the  last  king  of  Ephraim,  and,  on  the  contrary, 
can  scarcely  be  reconciled  with  the  report  there, 
ver.  21  ti",  given  concerning  the  moral  and  reli- 
gious condition  of  the  population  left  in  the 
northern  kingdom  after  the  defeat  of  Hosea  and 
the  fall  of  Samaria.  The  usual  assumption, 
which  makes  tne  temple  consecration  and  the 
passover  to  take  place  in  immediate  succession 
in  the  first  year  of  Hezekiah,  appears  from  all 
this  to  be  most  agreeable  to  the  text,  and  alone 
truly  corresponding  with  the  historical  relations 
that  have  to  be  taken  into  account. 

3.  Further  Religious  Reforms  of  Hezekiah  :  eh. 
xxxi. — On  ver.  1,  comp.  2  Kings  xviii.  4,  where, 
however,  on  the  one  hand,  the  destruction  of  the 
images  and  altars  also  in  Ephraim  and  Manasseh 
is  not  mentioned  ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  break- 
ing of  the  figure  of  the  brazen  serpent  (Nehush- 
*an)  is  narrated,  which  our  report  does  not  ex- 
pressly mention. — All  Israel  that  were  present; 
comp.  xxx.  21.  For  the  statues  (monuments) 
and  asherim,  comp.  on  xiv.  2. — And  in  Ephraim 
and  Manasseh  completely.  With  reference  to 
Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  that  is,  the  northern 
kingdom    (comp.    xxx.    10),    this    "completely" 

(rf?oh  ty)   is  naturally  to   be  understood   cum 

grano  satis,  and  not  to  be  pressed  as  a  strictly 
literal  statement.  The  report  that  in  Manasseh 
ind  Ephraim  also  the  places  of  idolatrous  worship 
were  removed,  could  scarcely,  on  account  of  2 
Kings  xvii.  24  ff.,  be  brought  into  harmony  with 
the  assumption  of  Keil  that  these  facts  are  to  be 
placed  after  722  B.C.— Ver.  2.  And  Hezekiah 
appointed  .  .  .  after  their  courses,  according  to 
the  classification  originating  with  David  ;  comp. 
Chron.  xxiv. ;  2  Chron.  viii.  14.— -Every  man 
wording  to  his  service,  properly,  "at  the  mouth 
!'  his  service";  comp.  Num.  vii.  5,  7. — In  tin 
antes  of  the  camp  of  the  Lord,  in  the  temple  as 
■veil  as  in  the  court  of  the  priests;  comp;  1  Chron. 
.x.  18  ff. — Ver.  3.  And  the  king's  portion  of  his 
property  for   burnt-' firings,   that   is,   the   king 


furnished  what  he  had  to  contribute  to  the  burnt- 
oti'ering  in  victims  out  of  his  possession  (which 
is  described  underneath,  xxxii.  27  ff.,  as  very 
gnat).  Comp.  the  prescriptions  of  the  law  that 
here  come  into  account,  Num.  xxviii.  3  If.,  xxix. 
1  ff. — Ver.  4.  And  he  said  to  the  people  .  .  .  to 
give  the  portion  of  thr  priests  and  L>  rites,  namely, 
the  firstlings  and  tithes  of  the  increase  of  the 
cattle  and  the  field  ;  see  Ex.  xxiii.  19  ;  Num. 
xviii.  12,  21  II'.:  Lev.  xxvii.  30-33.  The  motive. 
"that  they  might  be  stedfast  in  the  law  of  the 
Lord,"  expresses  the  thought,  that  in  order  to 
fulfil  their  official  duties  they  must  be  able  tt. 
live  free  and  untrammelled  by  earthly  cares  ; 
comp.  Neh.  xiii.  10  If. ;  1  Cor.  ix.  4  ff. ;  2  Thess 
iii.  9;  1  Tim.  v.  17  f. — Ver.  5.  And  when  the 
word  came  forth,  properly,  "spread  forth"; 
comp.  Job  i.  10.  The  "sons  of  Israel"  there 
mentioned  are  first  only  the  inhabitants  of  Jeru- 
salem, as  ver.  6  shows,  for  there  first  is  mcnti<m 
made  of  the  remaining  "sons  of  Israel"  (immi- 
grants from  the  northern  kingdom)  and  "sons  of 
Judah." — Ver.  6.  And  the  tithe  of  holy  things 
consecrated  unto  the  Lord  their  Clod.  If  in 
Num.   xviii.   8  If.   not  tithe  OtVJfO)    out   heave- 

offerings    (niCflin)    of    all    consecrated   things, 

that  is,  of  all  the  consecrated  gifts  of  the  Israel- 
ites, are  said  to  fall  to  the  Levites,  this  difference 
from  our  statement  is  only  apparent,  not  warrant- 
ing any  emendation  of  the  text  after  the  reading 
of  the  Sept.  (i-ri5i*«T«  xlyS*,  r-x),  etc.;  see  Crit. 
Note).  This  is  merely  a  diversity  of  the  phrase  ; 
what  is  called,  Num.  xviii.,  "termnoth,"  is  here 
designated  tithe,  because  the  termnoth  were  in 
like  manner  "a  remnant  of  that  which  was  con- 
secrated to  the  Lord,  as  the  tithe  was  a  remnant 
of  all  the  cattle  and  field  produce  "  (rightly  Keil. 
against  Berth,  and  Kaniph.). — Ver.  7.  In  the 
third  month  they  began  to  lay  down,  or  found  ; 
to  form  the  heaps  by  gathering  together  the  gifts 
in  grain.  The  third  month,  in  which  Pentecost 
falls,  is  the  time  of  the  finished  harvest,  as  the 
seventh  month  (with  the  feast  of  tabernacles)  is 
that  of  the  finished  fruit  and  wine  harvest.     For 

the  form  "lio'p,  with  dag.  in  D,  see  Ew.  §  245  a. 

— Vers.  9-19.  The  Application  and  Preservation 
of  the  Collected  Gilts. — Inquired  .  .  .  concerning 
the  heaps,  he  inquired  how  it  came  that  so 
great  a  quantity  of  gifts  was  accumulated.  Only 
to  this  meaning  of  his  question  does  the  following 
answer  of  the  high  priest  correspond,  especially 
the  closing  sentence  of  it. — Ver.  10.  And  Aza- 
riah  the  chief  priest.  Whether  this  be  the  sams 
as  the  Azariah  occurring,  xxvi.  17,  in  the  b'.s+'vy 
of  Uzziah,  forty  years  before,  is  at  least  very 
uncertain. — And  this  great  store  is  left,  literally, 
"and  that  which  is  left  (forms)  this  great  store." 
Perhaps   iflijl    simply  is  to  be  read  ins'ead  ol 

IDism  (Kamph.). — Ver.  11.  And  Hezekiah  s uid 
to  prep/are  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  perhaps  not 
new  store-rooms  (ni3"J'P,    as   1    Chron.   ix.    26), 

but  only  a  portion  of  those  already  built  by 
Solomon  (1  Kings  vi.  5)  for  the  reception  of  the 
stores  (J'^n,  as  1   Kings  vi.  19). — Ver.  12.  And 

they  brought  in  the  offerings,  the  first-fruits,  ver. 
5.  On  the  word  "faithfully,"  conscientiously, 
comp.   xix.   9. — And  over   them,   over  the  first' 


SSfi 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


fruits,  tithe,  and  consecrated  things.  For  the 
name  Conanjahu,  comp.  the  Crit.  Mote  ;  for  the 
term  "  second "  (next  after  him),  riJC'Di  see  1 
Chron.  v.  12;  2  Kings  xxv.  18.— Ver.  13.  And 
Jehiel,  and  Azaziah,  and  Nahath.  Two  of  these 
names,  Jehiel  and  Nahath,  occurred  also  in  xxix. 
12,  14  ;  whether  they  refer  to  the  same  persons  is 
doubtful. — Overseers  under  Conaniah,  literally, 
"  it  the  hand  of  Conaniah." — By  the  appointment 
jf  Hezekiah,  or  by  his  order.  The  Azariah, 
'ruler  of  the  house  of  God,"  named  along  with 
the  king  is  the  high  priest  named  ver.  10  (comp. 
1  Chron.  ix.  11). — Ver.  14.  And  Kore  .  .  .  the 
porter  toward  the  east ;  comp.  1  Chron.  ix.  1 S. 
It  was  his  part  to  distribute  "  the  offering  of  the 
Lord,"  the  portion  of  the  peace-oifering  belonging 
to  the  Lord,  and  by  him  transferred  to  the  priests 
(Lev.  vii.  14,  32,  x.  14  f.),  "and  the  most  holy 
things, "  the  part  of  the  sin  and  trespass  offerings 
to  be  eaten  by  the  priests  in  the  temple  (Lev.  vi. 
10,  22,  vii.  6). — Ver.  15.  And  by  him  (properly, 
"at  his  hand,"  ver.  13),  under  liim,  under  his 
oversight. —  With  truth  (comp.  ver.  12).  This 
the  Vulg.  perhaps  rightly  connects  with  the  fol 
lowing  words:  "conscientiously  to  give,"  though 
against  the  accents.  The  object  of  this  "giving" 
is  that  share  of  firstlings,  tithes,  and  consecrated 
things  which  the  Levites  dwelling  in  the  priestly 
cities  were  entitled  by  law  to  receive. — Ver.  16. 
Beside  the  register  of  males,  with  the  exception 
of  the  registered  males  from  three  years  old  and 
upwards  who  have  "entered  into  the  house  of 
the  Lord,"  that  is,  are  consecrated  to  the  temple 
service  in  Jerusalem,  and  are  therefore  otherwise 
provided  for  (exempted  from  the  provision  in  the 
priestly  cities  when  they  were  at  home)  ;  comp., 
for  example,  Samuel,  etc. — For  the  rate  of  each 

day;  foi<3  Di,~"U"6,  as  viii.  13  f. ;  Neh.  xi.  23. 

— Ver.  17  is,  like  ver.  16,  a  parenthesis,  referring 
to  the  registers  of  the  priests  and  Levites. — And 
the  register   of  the  ])riests.      J"l(0-  according  to 

Ew.  §  277,  </ ;  comp.  Neh.  ix.  34.  On  the 
twentieth  year  of  the  Levites,  at  the  beginning 
of  their  official  functions,  comp.  1  Chron.  xxiii. 
24,  27. — Ver.  18  is  connected  with  ver.  15,  after 
the  two  parentheses  vers.  16  and  17.     With  the 

dative  there,   DnTIN^.  corresponds  the  JpTTWlin, 

which   likewise   depends  on    r\rb,   "to  give   to 

their  brethren,"  and  to  the  register  of  all  their 

little  ones  for  all  the  congregation.     This   '^b 

?np    applies   to   the   whole    community   of    the 

Levites,  including  wives  and  children,  not 
merely  to  the  priestly  order  (as  S.  Schmidt, 
Raiub.,  Kamph.  intend).  —For  in  their  faithful- 
ness they  sanctified  themselves  in  the  holy  thing. 
DrWDX3>  as  1  Chron.  ix.  22.     The  "sanctifying 

themselves  "  (trnpnil)  refers  to  the  disinterested 

and  righteous  distribution  of  the  "holy  thing," 
that  is,  the  offerings  which  they  were  entitled  to 
receive. — Ver.  19.  And  for  the  sons  of  Aaron  .  .  . 
in  the  fields  of  the  suburbs  of  their  cities;  comp. 
Deut.  xxv.  34;  Num.  xxxv.  5. —  Were  appointed 
men,  who  were  expressed  by  name,  men  of  repute; 
comp.  xvviii.  15:  1  Chron.  xii.  31.  These  officers, 
according  to  what  follows,  had  the  charge  of  the 


Levitical  And  priestly  families  occupying  the  land 
around  the  priestly  cities,  as  those  mentioned  ii. 
ver.  15  had  the  charge  of  the  priests  ami  Levitei 
in  these  cities. — Vers.  20,  21.  Close  of  the  Beporl 
of  Hezekiah's  Reforms  in  Worship. — And  did  that 
which  was  good  and  right  (comp.  xiv.  1)  and  true 
before  the  Lord ;   n2K!"l,  as  in  xxxii.  1  ;  Zecli 

viii.  19. — And  in  every  work  which  he  began  .  .  . 
to  seek  hit  God,  or  also,  "seeking  his  God,"  while 
he  sought  Him  ;  comp.  xxvi.  5 ;  Ezra  vi.  21. 

4.  Sennacherib's  Expedition  against  Jerusalem, 
and  End  :  ch.  xxxii.  1-23.  Comp.  the  full 
parallel  account  in  2  Kings  xviii.  13-xix.  37,  anil 
in  Isa.  xxxvi.,  xxxvii.,  to  which  the  present  nar- 
rative, notwithstanding  its  parenetic,  rhetorical 
brevity,  makes  some  not  unimportant  additions. 
With  the  three  parallel  delineations  is  to  be 
compared  the  full  Assyriologic  commentary  of 
Schroder,  pp.  168-212. — After  these  events  ami 
this  faithfulness,  Sennacherib,  etc.,  properly, 
"  Sancherib  "  (Sept.:  'iiiit^nfiiu.  in  Chronicles, 
Ssnr*;t;iiju'/3  in  2  Kings  and  Isaiah),  the Sin-ahi-irib 
or  Sm-ahi-ir-ba  ("Sin,"  the  moon-god,  "gives 
the  brothers  much")  of  the  Assyrian  inscriptions ; 
according  to  the  Assyrian  canon  of  sovereigns,  the 
son,  reigning  705-681  B.C.,  and  successor  of  Sar- 
gon,  the  successor  of  Shalmaneser  and  conqueror 
of  Samaria  ;  comp.  Evangelical  and  Ethical  Re- 
flections, No.  3. — And  thought  to  break  into  them 
for  himself  to  take  them  ;  comp.  xxi.  17. — Ver. 
2.  And  his  face  was  for  war  against  Jerusalem  ; 
comp.  xx.  3;  Luke  ix.  53. — Ver.  3.  Took  counsel 
.  .  .  to  stop  the  waters  of  the  fountains,  not  ti 
close  them  up  wholly,  but  to  cover  them  over 
(Luther,  cover),  and  draw  away  their  waters  by 
subterranean  channels. — Ver.  4.  And  they  stopped 
.  .  .  and  the  brook  that  flowed  through  the  land, 
the  Gihon,  the  brook  of  the  valley  of  Ben-hin- 
nom  ;  comp.  ver.  30;  2  Kings  xx.  20. —  Why 
should  the  kings  of  Assyria  .  .  .find  much  water? 
On  the  phrase,  comp.  Isa.  v.  4  ;  for  the  plural 
"kings,"  above  on  xxviii.  16. — Ver.  5.  And  lie 
strengthened  himself  (p^nrVl),  as  xv.  8,  xxiii.  1. 

— And  built  up  all  the  wall  that  icas  broken; 
comp.  Neh.  iv.  1 ;  Prov.  xxv.  28. — And  raised  it  to 
the  towere,  or,  raised  its  towers,  according  to  the 
probably  original  reading  ;  see  Crit.  Note.  The 
Masoretie  text  gives  the  quite  unsuitable  meaning, 
"and  rose  upon  the  towers,"  or,  "and  brought 
to  the  towers  "  (the  wall  ?  or  the  war  engines  <">. 
— And  another  wall  without,  he  built  or  repaired. 
This  refers  to  the  wall  enclosing  the  lower  city,  or 
Acra,  which  already  existed,  according  to  isa. 
xxii.  11,  the  repair  of  which  is  here  noticed.  Foi 
Millo,  comp.  on  1  Chron.  xi.  8  ;  for  the  weapon  ■ 
made  to  defend  these  fortifications, — arrows,  mis- 
siles, and  shields, — comp.  xxiii.  10,  xxvi.  14. — Ver. 
6.  And  gathered  them  to  him  in  the  broad  way  n 
the  gate  of  the  city ;  whether  on  the  same  opei 
area  at  the  gate  as  that  mentioned  xxix.  4,  to- 
ward the  east,  must,  from  the  indefiniteness  of  the 
expression,  remain  uncertain  ;  comp.  also  Neh. 
viii.  1,  16. — And  spake  to  their  heart;  comp 
xxx.  22. — Ver.  7.  For  with  us  is  more  than  with 
him;  comp.  2  Kings  vi.  16  and  the  following 
verse,  which  gives  the  particulars  how  there  i= 
"  more  "  (j-\,  not  "  a  greater,"  as  Luther  trans 

lrites)  with  Hezekiah  and  the  Israelites  than  with 
the  enemy.  On  "  an  arm  of  flesh  "  as  a  designs 
tion  of  human  impotence  and  apparent  power 


CHAP.  XXXII.  9-31 


257 


comp.  Isa.  xxxi.  3,  Jer.  xvii.  5,  Ps.  lvi.  5  ;  on 
"to  fight  our  battles,"  1  Sam.  viii.  29,  .xviii.  17. — 
Vers.  9-19.  Sennacherib's  Advance  to  Jerusalem. 
Comp.  the  more  ample  account,  2  Kings  xviii. 
17-36. — -And  he  himself  stood  against  Lachish ; 
comp.   xxv.   27. — And  all  his  power   with  him, 

literally,  "all  his  sovereignty"  (in^u'OD);  comp. 

Isa.  xxxiv.  1. — Ver.  in.  Whereon  do  t/e  trust? 
literally,  "where  m  are  ye  trusting  anil  sitting  in 
restraint?"  (distress;  comp.  Dent  xxviii  53  If.; 
2  Kings  xxiv.  10,  xxv.  2  ;  Ezek.  iv.  7). — Ver. 
11.  Doth  not  Hezekiah  mislead  you?  literally,  "is 
not  Hezekiah  misleading  you  (JV3D,  as  -   Kings 

xviii.  32),  to  deliver  you  to  die  by  hunger?"  etc. 
— On  ver.  12,  comp.  2  Kings  xviii.  22  ;  <>n  vers. 
13-15,  comp.  2  Kings  xviii.  35,  Isa.  xxxvi.  20, 
xxxvii.  11-13. — Ver.  16.  And  his  servants  spaJci 
yet  more,  the  servants  already,  ver.  9,  mentioned, 
whose  Assyrian  titles  (Tartan,  Rabsaris,  and  Rab- 
shakeh,  2  Kings  xviii.  17  ;  on  which  comp. 
Schroder's  illustrations,  p.  19S  If.)  our  author 
thinks  lit  not  to  adduce,  as  he  omits  the  whole 
contents  of  their  blasphemous  speeches. — Ver.  17. 
And  he  wrote  a  letter.  This  was,  according  to 
2  Kings  xix.  1 4,  at  a  later  period,  after  Rabshakeh 
hail  reporterl  to  him  the  obstinate  resistance  of  the 
Jewish  people  :  whereas  the  speech  here  reported 
in  ver.  18  of  the  servants  of  Sennacherib  in  the 
Jewish  tongue  is  there  (in  2  Kings)  addressed  to 
the  .lews  at  the  same  time  with  the  first  negotia- 
tion. Our  author  has  apparently  traced  the  course 
nf  tilings  in  a  real  rather  than  a  chronological 
order,  because  his  aim  was  to  exhibit  an  impres- 
sive advance  in  the  steps  (first  a  speech  of  the 
servants  in  the  Assyrian  tongue,  then  a  letter  of 
Sennacherib  to  Hezekiah,  and  lastly  a  demand  to 
surrender  in  the  Jewish  tongue),  from  the  same 
rhetorical  motive  that  led  bin.  also  before,  on  the 
occasion  of  the  war  with  Syria  and  Ephraim, 
xxviii.  16  If. ,  to  co-ordinate  the  facts  not  so  much 
in  a  temporal  as  in  a  real  sequence.  — Vers.  20-23. 
Hezekiah's  and  Isaiah's  Prayer,  and  the  Divine 
Help;  comp.  2  Kings  xix.  14-35  11'.;  Isa.  xxxvii. 

15-19. — And/or  this,  nNPPy,  on  account  of  this 

railing  on  the  God  of  Israel,  which  they  must 
have  heard.— Ver.  21.  And  the  Lord  sent  an 
angel;  comp.  2  Kings  xix.  35  If.,  and  Bahr  on 
this  passage.  The  "valiant  heroes"  destroyed 
by  the  angel  are  the  common  soldiers  (comp. 
xvii.  14),  along  with  whom  are  then  specially 
named  the  "leaders  and  captains"  (officers  and 
generals'.  On  "  with  shame  of  face,"  comp. 
Ezra  ix.  7,  Ps.  xliv.  16;  on  "  they  that  came  out  of 
his  own  bowels  "arsons,  comp.  Gen.  xv.  4,  xxv.  23, 
2  Sam.  vii.  12,  xvi.  11;  and  see  the  Crit.  Note. — 
Ver.  22.   And  defended  them  around,  literally, 

"led  them  around,"  Q^nj'l  (for  which  Berth,  and 
Kamph.,  because  the  word  is  omitted  in  the  Syr. 
and   Arab.,    think    ought   to  be  read  erf?  CO'!, 

"  and  gave  them  rest  around  ") ;  comp.   pn:,  in 

the  sense  of  protecting,  Ps.  xxxi.  4;  Isa.  xli.x.  10. 
li.  18,  etc. — Ver.  23.  And  many  brought  a  gift  to 
the  Lord;  comp.  xvii.  11,  xxvi.  8;  2  Kings 
xx.  12.  Among  the  "  many  "  seem  to  be  reckoned, 
as  the  following  clause  shows,  members  of  the 
neighbouring  nations,  who  had  been  delivered  by 
the  helpful  interposition  of  the  God  of  the  Jews 


from  the  same  calamity  of  war  and  danger  Oi' 
ruin. 

5.  Sickness,  Remaining  Reign,  and  End  o: 
Hezekiah:  vers.  24-3!. — fn  those  days  Hezekiah 
was  sick.  Considerably  Culler  in  2  Kings  xx 
1-11  and  Isa.  xxxviii.— Ver.  25.  And  Hezekiah 
repaid  not  according  to  the  benefit  done  to  him,  liter- 
ally, "according  to  the  benefit  in  him";  comp. 
Ps  cxvi.  12. — Por  his  heart  became  proud,  liter- 
ally, "  lifted  itself  up";  comp.  xxvi.  16.  Wherein 
the  proud  uplifting  consisted,  namely,  in  the 
boastful  exhibition  of  his  treasures  to  the  ambas- 
sadors of  Babylon  (2  Kings  xx.  12  If. ),  is  not  here 
said,  but  is  briefly  indicated  in  ver.  31  ;  neither 
is  the  manner  in  which  "  indignation  came  upon 
him"  (comp.  xix.  10;  1  Chron.  x.xvii.  24),  namely, 
by  a  prophetic  warning  and  announcement  of 
punishment  (Isa.  xxxix.  5-7  ;  2  King-:  xx.  16  If), 
more  particularly  defined.  The  mode  of  narrative 
in  our  section  is  generally  that  of  the  epitome. 
On  ver.  26  comp.  Isa.  xxxix.  8;  2  Kings  xx.  19. 
— Vers.  27-31.  Hezekiah's  Riches,  and  Building 
of  Cities  and  Water-courses. — And  Hezekiah  ha  I 
very  much  riches;  comp.  2  Kings  xx.  13,  and 
tin' earlier  accounts  in  the  reigns  ot  David  ( 1  Chron. 
xxix.  28),  Solomon  (2  Chron.  i.  12  If),  and  Jeho- 
shaphat  (xviii.  1).  Besides  the  metals  themselves, 
are  mentioned  also  among  his  treasures  spices  (as 
Dan.  xi.  8)  and  "shields,"  that  is,  costly  gilded 
weapons  and  the  like  (comp.  Isa.  xxxix.  2).  —  Ver. 
28.  And  storehouses  for  the  increase  of  corn. 
Hi33DD  (P-  trauspos.  lit.  for  niD33D,  from  D33, 

heap  up),  magazines;  comp.  Ex.  i.  11;  1  Kings 
ix.  19;  2  Chron.  viii.  4.  —  And  stalls  for  all  kinds 
of  cattle,  literally,  "for  all  cattle  and  cattle." 
nils,  "stalls,"  properly,    "racks;"  comp.   the 

only  orthographieally  different  ]"IV"1N.  ix.  25,  and 

at  the  close  of  our  verse,  J"li"ni{<,   which  seems  to 

mean  folds.  But  perhaps  the  last  clause  is  cor- 
rupt, and  instead  of  "  flocks  for  the  folds,"  rather 
(with  the  Sept.  and  Luther)  an  inversion  of  the 
terms  is  to  be  assumed;  see  Crit.  Note. — Ver.  29. 
And  he  made  him  cities,  D,_ij;,  perhaps  watch- 
towers  for  the  keepers  of  the  cattle  ;  comp.  on 
xxvi.  10  and  2  Kings  xvii.  9. — And  possession  of 
flocks  and  herds  in  abundance;  comp.  Job  i.  3; 
for   [W31,  possession,    xxxi.    3. — Ver.    30.    This 

Hezekiah  stopped ;  see  on  vers.  3,  4. — And  led  it 
straight  down  to  the  west  of  the  citii  of  Do  rid,  led 
it,  the  water  of  the  brook  Gihon,  flowing  by  the 
city  on  the  east,  by  a  subterranean  channel  west- 
ward into  the  city. — Ver.  31.  And  so  in  the  case 
of  the  ambassadors  of  the  princes  of  Babel.  In- 
stead of  pi  (that  cannot  be  rendered,  with  Luther 

and  others,  in  an  adversative  sense  by  "  but  "  oi 

"  though  ")   we   expect    xi>)    or    SO  p"l,   "  °nly 

not."  But  the  author  does  not  intend  to  repre- 
sent the  interview  with  the  ambassadors  of  Baby- 
lon as  an  exception  to  the  otherwise  prosperous 
career  of  the  king,  but  rather  as  a  confirmation  of 
that  which  is  said  in  this  respect ;  and  especially 
as  Hezekiah  was  not  punished  for  the  perversity 
of  his  conduct  at  that  time,  but  only  humbled, 
and  for  himself,  at  least,  spared  the  deserved  judg- 
ment of  God  (comp.  ver.  26).  The  plural  "princes 
ot'  Babel,"  instead  of  the  sing  ,  which,  according 
to  2  Kings  xx.  12  ff.,  we  might  expect,  is  pernap.-* 


J."j8 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


to  be  interpreted  as  the  term  kind's  i:i  xxviii.  16, 
xxx.  6,  xxxii.  4.     On  the  king  Merodaeh-baladan, 

and  on  the  chronology  of  this  event,  see  Evangeli- 
cal and  Ethical  Reflections,  No.  3. — Vers.  32,  33. 
Close  of  the  History  of  Hezek.ah.  -And  his  kind- 
nets,  literally,  "kindnesses"  (DTDn,    otherwise 

than  vi.  42);  comp.  rather  Neh.  xiii.  14  (against 
Keil). — \  er.  33.  And  they  buried  him  in  theheiijhl. 
(or  also  "  the  ascent"  ;  eomp.  xx.  16)  of  the  sepul- 
chres of  the  sons  of  David,  that  is,  in  a  place 
higher  than  the  previous  tombs  of  the  kings,  as 
in  these,  perhaps,  there  was  no  longer  sufficient 
space. — And  yare  him  glory,  namely,  by  the 
burning  of  spices  and  the  like,  as  at  the  death  of 
Asa  (xvi.  14  ;  comp.  xxi.  19). 

EVANGELICAL  AND  ETHICAL  REFLECTIONS  AND 
APOLOGETIC  REMARKS  (ESPECIALLY  WITH 
REGARD  TO  CHRONOLOGY)  ON  CH.  XXIX.- 
XXXII. 

1.  The  relation  of  our  author  concerning  the 
history  of  Hezekiah  includes  in  itself  two  un- 
equal parts  of  tolerably  heterogeneous  materials, — 
a  detailed  report  of  the  reforms  in  worship  with 
which  the  king  began  his  reign  (xxix.-xxxi.),  and 
an  excerpted  and  compressed  description  of  the 
chief  warlike  e  cents  and  other  public  acts  and 
occurrences  of  his  reign  (xxxii. ).  This  plan, 
combining  the  supplementing  with  the  excerpt- 
ing process,  clearly  shows  that  it  is  Hezekiah 
the  reformer  of  worship,  and  not  the  warlike 
prince  and  pious  ruler,  that  he  intends  first  and 
chiefly  to  depict.  As  a  reformer  of  worship, 
Hezekiah  deserves  indeed  to  be  held  up  along 
with  Josiah,  among  all  the  kings  from  Solomon 
to  the  exile.  The  thoroughgoing  spirit,  strong 
faith,  and  energy  displayed  in  his  measures  leaves 
all  that  had  been  formerly  undertaken  by  Asa 
and  Jehoshaphat  far  behind  ;  and  even  the  later 
Josiah,  notwithstanding  the  character  of  stricter 
legality  which  his  measures  bore,  cannot  compare 
with  him,  inasmuch  as  the  reforming  activity 
of  Hezekiah  prepared  the  way  for  his  own,  and 
thus  he  stood,  as  it  were,  on  the  shoulders  of 
Hezekiah,  and  had  to  look  up  to  what  was  accom- 
plished by  the  latter  as  his  model.  Between 
those  less  efficient  and  less  decided  predecessors 
and  this  successor,  more  zealous  indeed,  but  less 
favoured  by  fortune,  and  aiming  at  no  perpetuity 
of  his  labours,  Hezekiah  stands  as  the  greatest 
hero  of  faith,  as  the  purest  evangelical  character 
among  the  Jewish  kings  of  the  Old  Testament. 
His  work  forms,  by  virtue  of  his  powerful,  ruth- 
lessly stringent  opposition  to  idolatry,  and  his 
honourable  zeal  for  the  law,  coupled  with  sincere 
devotedness  of  heart  to  God,  a  striking  typical 
parallel  to  that  of  the  evangelical  princes  in  the 
age  of  the  Reformation, — John  the  Constant, 
Philip  the  Magnanimous,  Edward  VI.,  Gustavus 
Vasa,  etc.  ;  while  his  predecessors,  Asa,  Jehosha- 
chat,  and  Joash,  correspond  merely  to  the 
tetter  disposed  kings  and  emperors  of  the  Middle 
Ages  maintaining  a  certain  independence  towards 
Home  (as  Frederic  Barbarossa,  Louis  ix.  of 
France,  etc.) ;  but  in  Josiah  is  presented  the  type 
of  such  epigoni  of  the  more  potent  manifestations 
of  the  Reformation  period  as  Ernest  the  Pious 
of  Saxe  Gotha,  Frederic  IV.  of  Denmark,  etc. 
So  far  as  such  parallels  between  Israelitish  and 
Christian  history  are  allowable, — but  that  they 
should  be  instituted  with  great  precaution  and 


the  most  careful  avoidance  of  the  iinm.-U.eni 
danger  of  arbitrary  trifling,  is  shown  by  very 
many  warning  examples,  especially  in  the  region 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  theological  literature  of 
recent  times, ' — it  is  natural  to  set  beside  "he  great 
reformatory  activity  of  King  Hezekiah  the  con 
temporary  movement  of  a  powerful  reform  and 
revival  of  the  whole  religious  and  moral  life  by 
such  heroes  of  prophecy  as  Isaiah,  Micah  land  as 
probably  an  older  Zechariah,  author  of  Zecb. 
ix.-xi. ),  and  to  suppose  the  one  conditioned  and 
supplemented  by  the  other, — his  action  as  the  re- 
novator of  the  religious  life  and  the  external  thco 
cratic  order  and  discipline,  and  the  endeavour  of 
these  prophetic  men  after  the  purification  of  the 
religious  consciousness  and  the  quickening  of  the 
moral  conscience  of  their  people.  For  certainly 
his  religious  reform  would  not  have  been  prac- 
ticable without  the  co-operation  of  this  contempo- 
raneous Life-reform  by  Lis  prophetic  friends  and 
counsellors ;  and  we  can  as  little  separate  the  royal 
reformer  Hezekiah  from  the  royal  seer,  as  those 
princes  of  the  Reformation  age  from  the  Reforim  is 
Luther,  Melanchthon,  Bugenhagen,  Calvin,  etc.  - 
Indeed,  the  circle  of  those  wise  men  around 
Hezekiah,  to  whom,  according  to  Prov.  xxv.  1, 
was  due  the  then  completed  collection  of  the  old 
Solomonic  proverbial  literature,  and  in  reference 
to  whom  Hezekiah  himself  has  been  called  the 
Pisistratus  of  the  Israelitish  literature  (Delitzsch, 
Kommentar  iiber  den  Psalter,  ii.  377),  we  may 
well  assert  to  be  a  moment  of  the  typical  paral- 
lelism, and  regard  the  work  of  these  men  as  a 
type  of  the  humanists  contemporary  with  the 
Reformers,  and  often  lending  them  support. 

2.  That  in  our  author  these  manifestations,  con- 
temporaneous with  Hezekiah,  and  co-operating 
with  him,  the  importance  of  which  certainly 
should  not  be  undervalued,  retire  into  the  back- 
ground, and  that  he  mentions  the  prophet  Isaiah 
only  once  in  passing  (xxxii.  20),  and  those  wise 
"  men  of  Hezekiah  "  not  at  all,  corresponds 
exact!)'  with  his  character  as  a  historian  abiding 
always  by  the  priestly  and  Levitical  point  of 
view.  The  credibility  of  Ins  narrative  cannot  be 
disputed  on  account  of  this  onesidedness.  A 
great  number  of  highly  definite,  and  concrete 
statements  in  the  chapters  peculiar  to  him  attest 
the  character  of  their  contents  as  well  founded, 
and  free  from  any  suspicion  of  fiction.  Thus  the 
names  of    the  fourteen   Levites  in  xxix.    12-14 

1  "We  refer  especially  to  the  writings  of  Phil.  Krementa 
(present  Bishop  uf  Braunsberg). — The  old  Tatamtnt  as  the 

Type  «f  the  Xeir  (Coblenz.  IS*  J),  hrael  the  Type  of  the  Church, 
ait?:'  pt  to  elucidate  the  history  of  Christianity  by  the  typical 
htsloiy  of  Israel  (M.unz.  1865);  The  Gospel  in  th-  Book  of 
Genesis  or  the  Life  of  Jems  typified  by  th-  History  t-f  the  Patri- 
archs Abraham,  Isaac.  Jacob,  and  Joseph  (Coblenz,  Is67i  : 
The  life  of  Jesus  the  l*rophecy  of  the  Ilt>t  nj  of  Sis  Church 
(Freiburg,  ls(!9) :  likewise  to  such  works  hs  that  of  tlie 
barefooted  Carmelite  Carl  St.  Aloysins.  The  Histom  of  Man. 
a  Divine  Work  of  Creation  on  the  Region  of  lite  Moral  World 
(Wiirzburg,  1861),  and  so  foith.  A  useful  counterpart  to 
the  extravagances  of  these  works,  with  their  parallelistic 
trifling, is  (minted  nut  by  W  J.  Thiersch:  Genesis, according 
t,<  it*  Mural  and  Prophetical  Import  (Frankfurt  a  M.  1S69). 
-  Compare  ihe  remarks  of  Kndelbach  on  the   typical 

lehiti fthe  Old  Testament,  prophets  to  the  Reformers  in 

several  of  his  writings;  for  example,  in  Reformation.  Luther- 
ilium,  nod  Union  ;  in  Ins  biography  of  Savonarola  (p.  288 
It.)  ;  in  i lie  trea  i.-e,  Die  Grundtwig'sche  Theorie  und  die 
Lutherische  Kirche  (in  the  ZeiUchn.fl  fur  die  gaammte 
lulherische  Theolnjie.  1S.V7,  i.  p.  1.".  To  thi-  should  be  added 
the  far  and  wide  eustoni  since  the  Reformation  itself  (tor 
example,  in  Zwinghus  in  his  letler  ad  Zas'um.  in  Melancli- 

t i,  etc.)  of  dialling  parallels  between   Luther  and  such 

prophets  of  the  first  rank  as  Elijah,  Isaiah,  etc.  Comp.  also 
E«  aid,  Oeschichtc  da  Votkes  Israel,  iii.  1,  pp.  Ml.  »41 


CHAP.  XXIX.-XXXII. 


2:>'.l 


rest  as  undoubtedly   on  historical  tradition    as 

those  of  the  others  in  xxxi.  12-15.     And  as  little 

aa these  na scan  be  invented,   will  that  win  h 

is  related,  xxx.  1  ff.,  10  t'.,  18  II'.,  and  xxxi.  l. 
concerning  the  participation  of  inhabitants  of  the 
kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes  in  Hezekiah's  religious 
acts  and  reforms  bear  a  fictitious  character.  The 
authenticity  of  these  statements  is  liable  to  no 
manner  of  doubt,  view  them  chronologically  as 
we  will  — whether  we  refer  them,  with  Keil  and 
Caspari  (see  on  x\x.  27),  to  events  that  happened 
after  722  B.C.,  or,  with  the  majority  of  expositors, 
assign  them  a  place  in  the  first  years  of  Hezekiah's 
reign.  'The  excerpt  also  from  2  Kings  xviii.-xx. 
and  Isa.  xxxvi. -xxxix.,  which  lie  presents  in  eh. 
xxxii.,  proves,  by  its  essential  agreement  with 
these  fuller  parallels,  the  conscientiousness  and 
reliableness  of  the  procedure  of  our  author. 
Where  he  presents  smaller  supplements  to  the 
reports  there, — as,  for  example,  in  his  accounts  of 
the  fortifications  and  measures  of  defence  by 
Hezekiah  in  ver.  5  (comp.  ver.  30), — these  supple- 
ments bear  in  themselves  their  warrant  as  actual 
aud  trustworthy.  And  where  he,  in  accordance 
with  his  rather  real  than  chronological  grouping 
of  events,  makes  alterations  in  the  order  of  the 
facts  to  be  related,  as  in  vers.  16-18  (coinp.  also 
vers.  21-31),  there  never  results  a  representation 
strictly  contrary  to  history.  We  are  to  note, 
moreover,  the  circumstance,  significant  of  his 
theocratic  idealizing  tendency,  and  recalling 
analogous  omissions  in  the  history  of  the  reigns 
of  David,  Solomon,  and  Jehoshaphat,  that  he 
passes  over  various  incidents  less  favourable  to 
the  character  of  Hezekiah  as  a  specially  fortun- 
ate and  illustrious  ruler  ;  for  example,  the  facts 
that  Sennacherib  not  only  besieged  but  took 
many  Jewish  cities  (comp.  xxxii.  1  with  2  Kings 
xviii.  13)  ;  that  Hezekiah  was  compelled  to  pay  a 
large  tribute  to  the  same  sovereign,  and  for  this 
purpose  to  take  off  the  gold  plating  of  the  temple 
doors  (2  Kings  xviii.  16) ;  that  he  rent  his  clothes 
and  put  on  sackcloth  (2  Kings  xix.  1),  etc.,  and, 
on  the  whole,  reports  only  that  which  proves  his 
glorious  and  happy  government.  His  represen- 
tation of  the  work  of  Hezekiah  has  thus  received 
a  peculiarly  optimistic  colouring,  beside  which 
that  of  the  other  fuller  report  looks  almost  like 
pessimism.  But  even  the  sharpest  critic  would 
scarcely  be  able  to  show  that  the  Chronistic  narra- 
tive, notwithstanding  its  idealistic  onesidedness, 
involves  any  misstatement  of  facts  or  distortion 
of  history. 

3.  An  important  and  difficult  inquiry,  that, 
however,  concerns  the  narrative  of  our  book 
equally  with  the  older  parallel  text,  is  involved 
in  the  synchronism  of  the  11131017  °f  Hezekiah 
in  the  sacred  Scripture  and  in  the  contemporary 
Assyrian  monuments.  While  the  most  important 
event  of  this  history  in  a  temporal  or  spiritual 
respect,  the  fall  of  Samaria  or  the  destruction  of 
the  northern  kingdom  by  Shalmaneser  and  Sargon 
(namely,  by  Shalmaneser  [Salmanu-ascr,  "God 
Salman  is  good"]  as  beginner,  and  by  Sargon 
[Sarrnkin,  "mighty  the  king "] as  finisher  ol  the 
besieging  and  destroying  work),1  according  to  the 

'  Tics  relation  of  the  Shalmaneser  of  2  Kir.g*  to  the 
Sareon  of  Is<i.  xx.,  Oppeit  and  Schvadev  IStud.  unit  Knt. 
1S70,  p.  527  IT..  1871,  p.  i;79  ff.)  have  now  finally  estab  ishtd, 
asjainst  the  identity  or  enly  nominal  diversity  of  these  two 
governors  asserted  by  many  (M.  v.  Niebnhr  Hunker.  Sayce, 
Kiehm,  etc).  Comp.  also  Diestel,  in  Knobel's  Isauih,  4iii 
edit.  p.  169. 


unanimous  testimony  of  both  sources,  is  to  be 
placed  in  the  year  722  (or  721)  B.C.,  with  regard 
to  the  next  more  important  event,  the  invasion  of 
Sennacherib  (ch.  xxxii.  1-2:1,  and  the  parallel  1,  a 
difference  is  exhibited  of  not  less  than  thirteen 
ye.ux  between  the  statements  of  the  Assyrian 
monuments  and  those  of  sacred  Scripture.  For 
those  assign  this  expedition  to  the  year  7ul,  full 
twenty  years  alter  the  a  cession  of  Sargon  ami 
the  tall  of  Samaria  ;  whereas  the  Bible  (2  KilfS 
xviii.  13  ;  Isa.  xxxvi.  1)  plices  it  in  the  14th 
year  of  Hezekiah,  only  eight  or  nine  years  aft*" 
the  fall  of  Samaria,  which  tocic  place  in  the  sixth 
year  of  this  king,  711  B.C.  A  reconciliation  of 
these  very  diverse  dates  seems  at  present  impos- 
sible ;  and  as  there  is  a  great  number  of  Assyrian 
inscriptions  which  agree  in  assigning  the  great 
Egypto-1'alestiuian  expedition  of  Sennacherib  to 
the  fourth  year  of  his  reign  (that  is,  as  he  must 
have  reigned  705-6S1,  to  the  year  701),  it  seems 
necessary  to  abandon  the  biblical  date  as  in- 
correct, aud  to  substitute  for  the  14th  the  27th  or 
28th  year  of  Hezekiah  as  the  date  of  the  event. 
A  further  chronological  difference  appears  to  open 
between  the  Bible  and  the  inscriptions  with  re- 
gard to  the  embassy  of  the  Babylonian  king 
Merodach-baladan  to  Hezekiah  (2  Kings  xx.  12  ff, ; 
Isa.  xxxix.  1  ff.).  If  we  hold  this  Merodach- 
baladan  (Assyro-  Babylonian,  Marduk-liabal- 
iddina,  ". Melodic  h  bestowed  the  son";  see 
Schrader,  p.  213)  to  be  identical  with  the  Ma.p- 
Her.ifi.Tu'Sis  of  the  Ptolemaic  canon,  the  fifth  king 
of  Babylon  according  to  this  document,  the  whole 
transaction  in  question  must,  as  the  synchronism 
of  the  Assyrian  inscriptions  and  of  this  canon 
determines  the  years  721-710  as  the  period  of  this 
monarch's  reign,  be  placed  a  number  of  years 
before  the  invasion  of  Sennacherib,  on  the  pre- 
sumption that  this  fell  in  701.  And  even  if  we 
take,  not  that  Mardokempad  (or  Maiduk-habal- 
iddina),  but  a  later  sovereign  of  the  same  name 
reigning  only  a  short  time  (six  months),  men- 
tioned by  Berosus  (or  Alexander  i'olyhistor)  in 
Eusebius,  Citron.  Armen.  i.  p.  19,  edit.  Mai,  for 
the  Merodach-baladan  of  Holy  Scripture,  as  is 
done  by  Winer.  Knobel,  Hitzig,  and  recently  by 
Schrader  (p.  213  ff.),  yet  the  reign  even  of  this 
second  Merodach  falls  before  701,  namely,  accord- 
ing to  the  canon  of  Ptolemy,  in  the  year  7<>4  or 
703.  The  transposition  of  the  reports  in  question 
seems  therefore  unavoidable.  The  statement  in 
Isa.  xxxix.  (and  2  Kings  xx.  12  If.  1  concerning 
Hezekiah's  display  of  his  treasures  before  the 
ambassadors  of  Babylon  must  apparently  be 
placed,  with  Oppert  ("  Die  biblische  Chronologic, 
festgestellt  nach  den  assyrischen  Keilinschrif- 
ten, "  in  the  ZcUscltrift  der  Dettlschen  MorgenL 
Gesel'scha/t,  1869,  p."  137tt'.i,  Delitzseh  (Kom- 
ment.  ea  Jes.  2d  edit.  1869),  IHestel  (on  Knobd's 
Isaiah,  4th  edit. ),  and  Schrader  (Keitinschriften, 
p.  218),  before  the  account  in  Isa.  xxxvi.  1. 
c2  Kings  xviii.  f.)  of  the  expedition  of  Sen- 
nacherib, say  about  ten  years,  or  (with  Schrader) 
at  least  two  or  three  years  ;  and  the  full  treasure- 
chambers  which  Hezekiah  shows  to  the  ambas- 
sadors must  be  regarded  as  those  which  Sen- 
nacherib had  not  yet  emptied  (2  Kings  xviii.  13 
ff. ),  not  (with  Keil,  Knobel,  Thenms,  Bahr, 
Xeteler,  and  others)  as  replenished  from  the  booty 
left  on  the  part  of  the  hastily  retreating  army 
of  Sennacherib,  nor  even  as  remaining  sufficiently 
full   notwithstanding    the   contribution    imposed 


260 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


by  the  Assyrians. — The  question,  whether  we  are 
warranted  or  necessitated  by  the  diverging  dates 
of  the  monuments  of  profane  history  to  assume 
so  irajrortant  chronological  inaccuracies  or  per- 
versions in  the  b.blical  sources,  that  is,  in  the 
here  substantially  agreeing  reports  of  the  second 
book  of  Kings,  the  book  of  Isaiah,  and  Chronicles, 
should  scarcely  be  decided  so  hastily  and  un- 
ceremoniously in  favour  of  the  former  testi- 
monies, as  has  been  done  bySchrader  (p.  292  If.), 
in  accordance  with  Diestel  (pp.  169,  325),  Rohling 
(in  the  Litirar.  Handweiser  far  das  Kathol. 
Deulnc'Uand,  1872,  No.  124),  and  others.  With 
regard,  alsc,  to  the  wide  differences  between  the 
Assyrian  and  biblical  chronology  before  the  reig  . 
of  Hezekiah,  which  amount,'  in  the  estimate  of 
Assyriologists,  sometimes  to  forty  or  fifty  years, 
the  greatest  possible  precaution  and  reserve  is  to 
be  recommended  in  drawing  conclusions  un- 
favourable to  the  authority  of  Holy  Scripture.  For 
if  not  in  the  way  proposed  by  Oppert  (according 
to  which  a  break  in  the  list  of  Assyrian  eponyms 
for  nearly  fifty  years  would  have  to  be  assumed, 
and  the  great  difference  for  this  early  period  de- 
rived therefrom  ;  which,  however,  Schrader,  in  the 
Zeitschrift  der  Deutschen  Morgerd.  Gesettschaft, 
vol.  xxv.  p.  449  tf. ,  declares  to  be  inadmissible2), 
yet  in  some  other  way,  sooner  or  later,  a  greater 
approximation  of  the  divergent  testimonies  might 
easily  be  accomplished,  and  so  the  difference  of 
the  dates  at  least  considerably  reduced — just  as 
the  chronological  deviations  of  the  Egyptian 
monuments   from   the   biblical   statements    were 


formerly  held  by  many  Egyptologists  to  be  mor« 
considerable  than  is  now  generally  the  case,  after 
a  more  thorough  and  extensive  investigation  of 
the  existing  sources.  Neteler  has  made  an 
attempt,  in  several  respects  untenable  and  preci- 
pitate, to  reconcile  the  divergences  on  both  sides 
in  the  parts  of  his  Coinmvntary  on  Chronicles 
that  refer  to  chronology  (pp.  195  ff.,  224  ff.,  263  If.  I, 
in  which  he  brings  down  the  reigns  of  the 
Israeli  tish  and  Jewish  kings  from  the  division  of 
the  kingdom  (which  he  dates  at  933  instead  of 
975  B.C.)  to  Zedekiah  by  several  decenuia  (from 
Josiah  at  least  by  several  years),  and  accordingly 
makes  Jehu  reign  846-819,  Uzziah  786-735, 
Ahaz  720-705,  Hezekiah  706-678  (from  692  with 
his  son  Manasseh  as  co-regent),  Josiah  637-607. 
That  this  attempt,  as  well  on  the  biblical  side — 
here  chiefly  by  arbitrary  assuming  of  various  co- 
regencies,  as  of  Amaziah  with  his  father  Joash, 
of  Uzziah  with  Amaziah,  of  Hezekiah  with  Ahaz, 
and  of  Manasseh  with  Hezekiah — as  on  the 
Assyriologic,  rests  on  several  untenable  presup- 
positions (in  the  latter  respect,  for  example,  on 
the  long-since  refuted  opinion  of  the  identity  of 
Sargon  with  Shalmaneser),  needs  no  further  de- 
monstration. Comp.  Schrader's  critical  counter 
remark  in  his  renew  of  Neteler 's  commentary  in 
the  Literarisclitn  Cfntralblatt  of  the  year  1872. 
As  little  can  we  certainly  regard  the  onesided 
chronology  of  Schrader,  founded  on  the  Assyrian 
documents,  as  absolutely  satisfactory,  especially 
as  it  involves  not  a  lew  uncertainties,  and  often 
rests  on  documents  not  yet  fully  interpreted.3 


o.  Manasseh  and  Amon. — Ch    xxxiii. 


«.   Manasseh:  vers.  1-20. 


Ch.  XXXIII.  1.  Manasseh  was  twelve  years  old  when  he  became  king,  and  he  reigned 

2  fifty  and  five  years  in  Jerusalem.     And  he  did  that  which  was  evil  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Lord,  like  the  abominations  of  the  nations  whom  the  Lord  had 

3  cast  out  before  the  sons  of  Israel.     And  he  built  again  the  high  places  which 
Hezekiah  his  father  had  pulled  down,  and  reared  up  altars  for  Baalim,  and 

4  made  asheroth,  and  worshipped  all  the  host  of  heaven,  and  served  them.     And 
he  built  altars  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  although  the  Lord  had  said.  In 

5  Jerusalem  shall  my  name  be  for  ever.     And  he  built  altars  to  all  the  host  of 


1  Comp.  the  juxtaposition  of  some  of  the  biblical  with  the  corresponding  Assyrian  dates,  as  they  are  presented  by 
Schrader.  p.  299-— 

Bible. 

918-89f>  (ivigo  of  Ahab) 

884-857  (        ,.  Jehu) 

8H9-7.59  (        „  Uzziah) 

771-761  {        „  Menahem) 

758-738  (        „  Tekah) 

729-72.1  (        „  Hosca) 

722  (fall  of  Samari-0 
714  (expedition  of  Sennacherib) 
696-642  (reign  of  Manasseh). 

After  differing  at  flrst  about  forty  or  fifry  years,  then  about  twenty  or  thirty,  the  Assyrian  chronology  merges  into 
the  biblical  in  Hosea;  in  the  fall  of  Samaria  the  two  reckonings  coincide ;  and  so  mainly  in  the  reign  of  Manasseh;  bui 
with  regard  to  the  expedition  of  Sennacherib,  a  deviation  of  lull  thirteen  years  again  takes  place. 

2  Comp.  also  Die  Keilinschrr/ten  und  das  AlU  Testament,  p.  300  f. :  "  By  "this  (grat.ted  that  such  an  assumption  [as  the 
break  of  the  list  of  eponyms  for  lotty-seven  years]  were  admissihle)  the  difference  between  the  Bible  and  the  monuments 
would  be  expunged  so  far  .is  the  times  of  Ahab  and  Jehu  are  concerned :  but  Jehu  would  huve  paid  his  tribute,  which, 
according  to  Oppert's  calculation,  must  have  been  presented  in  the  year  888.  four  years  before  his  accession  to  the  throne, 
8s4.  But  in  the  time  01  Aziriah  ai-d  Menahem  the  omission  of  the  forty-seven  yeais  would  produce  a  still  greater  gap; 
ar  the  most,  twenty  or  thiity  yeais  would  have  to  be  cast  off.  efe.  ...  And  besides,  .  .  .  this  whole  notion  of  a  break  in 
the  list  of  eponyms  is  untenahle,  and,  iraspectire  of  its  internal  improbability,  is  simply  w-Fecked  on  the  parallel  list*  o! 
reigns  and  the  rotation  of  officeis,  extending  over  from  the  on.-  reign  to  the  other,  who  h  is  lhe>ehy  preserved  to  us. 

*  Comp.,  as  the  nio>t  recent  attempt  at  a  critical  chronology  ol  this  peiiod,  ihe  treatise  of  H.   Brand:  Die  Kimiai 
i  von  Juda  und  Itrael  nach  den  bifil.  Btrichten  und  den  Seifuuchr-i/ten,  Leipzig  1873 


Assyrian  Monuments. 

Ahab,  . 

SM  (hattle  at  Karkar) 

Jehu,  . 

842  (payment  of  tiihute) 

Uzziah, 

745 

-739  (at  war  wirh  Tislurh-pileser) 

Menahem.    . 

738  (payment  of  tribute) 

P.-k*h, 

7^4  (conquered  by  TigUth-ptleser) 

Hosea, 

7*28  (last  year  in  which  Aus.'ih  paid  tribute  t 
Titflath-pileser) 

Fall  of  Samaria, 

722 

Hezekiah,    . 

7(>1  (expedition  of  Sennacherib) 

Manasseh,    . 

681 

-673  (payment  of  tribute) 

CHAP.  XXXIII.  '-'6". 


6  heaven  in  the  two  courts  of  the  house  of  the  Lord.  And  he  caused  his  sons 
to  pass  through  the  fire  in  the  valley  of  Ben-hinnom  ;  and  he  practised  Sorcery, 
and  divination,  and  enchantment,  and  appointed  conjuror*  and  soothsayers  : 

7  lie  wrought  much  evil  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  to  provoke  Him.  And  he  set 
the  carving  of  the  image  which  he  had  made  in  the  house  of  God,  of  which 
God  had  said  to  David  and  to  Solomon  his  son,  In  this  house,  and  in  Jeru- 
salem, which  I  have  chosen  out  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel,  will  I  put  my  name 

8  for  ever.  And  I  will  no  more  remove  the  foot  of  Israel  from  the  soil  which  I 
have  appointed  for  your  fathers,1  if  only  they  will  hold  on  to  do  all  that  I 
have  commanded  them,  in  all  the  law  and  the  statutes  and  the  judgments 

9  given  by  Moses.  And  Manasseh  led  astray  Judah  and  the  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem,  to  do  more  evil  than  the  nations  whom  the  LORD  had  destroyed 

10  before  the  sons  of  Israel.  And  the  Lord  spake  to  Manasseh,  and  to  his 
people  ;  but  they  did  not  attend. 

1 1  And  the  Lord  brought  upon  them  the  captains  of  the  host  of  the  king  of 
Assyria,  and  they  took  Manasseh  in  fetters,  and  bound  him  with  chains,  and 

12  carried  him  to  Babel.  And  when  he  was  in  affliction,  he  besought  the  grace 
of  the  Lord  his  God,  and  humbled  himself  greatly  before  the  God  of  his 

13  fathers,  And  prayed  unto  Him  ;  and  He  was  entreated  of  him,  and  heard 
his  supplication,  and  brought  him  again  to  Jerusalem  into  his  kingdom  :  and 

14  Manasseh  knew  that  the  Lord  He  is  God.  And  after  this  he  built  the  outer 
wall  of  the  city  of  David,  to  the  west  of  Gihon,  in  the  valley,  and  at  the 
entrance  of  the  fish  gate,  and  encompassed  Ophel,  and  made  it  very  high,  and 

15  put  captains  of  war  in  all  the  fenced  cities  of  Judah.  And  he  took  away  the 
strange  gods  and  the  image  out  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  all  the  altars 
that  lie  had  built  in  the  mount  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  in  Jerusalem, 

16  and  cast  them  out  of  the  city.  And  he  built*  the  altar  of  the  Lord,  and 
offered  on  it  sacrifices  of  peace  and  thanksgiving,  and  commanded  Judah  to 

17  serve  the  Lord  God  of  Israel.  But  the  people  still  sacrificed  in  the  high 
places,  but  only  to  the  Lord  their  God. 

IS  And  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Manasseh,  and  his  prayer  unto  his  God,  and 
the  words  of  the  seers  that  spake  to  him  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  God  of 

19  Israel,  behold,  they  are  written  in  the  history  of  the  kings  of  Israel.  And  his 
prayer,  and  his  being  heard,  and  all  his  sin,  and  his  apostasy,  and  the  places 
in  which  he  built  high  places,  and  set  up  asherim  and  carved  images,  before 

20  he  was  humbled,  behold,  they  are  written  in  the  history  of  Hozai.3  And 
Manasseh  slept  with  his  fathers,  and  they  buried  him  in  his  own  house  :  and 
Amon  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead. 

S.  Amon:  vers.  21—25. 

21  Amon  was  twenty  and  two  years  old  when  he  became  king,  and  he  reigned 

22  two  years  in  Jerusalem.  And  he  did  that  which  was  evil  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Lord,  as  Manasseh  his  father  had  done  ;  and  Amon  sacrificed  unto  all  the 

23  carved  images  which  Manasseh  his  father  had  made,  and  served  them.  And 
he  humbled  not  himself  before  the  Lord,  as  Manasseh  his  father  humbled 

2-1  himself;  for  he,  Amon,  multiplied  trespass.    And  his  servants  conspired  against 
25  him,  and  slew  him  in  his  own  house.     And  the  people  of  the  land  smote  all 

the  conspirators  against  King  Amon  :  and  the  people  of  the  land  made  Josiah 

his  son  king  in  his  stead. 

1  For  CSTliaSO  the  Sept.,  Vulg..  Syr.,  etc..  read  Dni3JO,   which  is  preferred  by  many  molerna  since  Luther 

fBertli..  Krfinph.,  etc.). 

2  p'1  is  the  Ktlhib  in  most  mss.  and  editions ;  some  mss.  and  many  old  editions,  however,  give  |3>1  as  the  Kathib 
and  »2*\  as  tne  to™'-  At  *"  events,  ]3'1  appears  to  be  the  original  reading,  for  which  also  the  Vulg.  (rutauravit)  and 
Syr.  testify. 

•For  *X\P   the  Sept.  read  D*T"1H   ("  words  of  the  aeeri,"  as  in  ver.  18) ;  comp.  introd.  {  6,  u. 


26'2 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


EXKGETICAL. 

The  idolatrous  proceedings  in  the  beginning  of 
Manasseh's  reign  are  depicted  by  our  author,  vers. 
1-10,  mostly  in  verbal  agreement  with  2  Kings 
xxi.  1-10.  Instead  of  the  summary  report  there 
following  (vers.  11-16)  of  the  threatening  words 
of  the  prophets  addressed  to  him,  he  appends  the 
narrative  of  Manasseh's  removal  to  Babel,  his 
repentance  and  conversion,  vers.  11-17,  for  which 
the  book  of  Kings  lias  no  parallel.  The  closing 
notices  of  Manasseh's  reign  (vers.  18-20),  and 
that  which  relates  to  Anion  (vers.  21-25),  are 
again  in  close  agreement  with  2  Kings  xxi.  1  tf. , 
19  ff. 

1.  Idolatrous  Proceedings  at  the  Beginning  of 
Manasseh's  Reign:  vers.  1-10,  comp.  Bahr  on 
the  parallel. — Manasseh  was  twelve  years  old. 
For  the  occurrence  of  this  king's  name  (in  the 
form  of  Minasi)  on  the  Assyr  an  inscriptions,  see 
Evangelical  and  Ethical  Reflections,  No.  2. — And 
he  reigned  fifty-five  years  in  Jerusalem,  696-641 
B.C.  (according  to  the  usual  chronology,  which 
can  scarcely  be  disputed).  Against  the  length  of 
the  reign  of  Manasseh,  as  our  report  states  it  in 
harmony  with  2  Kings,  Scheuchzer  (Phul  wad 
Nabonassar,  Zurich  1850)  and  v.  Gumpach  (Die 
Zeitrechnung  der  Assyrer  und  Babylonier,  1852, 
p.  9S  ff.)  have  raised  objections,  and  attempted  to 
reduce  it  to  thirty-five  years.  Bertheau  (Kom- 
inent.  p.  406)  concurs  with  them  in  this  ;  and 
Neteler  endeavours  to  confine  at  least  the  inde- 
pendent reign  of  Manasseh  approximately  to  the 
same  narrow  measure,  as  he  makes  kirn  reign 
fourteen  years  (say  692-678)  in  common  with 
Hezekiah,  and  then  forty  or  forty-oHe  years 
(678-638)  alone.  On  the  contrary,  Schroder 
(pp.  225  ff.,  238  tf. )  shows  that  no  reduction 
whatever  of  the  fifty-rive  years  is  requisite,  as 
the  Assyrian  monuments  bear  no  testimony 
against  a  reign  of  more  than  half  a  century  for 
this  king. — Ver.  3.  And  reared  up  altars  for 
Baalim.  In  2  Kings  stands  the  sing.  :  "for 
Baal";  as  also  in  the  following  words:  "made 
an  asherah."  The  phrase  of  the  Chronist  appears 
here  to  be  rhetorically  generalizing  and  climactic; 
comp.,  moreover,  xiv.  2,  xxviii.  2,  xxxi.  1. — 
Ver.  6.  And  he  caused  his  sons  to  pass  through 
the  fire.  According  to  2  Kings,  this  happened 
only  to   one   son    (133    for   V33)i    precisely  the 

same  difference  as  above  in  Ahaz  (xxviii.  3  ; 
comp  2  Kings  xvi.  3)  ;  see  on  xxviii.  3.  The 
Chronist  alone  states  that  this  horrid  human 
sacrifice  took  place  in  the  valley  of  Ben-himioni  ; 
in  2  Kings  this  note  is  wanting. — And  he  prac- 
tised sorcery  and  divination,  etc.,  "bewitched 
with  an  evil  eye  (p\y  connected  with  pj)),  and 

divined  (E'ni,  properly,  watched  serpents),  and 

muttered "    (61^3,    whispered    charms  ;     comp. 

Dent,  xviii.  10).  The  third  of  these  phrases  is 
wanting  in  2  Kings  ;  whereas  the  following 
words:  "appointed  conjurors  and  soothsayers" 
(literally,  "made  a  conjuror  and  a  wizard"), 
agree  again  verbally  with  that  text. — Ver.  7. 
And  he.  set  tlie  carving  of  the  image  .  .  .  in  the 

house  of  God.     In  2  Kings,  "the  carving  (^QS 

as  Here,  'carved  image,'  as  distinguished  from 
rDDD,    "molten  image,'  xxviii.   2;  comp.  xxxiv. 


3)   of  the   asherah."      The   term     tap,    ' *  idol, 

image,"  arising  perhaps  from  Dent.  iv.  10, 
appears  here  anil  ver.  15,  as  in  Ezek.  viii.  3,  to 
be  a  contemptuous  and  abhorrent  designation  of 
the  asherah. —  Will   I  put  my  name  for  ever; 

Di^i6  on'y  here  f01'   obij? ?■  —  Ver.  8.    Which  1 

have  appointed  for  your  fathers,  "fixed,"  as  in 
xxx.  5.  Instead  of  "your,"  perhaps  "their"  is 
the  original  reading  ;  see  Crit.  Note. — Ver.  10. 
A  nd  the  Lord  spake  to  Manasseh,  by  the  mouth 
of  His  prophets,  whose  speech  in  the  parallel  text, 
2  Kings  xxi.  11-16,  is  also  given  in  a  summaij 
form  ;  whereas  our  author  omits  these  words 
(words  of  the  seer,  ver.  18),  though  not  without 
adding  a  reference  to  them  (see  urfder  ver.  18),  as 
contained  in  the  "history  of  the  kings  of  Israel." 
2.  Manasseh's  Captivity  and  Conversion  :  vers 
11-17.  —  The  Lord  brought  upon  them.  Accord- 
ing  to  the  Assyrian  monuments,  this  took  place 
about  647,  under  King  Assurbauipal,  the  Sarda- 
napalus  of  the  Creek  historians.  —  Took'  Manasseh 
in  fetters,  scarcely  in  nets  or  hooks  (nin  syno- 
nymous with    nn,    2  Kings  xix.  28;  Ezek.  xix. 

4  ;  comp.  also  Job  xl.  26),  as  if  Manasseh  were 
to  be  represented  as  an  untamed  wild  beast,  Ps. 
xxxii.   9  (Keil).     Rather   is    rj^nh    t0   be   taken 

simply  as  a  synonym  of  the  following  D'OC'riJ, 

"brass  fetters,  double  fetters"  (comp.  Judg.  xvi. 
21  ;  2  Sam.  iii.  34  ;  and  also  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  6), 
as  it  is  taken  in  this  sense  by  the  Sept.  (Vurum-,), 
Vulg.  (catenis),  and  several  Rabbins.  There  is  as 
little  reason  to  think  of  a  place,  Hohim,  where  he 
was  taken  captive  (Then. ),  as  of  a  thorn  hedge, 
into  which  (comp.  1  Sam.  xi>i.  6)  he  had  rushed 
through  fear  (Starke  and  other  ancients),  or  even 
of  a  tropical  meaning  of  the  phrase,  according  to 
which    D'nha    should  be :   "  with  deceit,  not  in 

open  conflict"  (Cellarius,  Disput.  de  Captivitate 
Babylonica,  and  others).  For  the  question  of 
the  credibility  of  a  carrying  away  of  Manasseh  in 
chains,  and  that  to  Babel,  comp.  the  Evangelical 
and  Ethical  Reflections,  No.  3. — Ver.  12.  And 
when  he  was  in  affliction  (comp.  xxviii.  22)  he 
besought  the  grace  of  the  Lord,  literally,  "stroked 
or  smoothed"  the  face  of  the  Lord  ;  comp.  Ex. 
xxxii.  11 ;  1  Sam.  xiii.  11 ;  1  Kings  xiii.  6 ;  Dan. 
ix.  13.  The  contents  of  this  penitent  prayer  oi 
the  captive  king  were  handed  down  to  the  Chronist 
by  those  old  sources  which  he  quotes  ver.  18  f. , 
namely,  the  "history  of  the  kings  of  Israel,"  and 
the  "history  (words)  of  Hozai."  The  "prayer  of 
Manasses "  in  the  Old  Testament  Apocrypha  is 
scarcely  identical  with  this  older  record,  which 
lay  before  our  author  ;  it  appears  to  have  been 
composed  originally  in  Greek,  is  wanting  in  many 
older  manuscripts  of  the  Sept.,  and  is  first  com- 
municated from  the  Constit.  Apostolica;  ii.  22 
(2d  or  3d  century),  on  which  account  the  Council 
of  Trent  excluded  it  from  the  canon  of  the  Romish 
Church.  Yet  recently,  Jul.  Fttrst  (Gescltichte  tier 
Inhl.  Literatur,  ii.  399  ff. )  has  defended  the  docu- 
ment as  genuine  (after  the  ancients;  see  J.  A. 
Fabricius,  Bibliotlieca  Giwca,  ed.  Harles,  iii. 
732  ff.). — Ver.  13.  And  He  was  entreated  of  him. 
The  Apocryphal  accounts  in  the  Targ.  on  our 
passage,  in  the  Const.  Ap.  p.  9,  in  Johannes 
Damascen.  'Ufa  *uf&\\.  ii.  15,  in  Anastasius  on 


CHAP.  XXXIII.  14-25. 


2fa 


Ps.  vi.,  ntc,  contain  all  kinds  of  wonders  con- 
cerning Hie  way  in  which  God  delivered  the  peni- 
tent Manasseh  (by  sudden  melting  or  sudden 
breaking  of  bis  chains,  etc.).  Comp.  0.  F. 
Fritzsche,  in  the  Kwrzgefassten  exegetischen 
Handbuche  :u  den  Apokryphtn  des  Altai  Bundes, 
i.  p.  15s,  and  E»p.  Geschichte,  iii.  1,  p.  378. — 
Ver.  14.  And  after  this  hi-  built  tin-  outer  wall, 
perhaps  that  on  which  Hezekiah  had  already 
built  (xxxii.  5)  ;  rVJ3  stands,  therefore,  as  often, 

for  finishing  a  building  (elevating).  The  absence 
of  the  article  from  rein,  however,  cannot  con- 
strain us  at  once  (with  Berth,  and  others)  to 
translate  "an  outer  wall,"  as,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  emendation  proposed  by  Arnold  (Art.  "Zion," 
in     Herzog's     Bealencycl.    xviii.     634),    roinn 

rijiVTin,  is   scarcely  necessary. — Of  the  city  of 

David  (literally,  "to  the  city")  to  the  weal  of 
Oihon  in  tin  valley,  that  is,  in  that  valley 
between  the  city  of  David  (Zion)  and  the  lower 
city  (Akra),  which  in  its  south-eastern  outlet 
was  afterwards  (in  Josephus,  etc.)  the  cheese- 
makers'  valley,  or  the  valley  Tyropseon.  These 
words  first  assign  the  direction  of  the  wall  towards 
the  west,  and  the  following  words:  "at  the 
entrance  of  the  tisli  gate,"  denote,  again,  the  direi  - 
tion  towards  the  east  ;  for  the  fish  gate  lay,  ac- 
cording to  Neh.  iii.  3,  near  the  north-east  corner 
of  the  lower  city  and  the  tower  Hananeel. — And 
encompassed  Ophel,  with  that  outer  wall  which 
he  carried  from  the  fish  gate  and  the  north-east 
corner  on  to  the  south,  and  then  round  Ophel 
(see  xxvii.  3).  So,  no  doubt  correctly,  Berth, 
and  Kamph.  :  for  against  the  assumption  of 
Arnold  (in  p.  9)  and  Keil,  that  a  special  wall  is 
here  intended,  distinct  from  the  former,  t"  i  n 
Ophel,  is  the  following  statement  :  1[<0  nn'3J»1. 

"and  made  it  very  high,"  which  clearly  lifers  to 
the  former  wall. — And  put  captains  of  war; 
comp.  xvii.  2,  xxxii.  6. — Ver.  15.  Took  away 
the  strange  nods;  comp.  vers.  3-7.  On  the 
closing  wot. Is  :  "and  cast  them  out  of  the  city," 
xxix.  16  and  xxx.  14  are  to  be  compared.  More- 
over, according  to  2  Kings  xxiii.  6,  12,  this  re- 
moval of  the  idols,  and  their  altars,  appears  not 
to  have  been  complete  ;  for,  according  to  these 
verses,  much  of  this  sort  still  remained  for  Josiah 
to  remove  (comp.  also  ver.  17),  which  constrains 
us  to  assign  either  an  incomplete,  or  at  least  a 
transitory  and  by  no  means  permanent  character 
to  the  reform  of  worship  by  Manasseh. — Ver.  16. 
And  he  built  the  altar  of  the  Lord,  the  altar  of 
burnt-offering,  of  which,  moreover,  it  is  not  to  be 
assumed  from  this  remark  that  Manasseh  had 
before  removed  it  from  the  temple  court  (as  Ew. 
Geschiehte,  iii.  1.  367,  holds).  The  building,  at 
all  events,  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  repairing  (comp. 
xxiv.  4  If. ;  1  Kings  v.  32)  ;  even  if  p>i  were  the 

original  reading  (see  Grit.  Note),  the  same  sense  of 
repairing  would  result. 

3.  Manasseh's  End  ;  Anion:  vers.  18-25. — For 
vers.  18,  19,  see  above  on  vers.  10,  13;  and  with 
regard  to  the  history  (words)  of  Hozai,  Introd. 
§  5,  ii.  p.  20  (also  ('tit.  Note  on  this  passage!. — 
Ver.  20.  Avd  they  buried  him  in  his  own  house; 
more  exactly,  2  Kings  xxi.  18:  "in  the  geiden 
of  his  house,  in  the  garden  of  Uzza. "  'lliis 
garden  of  Uzza  the  Englishman  lewin  believes 


he  has  found  in  the  so-called  Sakra,  on  the  east 
side  of  the  llaram.  He  affirms  that  there  also 
the  Maecabeitn  King  Alexander  was  buried,  on 
which  account  the  burying -place  in  question 
occurs  in  Josephus,  de  li.  Jud.,  under  the  name 
of  the  grave  of  King  Alexander  (comp.  Athenaeum, 
1871,  March,  pp.  27S,  309).— Ver.  21  If.;  com].. 
2  Kings  xxi.  19-26,  and  Bahr  on  this  passage. 
The  concise  report  of  our  passage  says  nothing  of 
Anion's  mother  (as  also,  ver.  1,  the  mention  cf 
Manasseh's  mother  is  wanting),  and  at  the  close 
contains  nothing  of  the  burial  of  the  king  nor  of 
the  sources  employed,  but,  on  the  contrary,  appeal's 
enlarged  by  a  parallel  drawn  between  him  and 
.Manasseh,  according  to  which  he  did  not  humble 
himself  as  his  father  had  done  (ver.  23). 

EVANGELICAL  AND  ETHICAL  REFLECTIONS,  HOM1- 
LETICAL  AND  APOLOGETIC  REMARKS,  ON  CH, 
XXXIII. 

1.  The  evangelical  import  of  the  captivity  and 
conversion  of  Manasseh  consists  mainly  in  this, 
that  it  is  a  pregnant  type  of  the  conversion  of  the 
ungodly  by  means  of  divine  chastisement, — a  sig- 
nificant confirmation  and  impressive  exhibition  of 
that  truth,  preached  by  all  the  prophets  and  men 
of  God  of  the  Old  Testament,  that  God  the  Lord 
is  found  only  of  those  who  seek  Him,  that  His 
call  to  repentance  comes  to  no  sinner  too  late  (the 
iiiisijuam  conversio  sera  of  Jerome,  Comm.  in 
Ezech.  xviii  21;  Ep.  16  ad  Damasum,  c.  1;  Ep. 
39  ad  Peiulam,  1;  Ep.  42,  107,  147,  etc.),  that 
He  "killeth  and  maketh  alive,  bringeth  down  to 
Sheol  and  bringeth  up"  (1  Sam.  ii.  6;  comp.  Ps. 
xxx.  4,  Ixxxvi.  13,  cxvi.  3),  that  always  again 
His  comforting  "return"  sounds  anew  in  the  ear 
of  the  penitent  sinner  (comp.  Joel  ii.  12  ;  Ezek. 
xxxiii.  11).  As  a  deeply  impressive  illustration 
and  verification  of  the  text:  "Call  upon  me  in 
the  day  of  trouble ;  1  will  deliver  thee,  and  thou 
shalt  glorify  me,"  Ps.  1.  15,  from  the  history  of 
the  Old  Testament,  the  event  forms  at  the  same 
time  a  very  significant  parallel  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment parable  of  the  prodigal  son  (Luke  xv.),  as 
well  as  to  those  simi  ar  exemplifications  of  the 
evangelical  process  in  the  appropriation  of  salvation, 
(as  the  woman  that  was  a  sinner,  Zacchseus,  the 
robber,  etc.),  of  which  that  evangelist,  who  stands 
in  the  same  relation,  as  supplementer to  the  other 
evangelists,  as  the  Chronist  to  the  older  historians 
of  the  Old  Testament,  possesses  an  exceedingly 
precious  treasure. 

2.  To  this  general  evangelical  importance  of  our 
history  is  to  be  added  its  special  prefigurative  rela- 
tion to  the  judgment  of  the  Babylonish  captivity, 
which  took  place  half  a  century  after  it.  What  was 
announced  once  in  the  reign  of  Hezekiah  by  the 
fearfully  earnest  warning  of  the  destruction  of  the 
northern  kingdom,  and  then  also  by  the  direct 
message  of  Isaiah  addressed  to  the  king,  as  the 
final  doom  of  the  Jewish  people  persisting  in  the 
way  of  unfaithfulness  to  God  (Isa.  xxxvi.  6  f. ;  2 
Kings  xx.  17  f. ),  this  appears  to  be  here  realized 
by  the  transportation  of  Manasseh  to  Babel  already 
in  literal  truth  and  full  extent.  Through  tin 
grace  of  the  Lord,  moved  by  the  entreaty  of  the 
penitent  Manasseh,  the  worst  and  most  terrible 
calamity — a  long  exile,  with  its  dissolving  and 
unsettling  consequences  for  the  whole  state— is  at 
once  averted;  and  as  once  to  Hezekiah,  for  hi? 
personal  life  and  reign  during  fifteen  years,  su 


2(n 


11.  CHRONICLES. 


now  to  his  son  is  graxted  a  prolongation  of  nearly 
fifty  years  for  the  existence  of  the  whole  king- 
dom. Manasssh's  lot  thus  stands  intermediate 
between  that  which  Hezekiah  and  that  which 
the  last  kings — Jehoiakim,  Jehoiachin,  and  Zede- 
lciah — experience,  as  the  reform  of  the  religious  life 
attempted  by  him  after  his  return  from  Babel, 
but  unsatisfactory  anil  by  no  means  permanent, 
falls  in  the  middle  between  the  reforms  of  Heze- 
kiah and  Josiah,  with  whose  thorough  energy  and 
decision  it  certainly  cannot  be  remotely  com- 
pared. 

3.  From  the  absence  of  a  parallel  to  our  report 
in  2  Kings  xxi. ,  the  hypercriticism  of  our  century 
has  sought  to  refer  to  the  region  of  unhistorical 
legend  either  the  whole  history  of  Manasseh  (de 
Wette,  Gramberg,  Graf,  Noldecke ;  Co  nip.  Introd. 
§  6,  p.  22,  and  §  7.  p.  29),  or  at  least  that  of  his 
ccuversion  and  the  reform  of  worship  consequent 
upon  it;  comp.  what  is  asserted  in  the  latter 
respect  by  Movers  (Chron.  p.  328  ff. ),  Ewald 
(Gesch.  iii.  1.  366  ff.),  Berth.  (Chron.  p.  40S), 
and  Hitzig (Onsch.  p.  230  f.).  The  mythiiying 
of  the  whole  history,  and  therefore  of  the  account 
of  the  capture  and  deportation  of  Manasseh  to 
Babel,  appears  in  the  present  state  of  historical 
investigation  to  be  a  glaring  anachronism.  This 
has  been  also  perceived  by  Hitzig,  who,  after  he 
had  declared  (Beyriffder  Kritik,  etc.  p.  180  f.) 
the  captivity  of  Manasseh  to  be  au  invention 
derived  from  the  prophecy  of  Isa.  xxxix.  6,  has 
recently  (Gesch.  as  quoted)  acknowledged  the 
historical  validity  of  this  fact ;  whereas  Graf  has 
in  his  last  work  (Die  getckichtlidien  /inciter  des 
Alten  Test.  1866,  p.  174)  adhered  to  his  former 
(Studien  mid  Krit.  1859,  iii.)  absolutely  sceptical 
treatment  of  the  whole  narrative.  In  the  face  of 
the  most  recent  Assyriologic  investigations  of 
Rawlinson,  Oppert,  Schrader,  etc.,  a  further  per- 
sistence in  such  a  position  could  only  be  regarded 
as  an  inveterate  unscientific  obstinacy.  The 
assumption,  indeed,  which  was  at  first  thought 
to  be  confirmed  by  the  Assyrian  monuments, 
namely,  that  it  was  Esarhaddon  who,  on  the 
occasion  of  his  campaign  against  Phoenicia,  about 
677,  took  Manasseh  captive  and  canied  him  to 
Babel  (an  assumption  with  which  the  report  of 
Abydenus  in  Eusebius,  Chron.  i.  p.  54,  concern- 
ing a  conquest  of  ' '  Lower  Syria  "  by  Axerdis.  that 
is,  Esarhaddon,  may  very  well  combine),  would 
scarcely  be  reconcilable  with  the  most  recent 
state  of  these  investigations.  The  capture  and 
Babylonish  exile  of  Manasseh  caunot  be  trans- 
ferred to  so  early  a  time  as  the  third  or  fourth 
year  of  Esarhaddon,  who,  according  to  Ptolemy 
and  the  inscriptions,  reigned  681-668.  For  even 
if  an  inscription  of  this  Assyrian  king,  in  a  list 
enumerating  twenty  -  two  names  of  tributary 
Syrian  ("Chattite,"  Hittite)  kings,  distinctly 
mentions  a  Minati  ear  Yahudi,  and  thus,  at  all 
events,  testifies  that  Manasseh  belonged  to  the 
vassal-princes  of  that  great  king  (cm  p.  Schrader, 
pp.  227,  238),  yet  the  same  evidence  reverts  to  a 
considerably  younger  inscription,  wherein  Asur- 
bauipal  (Sanlanapalus),  Esarhaddon 's  successor, 
in  a  list  of  tributary  Syro- Phoenician  princes, 
along  with  the  kings  of  Tyre,  Edom,  Moan,  Gaza, 
Ascalon,  Ekron,  Gebal,  Arvad,  enumerates  also 
between  Tyre  and  Edom  a  sar  Yahudi,  "king  of 
Judah,"  who  again,  as  is  clear  from  the  names  of 
his  contemporary  neighbouring  princes,  can  be  no 
other  than  Manasseh.     Accordingly  his  deporta- 


tion, together  with  the  attempt  at  revolt  which 
no  doubt  occasioned  it,  may  very  well  have  taken 
place  under  this  later  sovereign ;  and  that  it  did 
so  is  rendered  highly  probable  by  several  circum- 
stances, particularly  this,  that  so  long  as  Esar- 
haddon reigns  we  hear  nothing,  but  under  his 
successor  Asurbanipal  very  much,  of  the  disquiet 
and  revolt  of  the  vassals  in  Hither  Asia  against 
the  Assyrian  power.  Hence  the  deportation  of 
Manasseh  by  the  Assyrian  troops  to  Babel,  and 
his  short  stay  in  captivity  there,  are  to  be  placed 
under  Asurbanipal  about  the  year  648,  when  the 
Babylonish  vicaoy,&a/nvmigke*OTSamiit-isumuim, 
headed  the  western  vassal-princes  in  an  insurrec- 
tion against  the  sovereign  residing  at  Nineveh, 
and  thereby  occasioned  a  victorious  expedition  of 
the  Assyrian  army  against  them.  The  combina- 
tion, keeping  in  view  that  point  of  time  at  the 
beginning  of  Esarhaddon's  reign,  which  has  been 
adopted  by  Bertheau,  Keil,  and  Neteler,  after  J. 
Cappellus,  Ussher,  des  Vignoles,  Prideaux,  Calmet, 
Rambach,  J.  H.  and  J.  D.  Michaelis,  and  recently 
Ewald,  Duncker  (Gesch.  des  AHerthums,  i.  697 
ff. ,  ii.  592,  3d  ed. ),  Eeiuke  (Beitrwje  zur  Erklii- 
rung  den  A.  T.  viii.  p.  127  f.),  Hitzig  (Gesch.  as 
quoted),  Thenius  (on  2  Kings  xxi.),  must  accord- 
ingly be  corrected;  see  the  searching  and  cogent 
proof  by  Schrader  in  the  often  quoted  work  (p. 
23S  ff.),  with  which  also  the  not  essentially 
different  combination  of  J.  Furst  (Oesch.  der  bibi. 
Literatwr,  ii.  pp.  340,  372  f. )  is  to  be  compared, 
although  the  king  Sarak  there  named  as  captor  of 
Manasseh,  as  Schrader  has  proved,  p.  233,  is  a 
later  sovereign,  different  from  Asurbanipal,  the 
Asur  •  idil  -  iii  of  the  inscriptions.1  And  with 
regard  to  Babylon  as  the  place  of  deportation, 
and  to  the  mode  of  removal  with  chains  and 
iron  fetters,  Schrader  has  produced  the  most 
satisfactory  explanations  and  confirmatory  paral- 
lels from  the  Assyrian  monuments ;  since,  with 
regard  to  the  latter  point,  he  shows  from  an 
inscription  of  Asurbanipal  that  even  King  Necho 
I.  (Ni-ik-ku-u)  suffered  a  "binding  of  the  hands 
and  feet  with  iron  bands  and  chains  when  he  was 
carried  captive  to  Nineveh  about  this  time," 2  and 
referring  to  this  fact  justly  remarks:  "  But  what 
might  thus  befall  the  king  of  Egypt  might 
certainly  as  well  be  inflicted  on  a  Jewish  prince  " 
(p.  243).  The  final  judgment  of  this  distinguished 
Assyriologist  concerning  our  fact  runs  thus : 
"  There  is  nothing  to  cast  suspicion  on  the  notice 
of  the  Chronist,  and  his  report  is  sufficiently  in- 
telligible from  the  state  of  things  about  647 
B.C." 

4.  But  even  with  respect  to  the  history  of  Ma- 
nasseh 's  conversion  and  his  subsequent  reforms, 
the  report  of  our  author  in  vers.  13-17  contains 
nothing  to  justify  the  suspicion  of  the  above- 
named  critics  (with  whom   also  Schrader  in  the 

1  With  respect  also  to  the  date  (645  or  a  subsequent  year), 
aa  well  as  some  other  circumstances,  the  combination  of  Fiiist 
deviates  front  that  of  Schrader:  among  other  things  in  this, 
ihat  Hi  st.  endeavi  urs  to  prove  historically  a  It-ague  of 
Manas-th.  after  his  return  from  Babylon,  with  Psammeti- 
chu-  of  Egypt  (?),  and  so  forth 

2  The  words  of  the  inscription  which  are  remarkable  as 
paiallel  to  ver  It  of  this  chapter,  run  thus:  "  The  Satludati 
(and)  Neclio  they  seized,  then  bound  with  iron  bands  and 
con  eh  mis  the  hands  and  feet."  There  also  mention  is 
made  of  a  subsequent  kindness  to  the  captive  Egyptian 
king  in  Nineveh  and  his  return  in  company  with  royal 
"ifflcers  and  givernois"  to  Kgyp*.  It  was  thus  by  no 
means  an  unheard  of  or  extraordinary  thing  that  befell 
Mandssi  h  at  this  time:  only  in  Ihe  manner  of  the  divine 
d, cree  and  the  restoiation  lies  the  difference. 


ciiM'.  xxxiv 


2bo 


maiu  accords,  so  far  us  he  assumes  the  legendary 
u  well  us  the  historical  in  the  report).  For — 1.  | 
hi  close  connection  with  this  history  is  communi- 
cated, ver.  1  i,  a  notice  of  the  buildings  and  forti- 
fications of  Manasseh  that  resembles  anything  but 
a  mere  invention  or  fable,  and  the  separation  of 
which  from  the  surrounding  accounts,  as  if  it 
only  were  historical  and  they  were  fabulous  em- 
bellishment, is  impossible  (as  the  highly  unfor- 
tunate attempt  of  Graf,  as  quoted,  p.  174,  proves). 
2.  The  report  also,  ver.  16,  of  the  restoration  of 
the  altar  of  the  Lord  by  Manasseh,  is  much  too 
historically  definite  and  concrete  to  be  fairly 
taken  for  the  product  nf  a  biassed  imagination  or  a 
fabulous  rumour.  3.  The  removal,  noticed  ver.  15, 
of  the  strange  gods,  of  the  idol,  that  is,  the  figure 
of  the  asherah  (2  Kings  xxi.  7)  and  of  the  idol- 
altar,  must  by  no  means  be  thought  necessarily 
connected  with  the  complete  annihilation  of  these 
monuments  of  idolatry,  as  if  there  were  here  a 
contradiction  of  2  Kings  xxiii.  6,  12  ;  rather  the 
complete  destroying,  crushing,  and  reducing  to 
powder  there  mentioned,  which  Josiah  thought  it 
necessary  to  inflict  on  these  monuments,  directly 
suggest  the  thought  that  Manasseh  neglected 
that  which  was  important,  and  proceeded  with 
too  much  mildness  and  forbearance  (towards  the 
priests  of  this  idolatrous  worship).  Even  the 
phraseologv  employed  is  against  the  assumption 
that  the  Chronist  reports  anything  contradictory 
of  those  passages  of  the  second  hook  of  Kings  ; 
for  our  author  knows  very  well  how  to  distinguish 

between  "VD!"!,  "  remove  "  (or  even  TjvE'n,  "cast 
out,"  ver.  15),  and  ]"p3i   pin,  "13C'.  and  similar 

words,  denoting  the  annihilation  of  the  images  or 
altars,  according  to  such  passages  as  xv.  16,  xxxi. 
1,  xxxiv.  4  (comp.  Keil,  p.  365).  4.  To  the 
assumption  that  neither  Manasseh's  reform  of 
worship  was  truly  thorough  and  radical,  nor  his 
conversion  solid  and  permanent,  there  is  not  the 
least  objection  ;  on  the  contrary,  ver.  17  speaks 
expressly  against  the  conception  that  he  had 
swept  away  the  monuments  of  idolatry  as 
thoroughly  as  his  father  Hezekiah  had  done,  or 
his  grandson  Josiah  afterwards  did  ;  and  the 
remainder  of  his  reign  and  life,  after  his  return 
from  Babel  (647-642  or  641),  amounting  perhaps 
to  five  years,  left  him  quite  time  enough  to 
relapse  a  second  time  partially  or  wholly  into  the 
idolatrous  and  immoral  course  of  his  earlier  days. 


5.  If,  accordingly,  as  is  not  merely  possible,  but 
probable,  his  return  to  the  worship  of  the  Lord 
was  not  a  permanent  change,  but  merely  an 
episode  iu  the  long  series  of  acts  and  events  in 
his  reign,  it  will  be  the  less  surprising  if,  in  the 
judgment  as  well  of  the  men   of  his   day  as  of 

posterity  regarding  this  sovereign,  a  divisi irose, 

so  that  only  here  and  there  express  mention  is 
made  of  the  temporary  repeutance  and  better 
theocratic  disposition  wrought  in  him  by  the 
calamity  of  his  exile  ;  while  he  was  otherwise, 
and  perhaps  usually,  without  any  reference  to  this 
circumstance,  reckoned  among  the  sovereigns  who 
wire  to  he  rejected  from  the  theocratic  stand 
point.  That  accounts  have  been  preserved  to  us 
in  the  canon  by  representatives  of  both  of  these 
views— that  besides  the  present  report,  relatively 
favourable  to  Manasseh,  the  decidedly  unfavour- 
able account  of  the  book  of  Kings,  that  uses  the 
phrase  "sins  of  Manasseh  "  several  times  (2  Kings 
xxiv.  3,  xxiii.  26  ;  comp.  Jer.  xv.  4i  almost  as  a 
proverb,  has  come  down  to  us, — this  can  by  no 
means  be  called  more  wonderful  than,  for  example, 
I  the  existence  of  two  relations,  a  more  idealizing 
and  a  more  realistic  (duly  emphasizing  the  dark 
along  with  the  light),  concerning  the  transactions 
in  the  reign  of  a  David,  a  Solomon,  a  Jehosha- 
phat,  or  than  the  very  dimly  coloured  picture  of 
the  religious  and  moral  conduct  of  the  northern 
kingdom,  as  the  indications  of  our  author, 
obviously  betraying  a  certain  aversion  and  rooted 
antipathy,  exhibit"  it,  compared  with  the  far 
I  more  favourable  delineations  of  the  books  of 
Kings.  In  abatement  of  that  which  the  oppon- 
ents have  specially  to  allege  from  the  last-quoted 
passages  against  the  credibility  of  the  account  of 
Manasseh's  reforms,  comp.  also  especially  Keil, 
I  p.  366.  If  this  be  the  case  with  the  conversion 
of  Manasseh,  the  passages  2  Kings  xxiv.  3,  xxiii. 
26,  Jer.  xv.  4,  where  it  is  said  that  the  Lord 
removed  Judah  out  of  His  sight  on  account  of 
|  the  sins  of  Manasseh,  lose  all  significance  foi  the 
I  opposite  view.  Manasseh  is  here  presented  as 
the  man  who  by  his  ungodliness  rendered  the 
doom  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem  inevitable,  because 
he  so  corrupted  Judah  by  his  sins  that  he  could 
no  longer  turn  truly  to  the  Lord,  but  fell  back 
j  ever  more  into  the  "sins  of  Manasseh.  In  like 
manner  it  is  said,  2  Kings  xvii.  21,  22,  of  the  ten 
tribes,  that  the  Lord  cast  them  off  because  they 
walked  in  a  1  the  sins  of  Jeroboam,  and  departe 
not  from  them. 


p.  Josiah:  the  Prophetess  Hcldah.— Ch.  xxxiv.,  xxxv. 


JosiaVs  Di 


•gainings 


the  Extirpation  of  Idolatry:  ch.  xxxiv.  1-7. 


Ch.   xxxiv.    1.  Josiah  was  eight  years  old  when  he  became  king,  and  he  reigned 

2  thirty-one  }ears  in  Jerusalem.  And  he  did  that  which  was  right  in  the  eyes 
of  the  Loud,  and  walked  in  the  ways  of  David  his  father,  and  declined  not  to 

3  the  right  hand  nor  to  the  left,  And  in  the  eighth  year  of  his  reign,  while  he 
was  yet  a  youth,  he  began  to  seek  after  the  God  of  David  his  father ;  and  in 
the  twelfth  year  he  began  to  purge  Judah  and  Jerusalem  of  the  high  places, 

4  and  the  asherim,  and  the  carved  images,  and  the  molten  images.  And  they 
pulled  down  before  him  the  altars  of  Baalim  ;  and  the  sun-statues  which  were 
above  them  he  hewed  down  ;  and  the  asherim,  and  the  carved  images, 
and    the  molten  images,    he   broke  and    pounded,    and   strewed    upon  the 

5  graves  of  them  that  had  sacrificed  to  them.     And  the  bones  of  the  priests  he 

6  burned  upon  their  altars,'  and  he  purged  Judah  and  Jerusalem.     And  in  the 


2fifi  II.  CHKOXICLES. 


cities  of  Manasseh,   and  Ephraim,  and  Simeon,  even  unto  Naphtali,  in  then 

7  ruins2  around.  And  he  pulled  down  the  altars  and  the  asherim,  and  he  cut 
down  the  carved  images  to  pound  them,  and  hewed  down  all  the  sun-statues 
in  all  the  land  of  Israel ;  and  he  returned  to  Jerusalem. 

3.  The  Purging  of  the  Temple  and  the  Recovery  of  the  Book  of  the  Law.  vers.  8-21. 

8  And  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  his  reign,  when  he  purged  the  land  and  the 
house,  he  sent  Shaphan  son  of  Azaliah,  and  Maaseiah  the  governor  of  the 
city,  and  Joah  son  of  Joahaz  the  chancellor,  to  repair  the  house  of  the  Lortr 

9  his  God.  And  they  came  to  Hilkiah  the  high  priest,  and  delivered  the  mone^ 
that  was  brought  into  the  house  of  God,  which  the  Levitts  that  kept  the 
thresholds  had  gathered  from  the  hand  of  Manasseh  and  Ephraim,  and  from 
all  the  remnant  of  Israel,  and  from  all  Judah  and  Benjamin,  and  the  inhabit- 

10  ants3  of  Jerusalem.  And  they  put  it  into  the  hand  of  the  work-masters  who 
were  appointed  over  the  house  of  the  Lord  ;  and  the  work-masters  who 
worked  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  gave  it  to  restore  and  repair  the  house. 

11  And  they  gave  it  to  the  carpenters  and  masons,  to  buy  hewn  stones  and 
timber  for  girders  and  for  joists  of  the  houses,  which  the  kings  of  Judah  had 

12  destroyed.  And  the  men  wrought  faithfully  at  the  work,  and  over  them 
were  appointed  Jahath  and  Obadiah  the  Levites  of  the  sons  of  Merari,  and 
Zechariah  and  Meshullam  of  the  sons  of  the  Kohathites,  to  oversee  ;  and  the 

13  Levites,  all  that  had  skill  in  instruments  of  song.     And  over  the  carriers,  and 

14  overseeing  all  that  were  doing  the  work  in  any  manner  of  service.  And 
when  they  took  out  the  money  that  was  brought  into  the  house  of  the  Lord, 

15  Hilkiah  the  priest  found  the  book  of  the  law  of  the  Lord  by  Moses.  And 
Hilkiah  answered  and  said  to  Shaphan  the  scribe,  I  have  found  the  book  of 
the  law  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  :  and  Hilkiah  gave  the  book  to  Shaphan. 

16  And  Shaphan   brought  the  book  to  the  king,  and   returned  to  the  king  a 

17  report,  saying,  All  that  was  committed  to  thy  servants,  they  do.  And  they 
have  poured  out  the  money  that  was  found  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and 

18  given  it  into  the  hands  of  the  overseers  and  of  the  workmen.  And  Shaphan 
the  scribe  told  the  king,  saying,  Hilkiah  the  priest  hath  given  me  a  book : 

19  and  Shaphan  read  in  it  before  the   king.     And  when  the  king  heard  the 

20  words  of  the  law,  then  he  rent  his  clothes.  And  the  king  commanded  Hil- 
kiah, and  Ahikam  son  of  Shaphan,  and  Abdon4  son  of  Micah,  and  Shaphan 

£  1  the  scribe,  and  Asaiah  the  servant  of  the  king,  saying :  Go,  inquire  of  the 
Lord  for  me,  and  for  them  that  are  left  in  Israel  and  in  Judah,  concerning  the 
words  of  the  book  that  is  found  ;  for  great  is  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  that 
is  poured  out  upon  us,  because  our  fathers  have  not  kept  the  word  of  the 
Lokd,  to  do  after  all  that  is  written  in  this  book. 

y.   Consultation  of  Iluldoh  the  Prophetess,  ami  Solemn  Reading  of  the  Law  in  the  Tempie 

vers.  22-33. 

22  And  Hilkiah  and  those  who  were  appointed 5  by  the  king  went  to  Huldah 
the  prophetess,  the  wife  of  Shallum  son  of  Tokehath,  son  of  Hasrah,  keeper 
of  the  wardrobe  ;  and  she  dwelt  in  Jerusalem  in  the  second  (quarter) ;  and 

23  they  spake  to  her  to  this  effect.     And  she  said  to  them.  Thus  saith  the  Lord 

24  God  of  Israel,  Say  ye  to  the  man  who  sent  you  to  me,  Thus  saith  the  Lord, 
Behold,  I  will  bring  evil  upon  this  place,  and  upon  its  inhabitants,  all  the 
curses  that  are  written  in  the  book  which  they  have  read  before  the  king  oi 

25  Judah  :  Because  they  have  forsaken  me,  and  have  made  burnings6  to  other 
gods,  to  provoke  me  to  anger  with  all  the  works  of  their  hands  ;  and  my 

26  wrath  is  poured  out  on  this  place,  and  will  not  be  quenched.  And  to  the 
king  of  Judah,  who  sent  you  to  inquire  of  the  Lord,  thus  shall  ye  say  : 
Thus  saith   the  Lord  God  of  Israel  of  the  words  which  thou  hast  heard. 

27  Because  thy  heart  was  tender,  and  thou  didst  bow  down  before  God,  when 
thou  heardest  His  words  against  this  place  and  its  inhabitants,  and  thou  didst 
bow  down  before  me  and  didst  rend  thy  garments  and  weep  before  me,  so 


CHAP.  XXXV.  207 


28  have  I  also  heard  thee,  saith  the  Lord.  Behold,  I  will  gather  thee  to  thy 
fathers,  and  thuu  shalt  be  gathered  to  thy  grave  in  peace,  and  thine  eyes 

shall  not  see  all  the  evil  that  I  will  bring  upon  this  place  and  upon  its  inha- 

29  bitants  :  and  they  brought   the  king  word  again.     And  the  king  sent  and 

30  gathered  all  the  elders  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem.  And  the  king  went  up  into 
the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  all  the  men  of  Judah,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Jeru- 
salem, and  the  priests  and  the  Levites,  and  all  the  people,  great  and  small ;  and 
one  read  in  their  ears  all  the  words  of  the  book  of  the  covenant  that  was  found 

31  in  the  house  of  the  Loud.  And  the  king  stood  in  his  place,  and  made  the 
covenant  before  the  LORD,  to  walk  after  the  Lord,  and  to  keep  His  command- 
ments and  testimonies  and  statutes  with  all  his  heart  and  with  all  his  soul, 

32  to  perform  the  words  of  the  covenant  which  are  written  in  this  book.  And 
he  caused  all  that  were  found  in  Jerusalem  and  Benjamin  to  stand  to  it ;  and 
the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  did  according  to  the  covenant  of  God,  the  God 

33  of  their  fathers.  And  Josiah  took  away  all  the  abominations  out  of  all  the 
countries  of  the  sons  of  Israel,  and  bound  all  that  were  found  in  Israel  to 
serve  the  Lord  their  God  :  ail  his  days  they  departed  not  from  the  Lord  God 
of  their  fathers. 

3.   The  Passover :  ch.  xxxv.  1-19. 

Cll.  xxxv.  1.  And  Josiah  kept  a  passover  unto  the  Lord  in  Jerusalem;  and  they 

2  killed  the  passover  on  the  fourteenth  of  the  first  month.  And  he  set  the 
priests  in  their  charges,  and  strengthened  them  for  the  service  of  the  Lord. 

3  And  he  said  unto  the  Levites,  who  taught  all  Israel,7  who  were  consecrated 
to  the  Lord,  Put  the  holy  ark  into  the  house  which  Solomon  son  of  David, 
the  king  of  Israel,  built ;  it  shall  not  be  a  burden  on  your  shoulders  :  now 

4  serve  ye  the  Lord  your  God,  and  His  people  Israel.  And  make  you  ready 8 
in  your  father-houses  by  your  courses,  after  the  writing  of  David  king  of 

5  Israel,  and  after  the  description  of  Solomon  his  son.  And  stand  ye  in  the 
sanctuary  after  the  divisions  of  the  father-houses  of  your  brethren,  the  sons 

6  of  the  people,  and  a  part  of  a  father-house  of  the  Levites  [for  each].  And  kill 
the  passover,  and  sanctify  you,  and  prepare  your  brethren,  to  do  according  to 

7  the  word  of  the  Lord  by  Moses.  And  Josiah  dealt  to  the  sons  of  the  people 
sheep,  lambs,  and  kids,  all  for  paschal  offerings,  for  all  that  were  found,  to  the 
number  of  thirty  thousand,  and  three  thousand  bullocks  :  these  were  of  the 

8  property  of  the  king.  And  his  princes  presented  a  free  gift  to  the  people,  to 
the  priests,  and  to  the  Levites:  Hilkiah,  and  Zechariah,  and  Jehiel,  rulers  of 
the  house  of  God,  gave  unto  the  priests  for  the  passover-offerings  two  thousand 

9  and  six  hundred  [Vheep],  and  three  hundred  oxen.  And  Conaniah,  and  Shemaiah, 
and  Nethaneel,  his  brethren,  and  Hashabiah,  and  Jeiel,  and  Jozabad,  chiefs  of 
the  Levites,  presented  to  the  Levites  for  passover-offerings  five  thousand  [sheep], 

10  and  oxen  five  hundred.  And  the  service  was  prepared,  and  the  priests  stood 
in  their  place,  and  the  Levites  in  their  courses,  at  the  command  of  the  king. 

11  And  they  killed  the  passover,  and  the  priests  sprinkled  [the  wood]  from  their 

12  hand,  and  the  Levites  flayed.  And  they  removed  the  burnt^offering  to  give 
them  to  the  divisions  of  the  father-houses  of  the  sons  of  the  people,  to  offer 
unto  the  Lord,  as  it  is  written  in  the  book  of  Moses  ;  and  so  with  the  oxen. 

13  And  they  roasted  the  passover  with  fire,  according  to  the  ordinance;  and  the 
holy  things  they  sod  in  pots  and  kettles  and  pans,  and  brought  them  quickly 

I  4  to  all  the  sons  of  the  people.  And  afterwards  they  made  ready  for  themselves 
and  for  the  priests  :  because  the  priests  the  sons  of  Aaron  were  engaged  in 
offering  the  burnt-offering  and  the  fat  until  night;  and  the  Levites  prepared 

15  for  themselves  and  for  the  priests  the  sons  of  Aaron.  And  the  singers 
the  sons  of  Asaph  were  in  their  place,  according  to  the  command  of 
David,  and  Asaph,  and  Heman,  and  Jeduthun  the  king's  seer  ;  and  the  porters 
were  at  every  gate  :  it  was  not  necessary  for  them  to  depart  from  their  service. 

16  for  their  brethren  the  Levites  prepared  for  them.  And  all  the  service  of  the 
Lord  was  prepared  that  day,  to  keep  the  passover,  and  to  offer  burnt-offerings 


I<8  II.  CBKONICLES. 


17  on  the  altar  of  the  Lord,  at  the  command  of  King  Josiah.  And  the  sons  of 
Israel  that  were  present  kept  the  passover  at  that  time,  and  the  feast  of 

18  unleavened  bread  seven  days.  And  there  was  no  passover  like  that  kept  in 
Israel  from  the  days  of  Samuel  the  prophet ;  nor  did  all  the  kings  of  Israel 
keep  such  a  passover  as  Josiah  kept,  and  the  priests,  and  the  Levites,  and  all 

19  Judah  and  Israel  that  were  present,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem.  In 
the  eighteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Josiah  was  this  passover  kept. 

s.  Josiah's  Battle  with  Necho  of  Egypt,  and  End:  vers.  20-27. 

20  After  all  this,  when  Josiah  hail  prepared  the  house,  Necho  king  ol  Egypt 
came  up  to  fight  at  Carchemish,  on  the  Euphrates  ;  and  Josiah  went  out  against 

21  him.  And  he  sent  ambassadors  to  him,  saying,  What  have  I  to  do  with  thee, 
0  king  of  Judah  1  I  am  not  against  thee  this  day,  but  against  the  house  of 
my  war  ;9  and  God  hath  commanded  me  to  make  haste  :  withdraw  thee  from 

22  God,  who  is  with  me.  that  He  destroy  thee  not.  And  Josiah  turned  not  his 
face  from  him,  but  disguised  himself,10  to  fight  with  him,  and  hearkened  not 
unto  the  words  of  Necho  from  the  mouth  of  God,  and  he  came  to  fight  in  the 

23  valley  of  Megiddo.     And  the  archers  shot  at  King  Josiah  :  and  the  king  said 

24  to  his  servants,  Remove  me,  for  I  am  sorely  wounded.  And  his  servants 
removed  him  from  the  chariot,  and  put  him  on  his  second  chariot ;  and 
brought  him  to  Jerusalem,  and  he  died,  and  was  buried  in  the  sepulchres  of 

25  his  fathers  :  and  all  Judah  and  Jerusalem  mourned  for  Josiah.  And  Jeremiah 
lamented  for  Josiah  ;  and  all  the  songsters  and  songstresses  spake  of  Josiah 
in  their  laments  unto  this  day,  and  they  made  them  an  ordinance  for  Israel : 
and,  behold,  they  are  written  in  the  Lamentations. 

26  And  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Josiah,  and  his  kindness,  as  it  is  written  in  the 

27  law  of  the  Lord,  And  his  deeds,  first  and  last,  behold,  they  are  written  in  the 
book  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah. 

q.  Jehoahaz,  Jehoiakim,  Jehoiachin,  Zedekiah:  Close. — Ch.  xxxvt. 
a.  Jehoahaz:  vers.  1-4. 

Oh.  XXXVI.   1.  And  the  people  of  the  land  took  Jehoahaz  the  son  of  Josiah,  and 

2  made  him  king  instead  of  his  father  in  Jerusalem.  Jehoahaz  was  twenty  and 
three  years  old  when  he  became  king  ;   and  he  reigned  three  mouths  in 

3  Jerusalem.     And  the  king  of  Egypt  put  him  down  u  in  Jerusalem,  and  fined 

4  the  land  a  hundred  talents  of  silver  and  a  talent  of  gold.  And  the  king  of 
Egypt  made  Eliakim  his  brother  king  over  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  and  turned 
his  name  to  Jehoiakim  :  and  Necho  took  Jehoahaz  his  brother  and  carried 
him  to  Egypt. 

/3.  Jehoiakim :  vers.  5-8. 

5  Jehoiakim  was  twenty  and  five  years  old  when  he  became  king ;  and  he 
reigned  eleven  years  in  Jerusalem ;  and  he  did  that  which  was  evil  in  the 

6  eyes  of  the  Lord  God.     Against  him  came  up  Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  Babel, 

7  and  bound  him  in  fetters,  to  carry  him  to  Babel.12  And  Nebuchadnezzar 
brought  of  the  vessels  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  to  Babel,  and  put  them  in 

8  his  palace  at  Babel.  And  the  rest  of  the  acts  of  Jehoiakim,  and  his  abomina- 
tions which  he  did,  and  that  which  was  found  against  him,  behold,  they  are 
written  in  the  book  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah  :  and  Jehoiachin  his  son 
reigned  in  his  stead. 

y.  Jehoiachin:  vers.  9,  10. 

9  Jehoiachin  was  eight  years  u  old  when  he  became  king ;  and  he  reigned 
three  months  and  ten  days  in  Jerusalem  :  and  he  did  that  which  was  evil  in 

10  the  eyes  of  the  Lord.  And  at  the  turn  of  the  year,  King  Nebuchadnezzar 
sent  and  brought  him  to  Babel,  with  the  goodly  vessels  of  the  house  of  the 
Lord  ;  and  he  made  Zedekiah  his  brother  king  over  Judah  and  Jerusalem. 


CHAP.  XXXVI.  2G9 


3.  Zedekiah:  vera.  11-21. 

11  Zedekiah  was  twenty-one  years  old  when  he  became  king,  and  he  reigned 

12  eleven  years  in  Jerusalem.  And  he  did  that  which  was  evil  in  the  eyes  of 
the  Lord  his  God ;  he  humbled  himself  not  before  Jeremiah  the  prophet,  from 

13  the  mouth  of  the  Lord.  And  he  also  rebelled  against  King  Nebuchadnezzar, 
who  made  him  swear  by  God  :  and  he  Stiffened  his  neck,  and  hardened  his 

14  heart  from  turning  unto  the  Loud  God  of  Israel.  Also  all  the  chiefs  of  the 
priests  and  the  people  transgressed  very  much,  after  all  the  abominations  c  f 
the  heathen  ;  and  polluted  the  house  of  the  Loud,  which  He  had  hallowed  in 

1 5  Jerusalem.  And  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers  sent  to  them  by  His  messengers, 
rising  early,  and  sending ;  because  He  had  compassion  on  His  people  and  His 

1 6  dwelling-place.  And  they  mocked  the  messengers  of  God,  and  despised  His 
words,  and  scoffed  at  His  prophets,  until  the  wrath  of  the  LORD  rose  against 

17  His  people,  till  there  was  no  healing  And  He  brought  up  against  them  the 
king  of  the  Chaldees,  and  slew  their  young  men  with  the  sword  in  the  house 
of  their  sanctuary,  and  He  spared  neither  young  man  nor  maiden,  the  old  nor 

18  the  grey  headed  ;  the  whole  He  gave  into  his  hand.  And  all  the  vessels  of 
the  house  of  God,  great  and  small,  and  the  treasures  of  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
and  the  treasures  of  the  king  and  his  princes  ;  the  whole  he  brought  to  Babel. 

19  And  they  burned  the  house  of  God,  and  pulled  down  the  wall  of  Jerusalem, 
and  burned  all  its  palaces  with  fire,  and  destroyed  all  its  goodly  vessels. 

20  And  he  carried  away  those  that  remained  from  the  sword  to  Babel ;  and  they 
became  servants  to  him  and  his  sons  until  the  reign  of  the  kingdom  of  Persia  : 

21  To  fulfil  the  word  of  the  Lord  by  the  mouth  of  Jeremiah,  until  the  land  had 
enjoyed  her  sabbaths  :  all  the  days  of  the  desolation  she  rested  to  fulfil  seventy 
years. 

t.   Clone :  the  Return  from  Captivity  under  Cyrus :  vers.  22,  23. 

22  And  in  the  first  year  of  Cyrus  king  of  Persia,  that  the  word  of  the  Lord, 
by  the  mouth  of  Jeremiah,  might  be  fulfilled,  the  Lord  stirred  up  the  spirit 
of  Cyrus  king  of  Persia,  and  he  made  proclamation  in  all  his  kingdom,  and 

23  also  in  writing,  saying,  Thus  saith  Cyrus  king  of  Persia,  All  the  kingdoms 
of  the  earth  hath  the  Lord  God  of  heaven  given  me;  and  He  hath  charged 
me  to  build  Him  a  house  at  Jerusalem  :  whoso  is  among  you  of  all  His 
people  1     The  Lord14  his  God  be  with  him,  and  let  him  go  up. 

1  DV*0n3T?3  is  probably  an  error  of  transcription  fur  OniriSTQ 

•  Instead  of  the  Ken  EnTl3in3.  "'at  appears  formed  after  E;ek.  xxvi.  9,  or  Nell.  Iv  7,  but  yields  no  suitable 
sense,  we  should  point  DriVl 31113.  in  rainu  eorum  (comp.  Ps.  cix.  10).  TheA'.Mio:  CiTrQ  "irt3.  "  he  chose  (ex- 
amined, searched)  their  houses,"  is  scarcely  warranted  by  the  usage  of  speech. 

1  The  Kethi'>   *,3'J,>1    is  undoubtedly  to  be  preferred  to  the  Keri  }3C£*SV  "  and  they  returned.*' 

•  For  J113V  the  Syr.  presents  liSDy*   which  seems  to  be  the  original  reading  a  -cording  to  2  Kings  xxh.  12. 
•For  TpQn  1"'X  is 'o  be  read,  according  to  the  Sept  : 'tSH   1DX   'SI,  "at  d  whom  the  king  had  commanded. 

•  Kethib   ^mp5!,    "have  burned  offerings";  Piel,  as  2  Kings  xxli.  17:  '  have  burned  incense." 

1  Kethib  D'O'QCn,  perhaps  only  a  slip  of  tlte  pen  for  DSJH3*3H  (Ken),  "the  t- aching,  instructing'1;  some  vss. 
give  this  directly  as  the  Kithib:  some  have  D^'T'DDn,  which  is  perhaps  only  another  way  of  misvvritirg  the  original 

ETO-aon- 

•  The  Ktthib  *13l3n  ("»/>.  Xiph.  "make  you  ready  ")  is  undoubtedly  to  be  preferred  to  the  Keri  t'j'On,  "prepaie 
ve  ''  (comp.  ver.  6). 

•  The  difficult  phrase  TTOnP'D  JV3"vN   is  not  translated  by  the  Sept.;  the  Vulg.  gives  the  very  free  rendering: 

std  contra  aliam  pugno  domam.  The  original  text  is  pel  hups  still  to  be  discovered  from  3  Esdras  i.25:  iwi  yo.p  tov  Evepti-rw 
i  wikqA  t**i  irn,  namely,  "TlDrvO  mS"PN  (comp.  also  Joseph  as,  Antiq.  x.  6.  1).  So  at  leaat  0.  F.  Friusche  (on 
I  Etdraa),  Berth.,  and  Kamph 


270 


II.  CHKOXICLES. 


10  Instead  of  L"Snm>  "  disfigured,  unrobed  himself,"  the  Sept.  read  (Up*™<u9*»  piHnn  (comp.  xiv.  U);  th< 
Vulg.  (prseparavit)  and  3  Esdras  (e«xu>ci)  appear  only  to  have  run  into  the  hid.  finite. 

»  Instead  of  im,D,li  "and  removed,  put  liim  down,"  the  Sept.  read  (iSwi.)  VTlDtPb  agreeing  with  2  Kings 
xxiii.  33.  But  the  Vulg',  Syr.,  and  3  Esdras  confirm  the  M  .sorctic  reading  The  last  (3  Esdras  i.  33)  seems  to  have  read 
TlSlSO    WWIi  with  a  supplement  which  Berth.,  Kanrp.,  and  others  pi  nnounce  necessary  before  D^UTV^' 

'"-  The  Scpt..Vulg.,and  3  Esdras  change  fa^in?  into  ihe  rast  srO^'l:  comp.  Exeg  Expl. 

13  ilJbB'i  though  the  Sept  and  Vulg.  give  the  number  8,  is  ceitainh  an  error  of  the  pen  for  rTIB'J)  H3DE';  corn? 
2  Kings  xxiv.  8,  also  some  Hebr.  manuscripts,  the  Syr.  and  Arab,  in  our  passage. 

"  For  nlir  the  paiallels  Ezrai.3  and  3  Esdras  ii.  5  present  »fl\  which  is  perhaps  the  original  form. 


EXEGET1UAL. 

Preliminary  Remark. — Whereas  in  2  Kings 
xxii.  and  xxiii.  the  several  moments  of  the  reform- 
ing action  of  Josiah  are  so  combined  that  they 
appear  all  conditioned  and  determined  by  the  re- 
pair of  the  temple,  and  the  discovery  in  it  of  the 
book  of  the  law,  the  Chronist  separates  the  several 
acts  or  steps  of  his  reforming  activity  more  exactly, 
and  indeed  chronologically,  as  he  makes  the  work 
of  the  king  begin  with  the  eighth  year  of  his  reign, 
the  commencement  of  his  more  energetic  proceed-  j 
ings  to  fall  in  the  twelfth,  and  its  end  in  the 
eighteenth  (eomp.  on  xxxiv.  3).  In  other  respects 
the  two  accounts  agree  substantially,  though  the 
Chronist  has  related  the  cleansing  of  Judith  and 
Jerusalem  from  idolatry  (xxxiv.  3-7)  with  great 
brevity,  and,  on  the  contrary,  the  great  passover 
(xxxv.  1-19)  so  much  the  more  fully  ;  whereas 
the  author  of  2  Kings,  in  accordance  with  his  less 
careful  attention  to  the  history  of  the  Levitical 
worship,  has  reversed  this  method,  and  treated  of 
the  passover  quite  briefly.  Both  historians  relate 
the  closing  catastrophe  of  the  history  of  Josiah  at 
nearly  the  same  length  and  in  much  the  same 
manner,  though  the  Chronist  gives  vent  to  the  j 
pragmatic  reflective  connection  of  this  tragic  end  I 
with  the  previous  transactions  of  his  reign  (2  Kings 
xxiii.  25  f. ).  He  proceeds,  lastly,  quite  in  the  form 
of  an  epitome  in  his  statements  concerning  the 
four  last  reigns,  in  ch.  xxxvi.,  to  which  the  author 
of  the  books  of  Kings  devotes  a  great  deal  of 
space. 

1.  Josiah's  Beginnings ;  the  Eradication  of 
Idolatry  :  ch.  xxxiv.  1-7.— Vers.  1,  2  agree  with 
2  Kings  xxii.  1,  2,  especially  with  regard  to  the 
eulogy°  applied  to  Josiah  (alone  of  all  kings),  that 
he  "declined  not  to  the  right  hand  nor  to  the 
left";  only  the  mention  of  his  mother  (Jedidah, 
daughter  of  Aclaiah)  is  wanting  in  our  passage.— 
Ver.  3.  And  in  the  ehjhth  year  of  his  reign,  when 
he  was  sixteen  years  old.  The  "seeking  after 
God,"  as  xxii.  19  and  elsewhere.  On  the  relation 
of  the  present  chronological  statements,  especially 
that  referring  to  the  twelfth  year  of  Josiah's  reign 
as  the  date  of  the  beginning  of  the  abolition  of 
idolatry,  in  2  Kings  xxii.  311'.  and  ver.  33  of  our 
chapter,  see  Bain's  full  discussion  [Bibelw.  vii. 
453  ff. ).  This  agrees  with  the  conclusion  of  almost 
all  recent  expositors  in  this,  that  neither  the 
Chronist  nor  the  author  of  2  Kings  proceeds  ex- 
actly in  chronological  order,  in  so  far  as  the  latter 
compresses  the  whole  measures  of  the  purification 
of  worship  and  extirpation  of  idolatry  into  the 
eighteenth  year  of  his  reign  :  hut  the  former  (ac- 
cording to  vers.  4-7,  which  are  to  he  taken  partly 
as  pro!  ptic)  attaches  to  that  which  was  put  in 
operation  in  the  twelfth  year  part  of  that  which 


was  only  carried  into  effect  in  the  eighteenth  year, 
as  he  himself  indicates  at  the  close  of  the  chapter 
(ver.  33). — Ver.  4.  And  they  pulled  duu-n  before 
him  the  altars  of  Baalim,  and  the  sun -statue*  .  .  . 
he  hewed  down  ;  comp.  xxxiii.  3,  xxxi.  1  ;  and 
for  the  sun-statues  especially,  xiv.  4  ;  and  for  that 
which  follows,  xv.  16. — And  strewed  (the  dust  of 
the  ground  images)  upon  the  graves  of  them  that 
had  sacrificed  to  them,  literally,  "  upon  the  graves 
that  sacrificed  to  them."  In  2  Kings  xxiii.  6, 
perhaps  more  exactly  the  ashes  of  the  great  asherim 
merely  are  designated  as  strewn  upon  the  graves 
of  the  idolaters. — Ver.  5.  And  the  bones  of  the 
priests  he  burned  •  for  the  particulars,  see  2 
Kings  xxiii.  13,  14  16-20.  -Ver.  6.  And  in  the 
cities  of  Manasseh  and  Ephraim,  and  Simeon, 
and  unto  Xajihtali,  that  is,  in  all  the  laud,  from 
the  most  southern  to  the  most  northern  part  of 
the  tribes.  That  t'ie  regions  belonging  to  the 
northern  kingdom  (among  which  here,  as  in  xv.  9, 
Simeon  also  is  named  as  a  tribe  addicted  to 
idolatry)  were  at  that  time  wasted  by  the  invasion 
of  Shalmaneser  and  Sargon,  is  indicated  by  the 
addition:  "  in  their  ruins  around."  For  the  exclu- 
sive admissibility  of  this  reading  (DnTQ-ina), 

sec  Crit.  ]S'oto  Moreover,  the  present  account 
(with  the  parallel  statement  in  2  Kings  xxiii.  1 9  f. ), 
according  to  which  the  kingdom  of  Josiah  included 
again  in  some  measure  all  the  twelve  tribes,  is 
certainly  to  he  estimated  in  the  same  way  as  the 
statement  in  xxx.  18,  according  to  which,  even  in 
the  beginning  of  llezekiah's  reign,  before  the 
northern  kingdom  had  fallen,  a  partial  annexation 
of  its  inhabitants  to  the  southern  kingdom  in 
respect  of  worship  had  taken  place.  Here  also  it 
is  only  the  introduction  of  the  remnant  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  north  into  the  work  of  the  purifi- 
cation  of  worship  that  is  spoken  of,  not  the 
exercise  of  a  formal  sovereignty  over  their  coun- 
try. What  Neteler  says,  p.  261,  of  a  supposed 
"  reunion  of  the  country  of  Israel  with  the  king- 
dom of  Judah  "  under  .Manasseh.  and  of  an  in- 
heritance of  this  collective  Israelitish  kingdom, 
restored  to  its  original  compass,  on  the  part  of 
Josiah  son  of  Manasseh,  is  devoid  of  all  definite 
hold  in  the  text  as  well  of  the  books  of  Kings  as 
of  Chronicles.— Ver.  7.  Pulled  down  the  altars ; 
here  first  is  the  chief  sentence  to  the  (in  the  form 
of  an  absolute  sentence,  ver.  6)  premised  deter- 
mination of  the  scene  of  the  king's  action. — And 
the  asherim  ;  p-fffo  is  a  perfect-like  (retaining  the 
vowel  of  the  perfect)  infinitive  with  j;.  on  which 

see  Ewahl,  §  238,  d.—And  he  returned  to  Jeru- 
sal  in,  from  his  campaign  against  the  idols,  which 
had  carried  him  into  the  former  region  of  Ephraim 


CHAP.  XXXIV.  K-27. 


t,  I 


and  Simeon,  in  2  Kings  xxiii.  20  also  is  this 
notice  found,  but  there  certainly  in  reference  to 
the  eighteenth  year  of  Josiah.  A  chronological 
contradiction  of  the  two  accounts,  however,  can 
scarcely  be  found  in  this  circumstance  ;  comp. 
Bahr  on  the  passage. 

2.  The  Purging  of  the  Temple  and  Recovery  ol 
the  Book  of  the  Law;  vers.  8  -21.  Comp.  2  Kings 
xxii.  3-13,  and  Bahr  on  the  passage. — In  the 
eighteenth  year  .  .  .  when  he  purged,     -inu?  is 

neither  "after  the  purging,  after  he  had  purged  " 
(Luther,  de  Wette,  etc.  i,  nor  "  in  order  to  purge  " 
(Berth.,  Kamph.),  but  a  mite  of  time  and  circum- 
stance "in  the  purging"  (Keil,  Net.);  comp. 
Jer.  xlvi.  13.  In  the  naming  of  Shaphan,  Ins 
designation  as  scribe  or  royal  secretary  (2  Kings 
xxii.  ;ii  lits  perhaps  fallen  out  of  the  text  of  our 
account  by  a  mere  oversight,  for  the  two  other 
officers  named  by  the  Chronist  (reporting  more 
exactly  than  2  Kings)  are  introduced  by  the 
addition  of  their  titles.  For  "repair  (literally, 
'strengthen')  the  house  of  the  Lord,"  see  on 
xxiv.  5,  and  also  on  ver.  9  of  the  present  report 
concerning  the  repair  of  the  temple  under  Joash 
(xxiv.  11-13)  ;  see,  moreover,  the  Crit.  Note  on 
ver.  9. — Ver.  10.  Put  it  into  the  hand  of  the  work- 
masters,  etc.     ijn'l  is   a   resuming  of  the  same 

verb  in  the  foregoing  verse,  but  connected  with 

T"i>5J.  "into  the  hand,"  by  which  the  sense  of 

"  handing  "    is    reached.      For  the  plur.  nb'V 

nnxfen  (for  'n  'b'y),  comp.  1  Chrou.  xxiii.  24. 

—  Tin  irork- masters  ,  .  .  gave  it,  etc.  ;  so  accord- 
ing to  the  received  text  ;  but  if,  as  2  Kings  xxii.  5 

seems  to  show,  a  ^  has  fallen  out  before  <;;'$,'.   it 

should  be  rendered:  "  they  gave  it  to  the  work- 
masters"  (or  labourers).  The  latter  reading  ap- 
pears the  more  suitable,  though  it  cannot  be 
affirmed  that  it  is  the  original  one. — Ver.  11.  And 
timber  for  girders  and  for  joists  of  the  houses, 
literally,  "to joist  the  houses";  comp.  Neh.  iii. 
3,  6.  This  means,  naturally,  not  any  houses  of 
the  city,  but  the  buildings  of  the  temple. —  Whir/, 
the  kings  ofJudah  had  destroyed,  let  go  to  ruin; 
a  like  exaggeration  of  phrase  as  in  the  case  of 
Athaliah,  xxiv.  7. — Ver.  12.  And  the  men  wrought 
faithfully  at  the  irork,  literally,  "  were  working." 
For  H31DX3.  "truly,  conscientiously,"  see  on 
xxxi.  12.  —  To  oversee  the  building  ;  comp.  njH? 

in  essentially  the  same  meaning,  Ezra  iii.  8. — 
And  the  Leuites,  all  that  hiid  skill  in  instruments 
of  song ;  comp.  1  Chron.  xv.  16,  xxv.  7;  Dan.  i 
17.  These  closing  words  of  ver.  12  are  to  be  con- 
nected with  ver.  13a,  so  that  the  repeated  i  is  = 

"as  well  as."  This  is  simpler  and  less  violent 
than  the  proposal  of  Bertheau,  accepted  by 
Kamph.,  to  erase  the  first  1  of  ver.  13,  and  annex 

the  words  "  over  the  carriers  "  to  ver.  12.  On 
ver.  14,  comp.  2  Kings  xxii.  8. —  The  book  of  the 
law  of  the  Lord  by  Moses,  that  is,  the  Mosaic  law 
(comp.  for  the  phrase,  xxxiii.  8).  The  whole 
Torali  at  all  events  is  meant,  not  merely  Deuter- 
onomy, as  the  modern  critical  school  (last  of  all, 
Hitzig,  Gesch,  p.  236)  think  ;  and  not  merely  the 
groups  ol  laws  contained  in  the  three  middle 
books  of  the-  Pentateuch  (according  to  Bertheau's 


hypothesis,  Beit  rage  zur  israelii.  Gescli.  p.  375) 

1  decisive  grounds  against  these  modern  hypotheses, 
especially  so  far  as  they  endeavour  to  connect  the 
assertion  cf  an  origin  from  Manasseh  or  even 
Josiah  with  our  passage,  see  in  Kleiuert,  />"* 
Deuteronomium  vmd  der  Deuteronomiker,  1871, 
and  in  Klostermann,  "l>.is  Lied  Musis  and  dVs* 
Deuteronomium,"  Theol.  Stud,  und  Krit.  1871. 
ii. ;  1872,  ii.  and  iii.  Comp.  also  Stahelin,  HUoleU. 
ins  .1.  /'.  (1862)  p.  212  11'.;  J.  Fiirst,  Gesch,  der 
hilil.  Literal,  i.  351  11'.;  and  Bahr  on  2  Kings 
xxii.  7. — Ver.  16.  Ami  Shaphan  brought  the  book 
to  the  king.     Somewhat   different   in  the  parallel 

2  Kings  xxii.  9,  where  at  first  it  is  only  related: 
"and  Shaphan  the  scribe  came  to  the  king,"  and 
where,  therefore,  no  "\\vj,  "yet,"  stands  in  the  fol- 
lowing :  "and  brought  the  king  word."  The 
structure  of  the  words  in  the  Chronist  appears  in 
every  respect  the  younger,  although  none  of  its 
deviations  is  of  any  essential  importance  ;  comp. 
Keil  on  this  passage. — Ver.  17.  Uiven  it  into  the 
hands;  comp.  on  ver.  10  at  the  beginning. — Ver. 
20.  And  Ahikam  son  of  Shaphan,  the  father  of 
Gedaliah  and  protector  of  Jeremiah  ;  see  Jer. 
xxvi.  24,  xl.  5.  For  the  probable  originality  of 
the  reading  "  Achbor"  for  "  Abdon,"  see  the  Crit. 
Note.  The  Achbor  of  this  passage  appears  the 
same  who  is  so  named  Jer.  xxvi.  22,  xxxvi.  12. 
— Ver  21.  And  for  them  that  ore  bit  in  Israel, 
literally,  "for  that  which  is  left";  a  significant 
phrase,  like  the  parallel  2  Kings  xxii.  13:  "for 
the  people  and  for  all  Judah. "  The  expression 
"that    is    poured  out"    (nan;)    stands    for    the 

essentially  synonymous  "that  is  kindled  "  (^n^ ) 

of  the  parallel. 

3.  Consultation  of  Huldah,  and  Solemn  Read- 
ing of  the  Law  in  the  Temple  :  vers.  22-33. 
Comp.  2  Kings  xxii.  14-20,  xxiii.  1-3,  and  Bahr 
on  this  passage. —  Went  to  Huldah  .  .  .  the  wife 
of  Shallum.  The  forefathers  of  this  husband  of 
Huldah  are  called  in  2  Kings,  not  Tokehath  and 
Hasrah,  but  Tikvah  and  Harhas. '  Which  of 
these  (nowhere  else  occurring)  names  are  original 
cannot  now  be  decided.  For  "  the  second  " 
quarter  or  district  of  the  lower  city,  see  Bahr. — 
And  they  spake  to  her  to  this  effect,  namely,  as 
Josiah  bad  said  to  them  ;  this  ]")NT3i  which  re- 
minds us  of  xxxii.  15,  is  wanting  in  2  Kings.— 
Ver.  24.  All  the  curses,  etc.  ;  in  2  Kings  less 
strong:  "  all  the  words. " — Ver.  25.  And  my  wrafl. 
is  )>otired  out  on  this  place.  As  in  ver.  21,  here 
again  stands  the  verb  71J-O  instead  of  ]"|¥3.  the  one 
usual  in  the  parallel  (2  Kings  xxii.  17),  which 
latter,  moreover,  the  Sept.  expresses  also  in  our 
passage,  perhaps  because  it  appears  to  suit  better 
the  following  words:  "and  will  not  be  quench*  d. " 
!  — Ver.  27.  Because  thy  heart  was  tender.  .  .  when 
thou  heardest  his  words.  In  the  original  text  the 
construction  is  somewhat  different,  namely,  "  the 
words  which  thou  hast  In  aid"  (ver.  26  for  ex- 
ample), "because  thereby  thy  heart  was  made 
tender,  and  thou  didst  bow  down  befori  G 
when  thou    heardest,"  etc.      The   words  [Tl^n 

r.i'T"."  1CK.  absolutely  prefixed,  can  scarcely  be 

translated.  In  2  Kings  xxii.  19,  moreover,  tin- 
words    "  against  this  place  "   are   rendered   still 

1  Not  Harham,  as  Luther  and  after  him  also  Bihr  {Chang 
ing  the  D  int0  D)  write. 


272 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


more  distinct  by  the  addition  wanting  here:  "that 
they  should  become  a  desolation  and  a  curse." — 
Ver.  28.  And  they  brought  the  king  word  again; 
comp.  ver.  16. — Ver.  32.  Caused  all  .  .  .  to  -stand 
to  it,  namely,  to  the  covenant.  In  2  Kings  xxiii. 
5,  instead  of  TDJ?S1  stands  rather  the  Kal  "|'ojf»v 

joined  with  ]V"I33,  "and  all  the  people  stood  to 

the  covenant." — Ver.  33.  And  Josiah  took  away 
all  the  abominations.  For  the  relation  of  this 
statement,  that  reverts  to  vers.  3-7  in  the  way  of 
recapitulation,  to  2  Kings  xxiii.  4-20,  see  above, 
Preliminary  Remark,  and  on  ver.  3.  By  "  all  the 
countries  of  the  sons  of  Israel  "  are  here  meant 
the  territories  of  the  former  kingdom  of  the  ten 
tribes,  as  distinguished  from  Jerusalem  and  Ben- 
jamin, ver.  32  (that  is,  Jerusalem,  Judah,  and 
Benjamin).  Comp.  above,  ver.  6,  also  2  Kings 
xxiii.  15,  19,  where  in  particular  Bethel  and  the 
cities  of  Samaria  are  mentioned  as  places  of  the 
former  Israel  that  were  subjected  to  the  great 
purging  process  of  Josiah. — And  bound  all .  .  .  to 
verve  ("T3J?^>  12y'l),   "caused  to  serve,"  bound 

to  the  service  of  the  Lord. — All  his  days  they 
departed  not  from  the  Lord.  This  theocratic 
behaviour  of  the  people  during  the  whole  reign  of 
Josiah  can,  at  all  events,  have  only  been  external, 
without  true  conversion  of  heart,  and  therefore 
without  real  constancy  ;  see  Evangelical  and 
Ethical  Reflections,  No!  1. 

4.  The  Passover:  ch.  xxxv.  1-19.  Comp.  2 
Kings  xxiii.  21,  23  ;  as  also  the  tolerably  close 
Greek  version  of  our  section  in  3  Esdras  i. 
1-21  (in  Tischendorf's  edit,  of  the  Sept.  the  first 
book  of  Esdras).  — And  they  killed  the  passover 
on  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  first  month  ;  thus, 
though  Hitzig  (Qesch.  p.  235)  doubts  it  without 
any  ground,  at  the  time  prescribed  by  law, 
otherwise  than  in  the  passover  of  Hezekiah,  xxx. 
2  ff.  The  year  of  this  solemnity  is  (ver.  9  ;  see 
on  this  verset  the  eighteenth  of  Josiah 's  reign, 
and  therefore  623  (or  622)  B.C. — Ver.  2.  And  he 
set  the  priests  in  their  charges  (watches  ;  comp. 
vii.  6,  viii.  14),  in  their  functions;  comp.  1 
Cliron.  xxiii.  32. — And  strengthened  them  for  the 
service  of  the  Lord,  by  comforting,  encouraging 
exhortation,  as  also  by  instructions  in  their  legal 
functions ;  comp.   Neh.   ii.  18,  where  pjri  stands 

in  the  same  sense,  and  xxix.  5. — Ver.  3.  Who 
taught  all  Israel.     Comp.  pan  in  Neh.  viii.  7,  9, 

also  the  synonymous  "\tj7  above,  xvii.  8,  9.  For 
the  following  designation  of  the  Levites  as  "con- 
secrated to  the  Lord,"  that  is,  alone  entitled  to 
enter  His  sanctuary  and  conduct  His  holy  service, 
:omp.  xxiii.  6. — Put  the  holy  ark  into  the  house. 
These  words  are  somewhat  surprising,  and  admit 
ot  various  interpretations,  as  a  parallel  yielding  a 
more  definite  explanation  is  wanting.  But  al- 
though   not    iQ'C'rii     "bring    back,"    but    ^jp), 

"give  place,"  is  the  verb  used,  yet  the  assump- 
tion of  a  previous  removal  of  the  ark  from  its 
place  in  the  holy  of  holies  appears  to  present 
itself  with  constraining  necessity,  even  if  we 
think  (with  many  ancients,  as  well  as  Berth,  and 
Kainph.)  of  Manasseh  or  Anion  as  the  author  of 
this  temporary  transference  of  the  ark  ;  in  which 
case,  however,  it  would  be  very  surprising  that 
nothing  should  be  expressly  stated  in  the  reign 
of  these  godless  kings  concerning  so  profane  a 


violation  ;  or  if  (with  Starke  and  others)  we  con- 
sider Josiah's  repair  of  the  temple  to  be  the 
occasion  of  the  temporary  removal  of  the  ark 
from  its  place,  which  is  undoubtedly  the  simplest 
and  best  supposition.  Quite  arbitrary  is  the  hypo- 
thesis of  some  ancients,  that  the  ark  was,  in  the 
days  of  the  idolatrous  kings,  sometimes  carried 
round  the  country  as  a  means  of  strengthening 
the  faith  of  the  people,  and  Josiah  now  forbids 
this  custom  in  the  present  words  (see  v.  Mosheim 
in  Calmet's  Bibl.  Untersuchungen,  vi.  226  If.1; 
and  equally  so  the  Rabbinical  conceit,  that  Josiah 
here  gives  orders  to  remove  the  ark  from  its 
place  in  the  holy  of  holies  to  a  subterranean 
chamber,  to  place  it  in  safety  from  the  impending 
destruction  of  the  temple.  But  even  the  render- 
ing :  "  Leave  the  holy  ark  in  the  house,  leave  it 
in  the  temple,  to  which  it  properly  belongs" 
(Keil,  after  the  ancients),  is  arbitrary;  and  so  is 
Neteler's  attempted  emendation,  which,  against 
the  grammar,   would   change   the   imperat.    ^n 

into  the  perf.  ^jp|  (from  pn  =  jnj,  "give"),  and 

translate  accordingly:  "And  he  said  to  the 
Levites,  Those  who  taught  all  Israel,  who  were 
consecrated  to  the  Lord,  have  put  the  ark  of  the 
sanctuary  into  the  house,"  etc.  Were  such  an 
explanation  of  the  passage  possible,  how  surpris- 
ing that  it  is  first  discovered  in  the  19th  century  ! 
— It  shall  not  he  a  burden  on  your  shoulders  ; 
comp.  Num.  iv.  15,  vii.  9.  The  sense  of  these 
words  can  only  be  :  ye  have  to  minister  to  the 
ark  of  the  Lord  not  as  a  moveable  sanctuary,  to  be 
carried  laboriously  on  the  shoulders,  through  the 
wilderness  or  from  city  to  city,  but  as  the  throne 
of  God  standing  in  the  centre  of  the  temple  :  the 
times  of  the  toilsome  and  perilous  (comp.  1  Chron. 
xiii.  9)  transport  of  the  ark  are  over;  an  eisie: 
ministry  before  this  sanctuary,  but  not  the  less 
conscientiously  to  be  discharged,  now  lies  upon 
you.  If  we  take  the  words  thus  (with  Keil, 
Kamph.,  etc.),  there  seems  to  be  no  necessity  for 
Bertheau's  assumption  that  the  Levites  at  the  pass- 
over  had  carried  round  the  ark  on  their  shoulders 
in  an  inconsiderate  way,  and  Josiah  therefore  in- 
structed them  that  this  function  of  carrying  was 
no  longer  binding  on  them  with  regard  to  the  ark 
of  the  covenant.  —  Ver.  4.  And  make  you  reai/y 
(see  Crit.  Note)  .  .  .  after  the  writing  of  David, 
properly,  "  in  the  writing, "  etc.   (3,  as   in   xxix. 

25).     There  were  then  writings  or  notes  (3nD!D, 

as  in  xxxvi.  22,  1  Chron.  xxviii.  19)  of  David 
and  Solomon,  in  which  these  kiius  had  estab- 
lished as  law  their  prescriptions  for  the  ministry 
of  priests  and  Levites  in  the  sanctuary,  from 
which  also  our  author  had  directly  or  indirectly 
drawn  his  former  communications  on  this  subject 
(1  Chron.  xxiii. -xxvi  ) ;  comp.  Introd.  §  5,  for 
example,  and  the  preliminary  remark  in  explana- 
tion of  1  Chron.  xxiii. -xxvi. — Ver.  5.  Anil  a 
part  of  a  father-house  of  the  Levites  (for  each)  ; 

so  that  to  every  division  (n3^3,  as  Ezra  vi.  18)  of 

the  non-Levitical  father-houses  may  correspond  a 
part  of  a  Lcvitical  father-house  (comp.  1  Chron. 
xxiv.  6).  In  this  way  it  is  not  necessary  to  erase 
1  before  npfri  in  the  sense  of  "and  indeed,"  or 

"namely"   (against   Berth.). — Ver.    6.    Kill  the 
passover  and  sanctify  you,  namely,  by  washing,    . 
before  ye  hand  to  the  priests  the  blood  to  sprinkl' 


CHAP.  XXXV.  7-20. 


2T3 


on  the  altar  ;  com]),  xxx.  16  f. — Vers.  7-9.  The 
King  and  his  Princes  bestow  Victims. — And  Josiah 
droit  /"  the  sons  o/  the  people;    Ctn,   bestow  as 

a  heave-offering,  as  in  xxx.  24,  Ezra  viii.  25. — 
To  tlie  number  of  30,000  head  of  small  cattle, 
and  3000  bullocks, — the  latter,  as  appears  from 
ver.  13,  for  slaying  ami  consuming  as  peace- 
offerings.  All  this  was  from  the  king's  domains  ; 
comp.    xxxi.    3,    xxxii.    29. — Ver.    8.    And    his 

princes  presented  a  free  gift;  so  is  n2"w  to  be 

taken  here  (comp.  the  corresponding  DTIDS?  f°r 

passover-offerings  in  the  verse  before),  not  as  an 
adverb,  "willingly,"  as  Berth,  thinks.  How 
many  the  princes  gave  as  free  gifts  is  not  here 
mentioned  (it  is  otherwise  in  xxx.  24)  ;  for  the 
three  "  rulers  of  the  house  of  God  "  named  in  b 
as  in  ver.  9,  and  six  chiefs  of  the  Levites,  are 
certainly  as  different  from  "the  princes  of  the 
king"  as  the  spiritual  office-bearers  in  any  king- 
dom are  from  the  temporal.  Moreover,  of  the 
three  princes  of  the  house  of  God,  Zechariah, 
named  next  after  the  high  priest  Hilkiah,  ap- 
pears to  he  his  nearest  subordinate  or  deputy 
(rOt?D  |T13i   -   Kings  xxv.    18)  ;    but  the  third, 

Jehiel,  seems  to  be  the  head  of  the  line  of 
Ithamar  (comp.  Ezra  viii.  2,  and  Berth,  on  this 
passage).  Of  the  six  chiefs  of  the  Levites  named 
in  ver.  9,  three — Conaniah,  Shemaiah,  and  Joza- 
bad — have  the  same  names  with  those  named  in 
xxxi.  12-15  on  the  occasion  of  the  reform  of 
Hezekiab,  but  are  scarcely  the  same  persons. — 
Ver.  10  ff.  depicts  the  preparation  of  the  passover 
and  the  sacrificial  feast  connected  with  it. — And 
the  service  was  prepared  (or  arranged,  Luther;. 
comp.  ver.  l>i,  xxix.  35  ;  for  the  following,  also 
xxx.  16  f.—  Ver.  12.  And  they  removed  the  burnt- 
offering  :  -TDH  is  here  to  separate  the  parts  of  the 

victim  that  were  to  be  burned  on  the  altar ; 
comp.  Lev.  iii.  9  f.,  iv.  31.     These  parts  are  here 

called  rPijffl,  beaause,  as  the  law  of  the  peace- 
offering,  Lev.  iii.  6-16  (especially  vers.  11  and 
16*,  directs,  they  were  wholly  burned  as  the  burnt- 
offering,  and,  moreover,  on  the  flesh  of  the  even- 
ing sacrifice.  A  special  burnt-offering  is  not  to 
be  thought  of,  because  such  were  not  prescribed 
on  the  evening  of  the  14th  Nisan  for  the  pass- 
over  ;  the  only  offerings  to  be  presented  thereon 
were  the  paschal  lambs.  —  To  give  them  to  the 
divisions ;  "  them,"  namely,  the  separated  pieces, 
to  be  burned  as  burnt-offerings. — And  so  with 
the  oxen:  they  also  (those  special  gifts  in  oxen 
mentioned  vers.  7-9,  3800  head  in  all)  were  pre- 
sented not  as  burnt-offerings  or  holocausts  to  be 
wholly  burned,  but  as  peace-offerings,  to  be  eaten 
as  a  joyful  festival  in  part,  that  is,  after  taking 
away  the  fat  that  was  to  be  burned. — Ver.  13. 
A  nd  they  roasttd  the  passover  with  fire,  accord- 
ing to  the  ordinance ;  see  Ex.  xii.  S,  9.  The 
'holy  things  "  (D'BnBil)  are  the  slain  oxen  (see 

xxix.  33).  If  it  is  further  said  of  these,  that 
their  flesh,  after  being  sodden  in  pots,  etc.,  is  to 
be  brought  "  quickly  "  to  the  sons  of  the  people, 
that  is,  thenon-Levitical  partakers  in  the  feast,  it 
does  not  follow  that  this  was  done  on  the  Rrst 
evening  of  the  feast,  the  14th  Nisan,  and  thus 
that  all  that  was  provided,  passover  lambs  and 


peace-otferings,  was  consumed  on  the  very  first 
evening  (as  Berth,  and  apparently  also  Kamph. 
think).  On  the  contrary,  Keil  justly  remarks: 
"  Such  a  junction  or  rather  mingling  of  the  feast 
prepared  of  the  roasted  lambs  with  the  eating  of 
the  boiled  beef  would  have  been  so  rude  an 
offence  against  the  legal  prescriptions  concerning 
the  passover,  that  we  shall  not  ascribe  it  either  to 
King  Josiah  and  the  priests,  or  even  to  the  author 
of  <  lii.mieles,  as  the  latter  expressly  remarks  that 
they  proceeded  in  the  festival  according  to  the 
prescription  of  the  law  of  Moses,  and  according 
to  the  ordinance."  Accordingly,  that  which  is 
here  and  in  the  two  following  verses  recorded 
concerning  the  preparation  of  the  offering  and 
the  feast  refers  not  merely  to  the  opening  evening, 
but  to  the  whole  seven  days  of  unleavened  bread. 
— Ver.  14.  And  afterwards,  when  the  laity  were 
provided  for. — Because  the  priests  .  .  .  (were  en- 
gaged) in  offering  the  burnt-offering  and  the  fat 
until  night,  and  thus  could  not  cook  and  prepare 
for  themselves,  the  Levites  must  do  this  for 
them.  Burnt-offering  and  fat  appear  to  denote 
one  and  the  same  thing,  and  so  to  form  a  hendia- 
dyoin  ;  or  also  the  conjunctive  i  between  the  two 

phrases  appears  to  be  explicative  (Keil). — Ver.  15. 
And  the  singers  .  .  .  were  in  thtir  place  (comp. 
1  Chron.  xxiii.  28,  xxv.  1,  6).  What  is  here  re- 
corded concerning  the  co-operation  of  the  singeia 
and  the  porters  in  the  solemnity  clearly  refers,  as 
the  comprehensive  character  of  the  scene  shows, 
not  merely  to  one,  but  to  all  the  seven  days  of  the 
feast  The  phrase  "  that  day,"  at  the  beginning 
of  ver.  16,  does  cot  oppose  this  view,  but  reverts 
to  the  14th  Nisan  as  the  fundamental  day  of  the 
festival  ;  comp.  the  sing.   Qi<  in  Gen.  ii.  4  and  in 

ver.  1 7,  which  shows  most  directly  and  clearly  the 
correctness  of  our  interpretation. — Ver.  18.  And 
there  was  no  passover  like  that  kept  .  .  .  from  t/ie 
days  of  Samuel.  Thisdoes  not  contradict  xxx.  26, 
for  there  the  point  of  comparison  is  the  magnifi- 
cence and  numerous  participation  in  the  solemnity ; 
here,  on  the  contrary,  its  theocratic  purity  and 
legitimacy.  Comp.  above  on  that  passage,  as  well 
as  liahr  on  the  parallel  2  Kings  xxiii.  22.  On 
"all  Judah  and  Israel  that  were  present,"  that 
is,  so  far  as  they  were  present,  comp.  xxxiv. 
33. — Ver.  19.  In  the  eighteenth  year  of  the  reign 
of  Josiah  was  this  passover  kept;  thus  in  the 
same  year  in  which,  according  to  xxxiv.  8,  the 
full  execution  and  conclusion  of  Josiah's  reform 
of  worship  took  place  (comp.  on  ver.  1).  There 
is  no  proper  chronological  difficulty  in  this  date, 
which  is  also  found  in  2  Kings  xxiii.  23  ;  for  the 
1 8th  year  which  is  here  spoken  of  is  a  reign  and 
calendar  year  (Bahr),  and  if  dated  from  the 
autumn,  from  that  time  till  the  legal  term  of  the 
paschal  feast,  about  the  middle  of  Nisan  (in  the 
spring  of  the  following  calendar  year),  all  that  is 
related  in  xxxiv.  8-33  may  take  place.  And  all 
the  more  because  not  a  little  that  referred  to  the 
cleansing  and  repair  of  the  temple  might  have 
been  already  prepared  in  the  previous  years  of 
Josiah's  reign  (from  the  12th,  xxxiv.  3). 

5.  Josiah's  Battle  with  Necho  of  Egypt,  and 
End  :  vers.  20-27.  Comp.  2  Kings  xxiii.  25-30. 
— After  all  this  .  .  .  Necho,  king  of  Egypt,  came 
up;  not  the  Necho  i.  (Ni-ii-ku-v  *ar  Mi'-im-piu 
ya-ai,  "king  of  Memphis  and  Sais,"  on  an  in- 
scription of  Asurbanipal)  mentioned  xxxiii.  11, 
who  had  reigned  before  664,  but  the  successor  ol 


274 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


Psammet.ichus,  Necho  II.,  who  reigned  till  about 
605.  The  Assyrian  (or  rather  Babylonian)  king 
who  is  attacked  by  Necho  in  the  present  cam- 
paign  is  probably  Asur-idil-ili,  the  Sarak  of 
Abydenus  and  Syncellus  (see  Schrader,  p.  231  ff. ), 
or  even,  if  Nineveh  was  already  fallen,  Nabo- 
polassar  (see  Then.,  Berth.,  Bahr,  etc.),  but  by  no 
means  Sardanapalus  (v.  Gumpach,  Zeitrechnung 
der  Babyl.  una  Assyr.  p.  146),  who  was  much 
earlier.  For  Carchemish  =  Circesium,  on  the 
Euphrates,  comp.  the  expositors  on  Isa.  x.  9 ; 
,Ter.  xlvi.  2.1— Ver.  21.  What  have  I  to  do  with 
thee?  properly,  "what  is  there  to  me  and  thee?" 
comp.  Judg.  xi.  12;  2  Sam.  x.  9;  John  ii.  i.—I 
am  not  against  thee  this  day,  "I  am  come  up" 

(V)vjj')>    my  attack  is  not  on  thee ;   after  •^j; 

the  suffix  of  the  second  pers.  is  rendered  emphatic 
by  an  added  nns,  which  would  be  expressed  in 

Knglish  by  "even  thee. "— But  against  the  house 
of  my  rear.  These  words  must,  if  original,  be 
interpreted  like  the  phrase:  "man  of  wars  of 
Tou, "  1  Chron.  xviii.  10,  or  the  similar  form  in 
2  Sam.  viii.  10,  and  would  thus  denote  the 
hereditary  foe  of  the  Egyptian  king.  But  it 
seems  more  natural  to  amend,  as  in  3  Esdras  i., 
according  to  the  Crit.  Note.  — A  nd  God  hath  com- 
manded me  to  make  luxste.  By  this  God,  to 
whose  command  he  was  obedient,  Necho  means 
not  any  Egyptian  deity,  as  the  Targ.  as  well  as 
some  recent  expositors  (appealing  to  Herodotus, 
ii.  15S)  think,  but,  according  to  ver.  22,  the  true 
supreme  God,  the  acknowledgment  of  whom  in 
the  mouth  of  Necho  cannot  surprise  us  more  than 
xxxvi.  23  in  the  edict  of  Cyrus.  The  older  ex- 
positors assume  a  special  divine  command  (sire  per 
somnium,  sive  per  prophetam.  aUquem  ad  ipsum 
a  Judma  missum)  without  sufficient  necessity; 
what  Necho  had  recognised  as  agreeable  to  the  will 
of  his  Egyptian  deity,  that  he  transfers  at  once 
to  a  supposed  indication  of  the  will  of  Jehovah. 
— Ver.  22.  But  disguised  himself  to  fight  with 
him;  he  gave  up  his  true  character,  the  part  of 
the  peaceful,  which  he  was  hound  to  play,  and 
engaged  against  the  will  of  God  in  combat  with 
Necho.  Perhaps,  however  (with  Berth.,  Kamph. ), 
the  reading  of  the  Sept.:  "but  made  himself 
strong  for  battle"  (comp.  xxv.  11),  is  to  be  pre- 
ferred. A  literal  disguise,  such  as  that  of  Ahab, 
xviii.  29,  should  in  no  case  be  thought  of  (against 
Starke  and  other  ancients,  also  Neteler).  For 
the  well-founded  opinion  of  our  author,  that  the 
battle  of  Josiah  with  Necho  was  a  contravention 
of  the  divine  will,  see  Evangelical  and  Ethi.al 
Reflections,  No.  1.  For  the  valley  of  Megiddo, 
see  on  2  Kings  xxiii.  29  f. — Ver.  24.  And  his 
"/■rants  .  .  .  put  him  in  his  second  chariot,  per- 
haps a  mote  commodious  one,  which  he  had  with 
uim  besides  the  war  chariot.  Not  so  exact  2 
Kings  xxiii.  30. — Ver.  25.  And  Jeremiah  lamented 
for  Josiah.  This  lamentation  of  Jeremiah  was 
certainly  included  in  the  collection  of  lamenta- 
tions (niyp)  on  J<  siah  mentioned   immediately 

after  at  the  end  of  the  verse,  but  is  no  longer 
found  in  the  present  Lamentations  of  Jeremiah, 
which  must  be  regarded  as  a  laVr  collection  than 

1  Recently  ft.  Maspero  (Of  CareKtmis  oppidi  situ  ft  /tittnria 
anUgututma,  Lid.  J'ar.  1872)  lias  attempted  t.(  identity 
Carehemisli  with  the  town  jMalmc—  Bccfiglx*  or  Hiera- 
poliB,  north-east  of  Aleppo,  following  the  lead  of  Ephraem 
»n  2  Kings  xxiit.  30. 


that  here  named.  Perhaps  the  passages  in  Jer. 
xxii.  10,  18,  and  Zech.  xii.  11  contain  allusions 
to  the  older  laments  in  memory  of  Josiah  that  are 
here  intended ;  comp.  Nagelsbaeh  on  Jeremiah, 
and  Kbhler  on  Zechariah.  —  Ver.  26.  And  his 
kindness;   D'TDn,  as  in  xxxii.   32  of  Hezekiah, 

but  more  exactly  defined  in  cur  mssage  by  the 
addition:  "as  it  is  written  ;C  the  law  of  the 
Lord,"  corresponding  to  the  chatacteristic  peculi 
arity  of  Josiah,  as  a  prince  living  and  reigning  in 
the  strictest  sense  according  to  law. 

6.  Jehoahaz  :  ch.  xxxvi.  1-4.  Comp.  2  Kings 
xxiii.  30-35. — And  the  people  of  the  land  took 
Jelioahaz;  the  same  mode  of  elevation  to  the 
throne  as  in  Josiah,  xxxiii.  25,  and  Uzziah,  xxvi.  1 . 
In  the  present  case,  the  will  of  the  people  took 
effect  in  a  usurping  way,  as  the  younger  brother 
(Jelioahaz,  or  properly  Shallum  ;  see  1  Chi  on.  iii. 
15,  and  comp.  remarks  on  this  passage)  was  pre- 
ferred to  tile  older  Jehoiakim,  perhaps  because 
they  had  learned  to  fear  the  latter  on  account  of 
the  tyrannical  spirit  early  manifested  by  him 
(comp.  on  ver.  8). — Ver.  3.    Put  him  down.     For 

the  here  probably  necessary  supplement  of  '•ftQO 

after  inTD'),  see  Crit.  Note.     On  the  terms  100 

talents  of  silver  and  a  talent  of  gold,  which  are 
also  found  in  2  Kings  xxiii.,  see  Bahr  on  this 
passage. 

7.  Jehoiakim  :  vers.  5-8.  Comp.  2  Kings 
xxiii.  36-xxiv.  7. —  Jehoiakim  was  twenty  and 
five  years  old  when  he  became  king,  and  so  two 
years  older  than  his  brother  Shallum-Jehoahaz. — 
Against  him  came  up  Nebuchadnezzar ;  according 
to  the  Assyrio- Babylonian  monuments,  Nabiuv- 
kud urriusur  (comp.  the  Hebrew  form  "11  VXV12}32 . 

Jer.  xlix.  28  and  Ezra  ii.  1,  Kethib;  likewise 
Hx.&tx.t'ipiiirtifit  in  Alex.  Polyhistor,  Megasthenes, 
and  Abydenus).  The  name  (according  to  Schrader, 
p.  235)  is  compounded  of  the  idol  name  Nabiuv 
or  Nabu,  the  subst.  Kudur,  "crown"  (xiS«p;s), 
and  the  imperat.  usur  or  nasar,   "  protect, "  and 

means:  "  Nebo,  guard  the  crown"  (not  Nebo 
guards  the  crown,  as  Keil  states  our  passage  and 
at  Dan.  i.  1). — Ami  bound  him  in  fetters,  as 
befell  Manasseh,  and  as  the  Assyrio- Babylonish 
sovereigns  were  wont  to  do  to  all  captive  princes  ; 
comp.  on  xxxiii.  11. — To  carry  him  to  Babel. 
That  this  carrying  to  Babel  was  only  intended, 
not  executed,  almost  all  recent  expositors  justly 
assume  ;  comp.  besides  Movers  (Chron.  p.  333), 
Bertheau,  Keil,  Neteler  on  our  passage,  also 
Bahr  on  2  Kings  xxiv.  1  ff.,  Nagelsbaeh  on  Jer 
xxii.  17  ff,  as  well  as  my  remarks  on  Dan.  i.  2. 
If  the  Sept.,  which  presents  a  text  often  deviating 
from  the  Masoretic  text,  and  amplified  with  many 

additions,  makes  out  of  "to  carry  him"  (ia'Pin^) 

an  actual  "and  carried  him  "  (xal  i>r,y*ys>  ctlrit 
•U  Brcfiu^uvic),  and  also  3  Esdras  and  the  Vulg. 
translate  accordingly  (et  linctum  catenis  duxit 
Babytonem),  this  has  its  ground  in  the  erroneous 
assumption  derived  mainly  from  a  onesided  view 
of  Dan.  i.  2,  as  if  already  the  misfortune  of  being 
carried  to  Babel  had  befallen  Jehoiakim,  which, 
according  to  the  sequel,  first  overtook  his  son 
Jehoiachin,  whereas  he  himself,  according  to  the 
express  statement  of  ver.  5,  reigned  eleven  years 
at  Jerusalem  (the  last  of  these  eleven  years,  natur- 


CII.W\  XXXVI.  8-17. 


2:: 


*lly,  as  the  vassal  'I'  Nebuchadnezzar).  On  the 
date  of  this  first  invasion  of  Nebuchadnezzar, 
according  to  Dan.  i.  1  "in  the  third  year  ol 
■Tehoiakim,"  about  600  or  605  B.C.,  comp.  our 
remarks  in  the  Introd.  to  the  book  of  Daniel, 
§  8  (Bibelw.  xvii.  28,  80  If.).  On  ver.  7,  comp. 
Dan.  i.  2 ;  Ezra  i.  7. — Ver.  8.  And  his  abomina- 
(tuns  which  hi  did;  not  certainly  a  mere  designa- 
tion of  the  idolatry  of  Jehoiakim  (as  Berth,  thinks, 
who  understands  nnyin  iTJ'l?  of  the  making  of 

idolsi,  lint  also  of  his  other  evil  deeds — for  example, 
his  shedding  of  innocent  blood,  2  Kings  xxiv.  4. 
'The  next  phrase:  "and  that  which  was  found 
against  him,"  is  a  still  more  general  and  compre- 
hensive expression  for  these  evil  deeds  ;  comp. 
xix.  3. 

8.  Jehoiachin :  vers.    9,   10.     Comp.  the  fuller 

a tint,   2   Kings  xxiv.   8-17. — Jehoiachin   was 

eight  years  old.  That  the  number  eight  lure  is, 
at  all  events,  a  miswriting  for  eighteen,  see  in 
Crit.  Note.  Not  merely  in  2  Kings  xxiv.  8  is 
Jehoiachin  designated  as  a  youth  of  eighteen 
years  at  Ids  accession,  but  Ezek.  xix.  5-9  makes 
him  appear  at  least  as  old,  since  he  is  depicted  as  a 
young  lion,  wdio  practised  man-stealing,  oppressed 
widows,  and  laid  waste  cities,  abominations  which 
a  boy  of  eight  years  could  not  have  committed. 
Against  Bertheau's  opinion,  that  it  follow,  from 
2  Kings  xxiv.  12,  15,  Jer.  xxii.  26,  where  Jehoia- 
chin's  mother  is  mentioned  along  with  him,  that 
he  was  still  in  his  minority,  and  thus  the  present 
statement  of  the  Chronist  that  he  is  only  eight 
years  old  is  correct,  is  the  joint  mention  of  the 
queen-mother  in  the  account  of  the  accession  of 
a  new  king  which  is  usual  in  the  books  of  Kings, 
and  occurs,  for  example,  also  in  Jehoahaz  (2  Kings 
xxiii.  31),  Jehoiakim  (xxiii.  36),  and  Zedekiah 
(xxiv.  IS).  For  the  name  Jehoiachin,  and  its 
relation  to  the  kindred  form  Jechoniah  or  Coniali, 
comp.  on  1  Chron.  iii.  16. — Ver.  10.  And  at  the 
turn  of  tin  year,  in  the  spring,  when  men  are 
wont  to  open  the  campaign  (comp.  2  Sam.  xi.  1; 
1  Kings  xx.  22). — And  b-oughi  him  to  Babel 
("caused  him  to  come")  with  the.  goodly  vessels, 
etc.  In  the  mention  of  these  "goodly  vessels" 
(as  in  xxxii.  27)  there  is  an  advance  in  com- 
parison with  "some  of  the  vessels,"  as  in  ver.  7. 
The  spoliation  under  Jechoniah  (598  B.C.)  was 
more  thorough  than  under  Jehoiakim. — Ami  lie 
made  Zedekiah  his  brother  king  over  Juddh  and 
J,  rusalem.  That  this  designation  of  Zedekiah, 
the  last  king  before  the  exile,  as  the  brother  of 
Jehoiachin  is  inexact,  and,  according  to  2  Kings 
xxiv.  17,  to  be  explained  by  father's  brother 
(uncle,  "lfa),  or  even  directly  changed  into  this 
term,  is  shown  by  the  full  list  of  Josiah's  four 
suns  already  communicated  by  the  Chronist,  1 
Chron.  iii.  15  f.  Comp.  on  this  passage,  especi- 
ally on  1  Chron.  iii.  16,  where  also  mention  is 
made  of  Mattaniah,  the  name  borne  by  Zedekiah 
before  he  ascended  the  throne. 

!>.  Zedekiah  :  vers.  11-21.  Comp.  2  Kings 
xxiv.  18-xxv.  21,  also  Jer.  Hi.  and  3  Esdras  i. 
41-55. — Zedekiah  was  twenty-one  years  old.  The 
younger  Zedekiah,  brother  of  Jehoiachin,  and 
nephew  of  Mattaniah  Zedekiah  (see  1  Chron. 
iii.  16),  could  not  have  been  so  old  at  the  time 
when  Jehoiachin,  being  eighteen  years  old,  was 
deposed.  The  eleven  years  of  Zedekiah's  reign 
extend  from  598  to  5*87.  —  Ver.  12.  Humbled 
himself  not  before,  Jeremiah  the  prophet  from  the 


mouth  of  the  Lord,  who  spoke  from  the  mouth  (( 
God  ;  comp.  xxxv.  22  ;  Jer.  xxiii.  16.  Of  these 
prophetic  warnings  and  thrcatcnings  addressed  by 
Jeremiah  to  Zedekiah,  Jer.  xxi.  4  if.  especially 
comes  into  account;  coiup.  also  Jer.  xxxvii.  2  ft 
—  Ver.  13.  Ami  In  also  rebelled  against  ki.iy 
Nebuchadnezzar.  This  revolt  is  also  censured  by 
the  prophet  Kzekiel  (Ezck.  xvii.  13  If.)  as  a  griev- 
ous transgression.  —  And  he  stiffened  his  neck 
(showed  himself  stiff-necked  ;  comp.  2  King? 
xvii.  14;  Jer.  xix.  15,  etc.)  and  hardened  hit 
heart,  "made  his  heart  linn."  Comp.  Dciit.  ii 
30,  where  God  is  said  to  harden  and  make  -'ill 
necked  ;  which  does  not,  however,  warrant  the 
conclusion  that  he  must  also  here  be  the  subject  of 
EP'l,  is  Bertheau  thinks;  comp.,  on  fhe  contrary. 

Deut.  xv.  7. — Ver.  14.  Also  all  the  Mefsofthe 
[>i  i'sts  and  t/ie  people  transgressed  very  much; 
comp.  Ezek.  viii.  6  If.,  where  priests  and  people 
are  described  as  sunk  in  base  idolatry  undei  the 
last  kings,  Jehoiakim,  Jehoiachin,  and  Zedekiah, 
while  prominence  is  expressly  given  to  the  "  elders 
of  the  people"  (ver.  11)  and  the  priests  (ver.  16) 
as  the  chief  participators  in  these  abominations. 
Neither  there  nor  here  would  a  reference  of  the 
accusation  concerning  idolatrous  abominations  to 
an  earlier  time  than  that  of  the  last  kings,  namely, 
to  that  of  Manasseh  and  Anion,  be  justified  (against 
Berth.).  From  the  circumstance  that  in  the  pro- 
phetic discourses  of  Jeremiah  such  complaints  of 
idolatry  are  less  vehement  under  Zedekiah,  no 
inference  can  be  drawn  against  this  view.  The 
phrase:  "  chiefs  of  the  priests,"  denotes  here,  as 
in  Ezra  x.  5,  the  presidents  of  the  twenty-four 
classes,  together  with  the  high  priests,  and  there- 
fore the  same  whom  Ezekiel  has  in  view  in  the 
twenty-five  men  in  the  temple  ;  comp.  Hitzig, 
Gesch.  p.  238. — Ver.  15.  Sent  to  them  by  his  mes- 
sengers, rising  early  and  sending,  constantly  and 

earnestly;  ni^ri  DSC''1'  M  iu  Jen  xxvi'  5'  xxix' 
19,  xxxv.  14  f. — Because  He  had  compassion  on 
His  people,  exercised  forbearance  toward  them, 
did  not  wish  to  deliver  them  over  instantly  ti 
condign  punishment.  —  Ver.  16.  And  they  mocked, 

literally,  "  were  mocking."    DU'vbo  <als0  occur 

ring  in  Syriac  in  the  sense  of  subsannant.es)  is  At. 

\iy.,  of  like  import  with  D'J'jf^D.  xxx-  10-     ^s0 

the  following  cynyno  [Hithp.  of  jjjjnh  "ape, 

befool,"  occurs  only  here  ;  the  equivalent  pilel, 
see  in  Gen.  xxvii.  12.  On  the  contents  of  the 
present  accusation,  comp.  especially  Ezek.  xxxiii 
22.  If,  then,  at  first  only  Ezekiel,  the  prophet  of 
the  exiles,  is  named  as  mocked  by  the  people,  yet 
it  cannot  be  doubted  that  mocking  and  reproach 
were  often  cast  upon  the  other  prophets,  especially 
Jeremiah,  whose  bold  exhortations  to  repentance 
had  to  encounter  so  much  opposition  on  the  part 
of  the  ungodly  population  under  the  last  kings 
before  the  exile.  There  is,  therefore,  in  the  plural 
"  messengers  of  God  "  and  "  prophets  "  no  exag- 
geration, though  there  may  be  some  rhetorical 
generalization  111  the  expression.  —  Till  there  teas 
no  healing,  till  the  threatening  judgment  could  no 
longer  be  averted.  Comp.  on  the  phrase,  xxi.  18, 
xxx.  20  ;  Prov.  vi.  15. — Ver.  17.  And  slew  their 
young  men   with  the  sword.     To  3'"in51.  "slew," 

or  " caused  to  slay," also  is  God  the  subject,  as  w 


27fi 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


the  foregoing  and  following  verbs.  To  bring  in 
Nebuchadnezzar  here  as  the  subject  is  to  import 
an  unnecessary  harshness  of  construction  (against 
Keil,  Neteler).  The  temple,  where  the  young 
men  were  slain,  is  designated  the  "house  of  the 
sanctuary,"  because  they  had  profaned  it  by  their 
idolatry  ;  comp.  ver.  14/).  The  Sept.  (tsu  i.yiie- 
fitro;  ccvtcv)  unnecessarily  changes  QJiHpD  JV3 

into  itjnpo  '3  \vii.  20). — The  whole  He  govt  into 

his  hand;  comp.  Jer.  xxvii.  6,  xxxii.  3,  4.     The 

neutral  ?3n,  notwithstanding  that  persons  only 

are  previously  named,  is  used,  in  view  of  the 
vessels  and  treasures  about  to  be  mentioned  in 
the  following  verse  ;  yet  it  may  be  rendered 
"  them  all. " — Ver.  19.  And  they  burned ;  comp. 
Jer.  xxxix.  8  ;  2  Kings  xxv.  9.  —  A  nil  destroyed 
nil  its  goodly   vessels  (comp.    Isa.    lxiv.    10,   also 

ver.  10),  literally,  "  to  destroy  "  ;  comp.  JVfltS'n? 

in  xii.  12. — Ver.  20.  And  he  carried  away  those 
that  remained  from  the  sword,  literally,  "  the 
remnant  from  the  sword."  The  following  words: 
"  and  they  became  servants  to  him  and  his  sons," 
coincide  with  the  prophecy,  Jer.  xxvii.  7. — Vtr. 

21.    To  fulfil;  mfytb.  as  in  1  Chron.  xxix.   5; 

Dan.  ix.  2.  The  oracle  here  quoted  stands  in  Jer. 
xxv.  11  f.  (comp.  Jer.  xxix.  10),  where,  however, 
only  the  seventy  years'  duration  of  the  Babylonish 
bondage  is  predicted ;  but  nothing  is  said  of  a 
representation  of  these  seventy  years  as  an  expia- 
tion or  requital  for  the  neglect  of  the  sabbath 
years.  This  symbolizing  of  the  seventy  years' 
duration  of  the  exile  predicted  by  Jeremiah,  con- 
tained in  the  words:  "  until  the  land  enjoyed  her 
sabbaths,"  is  taken  from  the  passage  Lev.  xxvi. 
34,  where  such  an  expiation  of  neglected  sabbath- 
year  solemnities  by  an  equally  long  time  of  desola- 
tion was  announced  to  the  people  ;  and  the  added 
remark:  "  all  the  days  of  the  desolation  she  rested" 
(kept  a  sabbath),  is  taken  word  for  word  from  this 
passage  of  Leviticus.  That  there  were  exactly 
seventy  neglected  sabbath-years,  and  therefore  a 
period  of  490  years  on  account  of  which  the  seventy 
years  of  exile  (with  the  beginning  of  the  Persian 
monarchy  as  terminus  ad  quern,  see  ver.  20)  were 
decreed,  our  author  scarcely  assumes.  The  ter- 
minus a  quo  of  his  reckoning  of  the  neglected 
sabbath-years  need  not  be  sought  exactly  490  years 
before  the  beginning  of  the  exile  (606  or  605),  in 
the  time  of  the  last  judges,  Eli  and  Samuel  ;  and 
we  lan  scarcely  suppose  the  whole  period  of  the 
kingdom  down  to  the  exile  to  have  been  marked 
by  the  neglect  of  the  sabbath -years,  since  under 
such  theocratic  sovereigns  as  David,  Solomon,  and 
Hezekiah,  the  observation  of  the  precept  in  ques- 
tion was  scarcely  omitted.  The  whole  statement 
is  only  approximate  (like  that  in  xxxv.  18  regard- 
ing the  passover  of  Josiah,  and  its  relation  to  the 
preceding  one);  it  is  in  no  way  fitted  to  be  the 
basis  of  an}*  calculations,  whether  of  the  number 
of  sabbath-years  neglected  till  the  exile,  or  of  the 
point  from  which  these  acts  of  neglect  date. 

10.  Close;  The  Return  from  the  Captivity  under 
Cyrus  :  vers.  22,  23.  Comp.  Ezra  i.  1-3  (also 
3  Esdras  ii.  1-5);  and  on  the  coincidence  of  the 
beginning  of  Ezra  with  the  close  of  Chronicles, 
lutrod.  §§  2  and  3. — And  in  the  first  year  of  Cyrus, 
in  the  first  year  of  his  sovereignty  over  the  former 
Babylonian-Assyrian  monarchy,  immediately  after 


the  taking  of  Babylon.  For  the  name  Cyrus 
(CH13,  1'ers.  Quurus),  see  the  expositions  on  Ezra 

i.  1  and  Isa.  xli v.  28.  —  That  the  word  of  the  Lord 

.  .  .  might  be  fulfilled  ;  jy^Jp  (from  rf?3.  perficl, 

xxix.  34)  thus  =  niX^OT  of  the  verse  before,  a? 

the  same  prediction  of  Jeremiah  is  spoken  of  there 
as  here. — And  he  made  proclamation,  literally, 
"let  go  a  cry";  comp.  xxx.  5. — Ver.  23.  All  the 
kingdoms  of  the  earth  hath  the  Lord  God  of  heaven 
given  me.  In  the  same  way  as  Necho,  xxxv.  21, 
Cyrus  knows  and  confesses  himself  the  instrument 
or  the  "anointed  "  (Isa.  xlv.  1)  of  the  most  high, 
living,  and  only  true  God,  but  designates  Him  not 
by  the  common  name  "God, "like  the  former,  but 
at  once  as  Jehovah,  the  name  of  the  God  of  the 
Jews,  whose  existence  and  identity  with  his  own 
supreme  god  he  at  once  acknowledges,  and  there- 
fore as  the  "God  of  heaven,"  by  the  title  which 
his  supreme  god,  Ahuramazda,  was  wont  to  receive 
at  the  heads  of  all  the  royal  edicts  of  the  Persian 
sovereign.  Comp.  Evangelical  and  Ethical  Re- 
flections, No.  3. —  H'hoxo  is  among  you  all  of  his 
people,  the  Lord  his  God  (be)  with  him.  That 
here   probably    *ns  is  to  be  read  instead  of  nin\ 

see  in  Crit.  Note.  On  the  abrupt  termination  of 
the  narrative  after  these  words  of  the  royal  edict, 
see  Introd.  as  quoted  above. 

EVANGELICAL  AND    ETHICAL   REFLECTIONS   AND 
HOMILETIC    HINTS    ON    CH.    XXXI V.-XXXVI. 

1.  The  last  mighty  outburst  of  the  theocratic 
spirit  under  Josiah,  which  brought  in  at  the  same 
time  the  last  flourishing  epoch  of  the  Jewish 
kingdom  and  people,  is  depicted  by  our  author 
with  comparative  fulness  in  one  respect,  namely, 
as  regards  the  great  passover  after  the  purging  of 
the  temple,  which  accords  with  his  Levitical 
leanings,  with  much  greater  fulness  than  by  the 
author  of  the  books  of  Kings.  If  he  not  only 
celebrates  the  theocratic  purity,  exactitude,  and 
legitimacy  of  this  festival,  as  one  the  like  of 
which  had  not  been  held  during  the  whole  period 
of  the  kings  (from  the  days  of  Samuel  the  pro- 
phet, xxxv.  18),  but  praises  the  pious  deeds  of 
Josiah  as  it  is  written  in  the  law  of  the  Lord, 
xxxv.  26,  designates  the  single  case  in  which  he 
renounced  his  character  as  a  prince  of  peace, 
walking  strictly  according  to  law,  as  a  disguising 
of  himself,  as  being  untrue  to  himself  (xxxv.  22), 
and  in  the  very  opening  of  his  description  gives 
him  a  commendation  which  was  given  to  no 
other  king,  namely,  that  he  walked  in  the  ways  of 
David  his  father,  and  declined  not  to  the  right 
hand  nor  to  the  left  (xxxiv.  2),  nothing  of  all  this 
appears  to  be  exaggerated  ;  on  the  contrary,  the 
whole  extremely  favourable  picture  of  the  prince 
is  correctly  conceived  and  faithfully  rendered  from 
the  standpoint  of  our  author.  In  the  second 
book  of  Kings,  while  no  specially  Levitical  lean- 
ing affects  the  pragmatism  of  the  narrator,  the 
praise  of  his  walking  in  the  footsteps  of  David, 
without  declining  to  the  right  or  left,  is  set  forth 
with  equal  prominence  ;  and  a  special  aspect  of 
his  theocratic  disposition  ami  demeanour,  his 
zeal  in  the  extirpation  of  idolatry,  is  there  de- 
scribed still  more  minutely  and  commended  with 
more  fulness  (2  Kings  xxiii.  4-20)  than  in  the 
account  before  us,  which  compresses  that  which 


CHAP.   XXXIV -XXXVI. 


277 


is  here  referred  to,  as  already  sufficiently  known, 
into  h  brief  sketch  of  a  few  verses.  But  as  there, 
so  lurr,  it  is  manifest,  amid  the  glory  of  his  theo- 
cratic success,  that  his  strenuous  efforts  were  un- 
satisfactory, and  insufficient  to  effect  a  permanent 
recovery,  a  true  regeneration  of  the  people  of  God. 
That,  notwithstanding  the  sincerity  of  his  con- 
version, "  the  Lord  turned  not  from  the  great 
liu'ness  of  His  anger  which  was  kindled  against 
Judah  because  of  the  provocations  of  Manasseh," 
but  rather  the  divine  sentence  of  extirpation 
against  the  kingdom  of  Judali  remained  un- 
i  raked  (2  Kings  xxiii.  26  f. ), — this  our  author 
certainly  docs  not  say  in  the  express  words  of  the 
older  parallel  text  ;  indeed  he  appears,  according 
to  xxxiv.  88,  to  add  to  the  testimony  for  the 
sincerity  of  tin'  king's  conversion  the  assurance  of 

the  reality  of  the  conversion  of  the  ] pie,  when 

he  writes  :  "  All  his  days  they  departed  not  from 
the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers."  Hut  even  this 
'"all  his  days"  contains  a  fatal  limitation  of  the 
praise  here  bestowed  on  the  endeavours  of  .losiah; 
ami  the  lamentable  state  of  idolatrous  degeneracy 
which  betrayed  itself  immediately  under  his  sons 
(xxxvi.  5  ff.  t,  and  which  was  the  Fault  no  less  of 
the  maladministration  of  these  last  kinj^s  than  of 
the  apostasy  of  the  chiefs  of  the  priests  and  the 
people  (xxxvi.  14),  sufficiently  shows  that  the 
adherence  of  Judah  to  the  law  of  the  Lord  during 
the  period  from  the  reform  of  Josiah  to  his  death 
was  by  no  means  sincere  or  truly  genuine,  but 
rather  the  complaints  uttered  in  the  last  days  of 
the  kingdom  by  Jeremiah,  of  the  unfaithfulness, 
the  inner  apostasy,  and  immorality,  uncleanness, 
corruption  indeed,  of  the  people  (Jer.  xi.,  xiii., 
xxv.,  etc.),  were  fully  justified.  The  insufficiency 
of  mere  refoi  ins  of  the  theocratic  «  orship,  heal- 
iug  only  the  surface,  not  the  deep  seat  of  the 
wound,  and  accordingly,  as  all  that  could  serve 
the  king  as  the  standard  for  his  reforming  action 
lay  in  the  ordinances  of  worship,  the  inadequacy  of 
the  law  to  the  production  of  true  life,  that  ithmarn 
rev  »  u-tv  (Rom.  viii.  3),  that  impotence  of  the 
law  to  secure  true  freedom,  true  righteousness, 
and  assured  hope  of  the  heavenly  inheritance 
(Gal.  iii.  4;  Rom.  vii.), — all  this  came  out  with 
astonishing  clearness  in  the  history  of  the  reform 
of  Josiah,  which  was  pursued  with  so  much  zeal 
and  sudden  success,  and  yet  yielded  so  transient  a 
result.  The  king  hears  the  words  of  the  law  dis- 
covered in  the  temple  ;  the  curses  which  it  pro- 
nounces on  the  infidelity  of  the  apostates  pierce 
through  his  heart  ;  he  rends  his  garments,  weeps, 
and  bows  down  in  deep,  sincere  sorrow  before 
God.  He  succeeds  also  in  inspiring  the  rulers  of 
the  people,  if  not  with  the  same  spirit  of  sincere 
repentance,  yet  with  the  fiery  zeal  that  turns  to 
the  monuments  and  instruments  of  idolatry,  and 
repeats  the  deeds  of  an  Elijah.  And  what  does 
he  effect  by  all  this  ?  The  stern  message  of 
Huhlah  announces  this  to  him  :  for  himself,  and 
for  the  duration  of  his  reign,  he  shall  enjoy  the 
blessings  of  walking  with  God  ;  in  peace  lie  shall 
be  gathered  to  his  fathers'  sepulchres  ;  his  eyes 
shall  not  see  all  the  misfortune  which  the  Lord  is 
determined  to  bring  upon  his  kingdom  and  city  ; 
for  His  wrath  is  now  once  for  all  poured  out  on 
this  place,  and  nothing  is  now  able  to  quench  it 
(xxxiv.  23-2S).  It  is  impossible  more  thoroughly 
and  powerfully  to  exemplify  and  exhibit  what  is 
the  curse  which  the  law  works  (Gal.  iii.  13)  than 
by    these    words   of    Huldah,    of    whi.h    it    can 


scarcely  be  said  whether  they  aie  more  an  ex- 
hortation to  repentance  or  a  promise  of  mercy 
(comp.  the  in  many  ways  similar  address  of 
Azariah  ben  Oded  to  King  Asa,  XV.  1-7).  And 
not  even  the  salvation  and  blessing  which  they 
promise  the  king  on  account  of  his  personal  piety 
— that  he  shall  depart  in  peace  to  his  fathers  — 
is  fulfilled  in  a  perfectly  satisfactory  way.  Josiah 
departs  before  he  has  seen  all  the  misfortune  that 
the  Lord  has  threatened  to  send,  but  as  a  brand 
plucked  from  the  lire  I  Not  in  a  painless  way 
is  he  brought  home  to  his  fathers,  but  through 
conflict,  war,  and  bloodshed,  as  he  himself  had 
willed.  The  only  infidelity  of  which  he  made 
himself  guilty  in  an  otherwise  irreproachable 
walk  is  avenged  by  a  certainly  only  temporal 
(slaying  only  the  body,  not  the  soul),  but  yet 
terribly  sharp  and  severe  punishment;  and  even 
thereby  is  the  series  of  judgments  which  bring 
on  the  end  of  the  Jewish  state  and  kingdom 
immediately  introduced. 

2.  Josiah' s  defeat  and  tragic  decease  is  the  be- 
ginning of  the  end.  As  a  fair  but  rapidly-over- 
spreading evening  glow  after  a  dull,  rainy  day 
indicates  the  approaching  nightfall,  so  his  refonn 
of  worship,  as  the  last  powerful  movement  of  the 
theocratic  spirit,  almost  immediately  precedes  the 
sinking  of  the  people  of  God  into  the  murky 
night  of  political  annihilation  and  protracted 
subjugation.  It  goes  rapidly  down,  after  its 
better  administration  of  the  people  and  the  king- 
dom had  once  risen  to  a  certain  height  ;  and,  like 
that  better  emperor  of  the  house  of  l'aheologus 
shortly  before  the  fall  of  the  Byzantine  Empire, 
or  like  the  reign  of  Louis  xvi.  as  the  fore- 
runner of  the  terror  of  the  French  Revolution, 
had  delayed  for  a  short  time  the  execution  of  the 
sentence  of  extirpation,  already  ripened  into  an 
inevitable  decree  under  the  last  preceding  kings. 
The  Chronist  indicates  this  rapid  riding  of  the 
dead  that  came  on  after  the  decease  of  Josiah, 
this  entrance  of  the  galloping  consumption  into 
the  long  since  internally  rotten  and  putrid  state 
of  Judah,  by  the  extreme  brevity  with  which  he 
despatches  the  last  four  reigns.  In  a  way  more 
summary  still  than  the  author  of  the  books 
of  Kings,  who  likewise  does  not  dwell  very  long 
on  them,  he  depicts  the  ungodly  practice  of  the 
first  three  successors  of  Josiah,  to  none  of  whom 
he  devotes  more  than  four  verses,  and  for  none  of 
whom  he  has  any  word  of  praise  or  acknowledg- 
ment— not  even  for  Jehoahaz,  with  respect  to  whom 
he  does  not  indeed  employ  the  formula  used  of 
the  following  two,  in  harmony  with  2  Kings, 
"and  he  did  that  which  was  evil  before  the  Lord  " 
(comp.,  on  the  contrary,  2  Kings  xxiii.  32),  but 
simply  on  account  of  his  epitomizing  habit,  as  he 
hastens  to  the  end,  not  because  he  cherished  any 
better  opinion  of  him.  On  Zedekiah  he  dwells 
somewhat  longer  ;  but  not  to  report  more  fully  the 
public  acts  of  this  unfortunate  last  of  the  Davidic 
kinys,  nor  to  depict  the  terrible  catastrophe  of 
wasting  and  destruction  forming  the  close  of  his 
reign  with  the  same  fulness  as  in  2  Kings  xxv.  or 
Jer.  Hi.,  but  only  to  exhibit  the  ungodliness  and 
perversity,  carried  out  to  the  end,  of  the  course  of 
both  king  and  people,  in  a  pragmatic,  reflective 
way,  as  the  cause  of  the  inevitable  judgment  (see 
vers.  13-16),  and  to  display  the  contrast  between 
this  course  and  the  incessant  but  always  ineffectual 
cries  of  admonition  and  warning  coming  from  the 
prophet  Jeremiah  (vers.    12,  21).     His  report  of 


278 


II.  CHRONICLES. 


the  fall  of  Jerusalem  and  the  beginning  of  the 
Babylonish  captivity  (vers.  17-20)  is,  compared 
with  the  fuller  accounts  of  the  parallels,  in  fact, 
is  compendious  as  possible,  but  by  its  very  con- 
ciseness and  brevity  produces  only  the  deeper  and 
more  powerful  impression. 

3.  Tile  conclusion  of  his  historical  account, 
xxxvi.  22,  '23,  is  also  characteristic  for  the  stand- 
point and  method  of  our  author.  While  the 
author  of  tin*  books  of  Kings  (2  Kings  xxv.  27- 
30)  closes  with  a  notice  of  the  release  of  the  cap- 
tive king  Jehoiachin  in  the  middle  of  the  exile, 
by  the  grace  of  the  Babylonian  king  Evilmero- 
dach,  and  thus,  in  correspondence  with  his  para- 
mount interest  in  the  personal  fate  of  the  king, 
reports  a  mere  prelude  of  the  final  release  of 
Jmlah  from  the  exile,  and  not  the  very  release 
itself,  our  work  closes  with  a  notice,  though 
brief,  of  the  cessation  of  servitude  in  a  foreign 
laud  by  the  gracious  edict  of  Cyrus.  In  this 
characteristic  trait  is  exhibited  the  historian  who 
bears  on  his  priestly  heart  the  fortune  of  the  whole 
people,  not  merely  of  the  royal  house.  As  he  had 
set  forth  immediately  before  the  divinely  decreed 
and  prophetically  attested  necessity  of  a  servitude 
of  seventy  years,  to  compensate  for  the  past 
neglect  of  seventy  sabbath -years,  so  he  cannot 
but  point,  at  the  close  of  his  work,  to  the  final 
fulfilment  of  this  prediction.  The  internal  organic 
connection  of  this  closing  notice,  by  which  the 
fair  perspective  opens  into  a  new  and  more  fruit- 
ful beginning  of  the  history  of  the  covenant 
people  after  the  exile,  with  that  which  was  re- 
corded immediately  before  concerning  the  last 
kings  before  the  exile  and  their  downfall,  is  as 
clear  as  day,  and  precludes  any  such  opinion  as 
that  the  contents  of  vers.  22,  23  stood  originally 
inly  at  the  beginning  of  Ezra,  and  was  afterwards 
idded  at  the  close  of  our  work  by  a  later  hand 
;comp.  Introd.  §  3,  p.  7).  But  these  closfhg 
verses  betray  their  originality  and  integral  con- 
nection with  the  whole  preceding  work  not  only 
by  the  manifest  reference  to  predictions  of  Jere- 
miah and  Moses  quoted  in  ver.  21,  but  also  by 
this,  that  they  add  to  that  earlier  testimony  from 
the  mouth  of  Neeho  to  the  fate  of  Israel-Judah 
as  divinely  decreed  and  carried  on  (xxxv.  21)  by 
the  counsels  of  the  supreme  living  God,  the  God 
of  heaven  (xxxvi.  22),  a  second  such  testimony  on 
the  part  of  a  holder  of  the  heathen  world-power; 
as  if  it  were  intended  to  prove  to  superfluity  that 
God's  judicially  strict  but  also  gracious  rule  over 
His  deeply  guilty  and  corrupt  people  might  be 


known  in  its  reality,  and  according  to  its  salutary 
effect  on  the  people,  even  on  the  part  of  the 
heathen  executors  of  His  judgments.  Necho  and 
Cyrus  appearing  as  witnesses  of  the  divine  truth, 
as  involuntary  and  more  or  less  unconscious 
heathen  prophetic  announcers  of  the  severity  and 
the  goodness  of  God  in  reference  to  the  destiny  of 
His  people,  as  prophetic  dispensers  of  blessing  to 
Israel, — as  Balaam  formerly,— the  one  as  a  foe, 
but  the  other  as  a  friend  and  protector,  yea,  as  the 
type  of  its  future  Messiah  (comp.  lsa.  xlv.  1); — 
in  this  light  the  close  of  our  history  presents  the 
relations  of  the  heathen  world- powers  to  the 
people  of  God  when  entering  the  period  of  its 
development  after  the  exile.  His  representation 
in  this  respect  corresponds  with  the  mode  of 
thought  of  the  prophets  before  the  exile,  especi- 
ally Jeremiah,  to  whom  the  world-power  external 
to  Israel  had  ceased  to  appear  as  something  abso- 
lutely opposed  to  God,  so  that  they  frequently 
warn  their  people  against  foolish  opposition  to  it, 
and  inculcate  willing  submission  to  its  authority 
(comp.  Bibeiw.  xv.  p.  x.  ff.,  and  especially  E. 
Vilmar,  "  Der  Prophet  Jeremia,"  in  the  monthly 
journal  Bew.  den  Glaubens,  Bd.  v.  1869,  p.  19  ff.); 
and  on  the  other  hand,  with  the  view  of  the  world 
taken  by  the  prophetic  men  of  God  of  and  after 
the  exile,  as  Daniel,  Zechariah,  etc.,  in  accord- 
ance with  which  the  dependence  of  the  destiny 
of  Israel  on  such  of  the  world-powers  as  were 
occasional  executors  of  the  judicial  and  beneficent 
providence  of  God  is  presupposed  as  a  thing 
understood  of  itself,  a  certain  mission  -  call  of 
Israel  in  reference  to  the  heathen  nations  around 
is  preached,  and  the  continuance  of  this  state  to 
the  entrance  of  the  Messianic  era  is  announced 
(comp.  Bibeiw.  Bd.  xvii.  pp.  3  f.,  37  f.,  41;  also 
Hengstenb.  Qesch.  des  Reiches  Gotten,  ii.  2,  p.  277 
ff. ).  It  is  of  no  small  consequence  that  the  Old 
Testament  Chronicles,  the  most  comprehensive 
historical  work  of  sacred  literature,  closes  with 
such  universalistic  views  of  Israel's  call  of  salva- 
tion to  all  nations,  and  of  the  future  union  of  all 
in  faith  in  Jehovah  as  the  one  and  only  true  God. 
Its  end  thus  turns  to  its  beginning.  Setting  out 
from  the  first  Adam,  the  author  concludes  his 
work  with  the  consoling  expectation  of  the 
future  and  not  far  distant,  but  rather,  in  the  re- 
construction of  the  theocracy  promoted  by  the 
edict  of  Cyrus,  already  guaranteed  and  neces- 
sarily involved  restitution  of  the  blessed  king- 
dom of  the  second  Adam,  the  Redeemer  ol  the 
world. 


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